Downtown relief line could make everything better for everyone (except Rob Ford)

One of the byproducts of the recent transit debates at city hall (aside from the planned light rail lines) is a discussion of a downtown relief line to ease crowding on the “close to bursting” Yonge subway. Despite the name, the line wouldn’t just be for elitist, latte-sipping downtowners—the Toronto Star reports that hordes of experts believe a DRL could better serve suburbanites than Rob Ford’s now-dead Sheppard subway, especially if it extends to Scarborough and Etobicoke. After all, many downtown residents live and work in their own neighbourhoods, while commuters from the suburbs have to cram themselves onto the Yonge subway every day. Still, experts acknowledge the line could be a hard sell given the downtown-versus-suburbs rift that the Ford brothers’ rhetoric has only fuelled. The University of Toronto’s Eric Miller thinks a new name could help—may we suggest the “Downtown-Suburban Harmony Line”? Read the entire story [Toronto Star] »