This is What the Toronto Transit Map Could Look Like in 15 Years

What do you see when you envision the future of the TTC?

Do you see an intricate network of lines with hundreds of stops like the New York City subway system? Or maybe you imagine being able to exit the TTC and be exactly where you want to go, face-to-face with the city’s landmarks like the tube in London.

The future of the city’s transit system started to take shape last night, as work begins to unveil the next phase of TTC expansions at a series of meetings around the city.

Toronto’s chief planner Jennifer Keesmaat calls the new expansions the “motherlode” of transit, which will “add on miles of rapid transit to the city and surrounding region in the next 15 years and beyond, connecting communities in ways that have been dreamed about for a generation.”

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The expansions will include seven provincial and city-led projects and upgrades, with a relief subway line along Queen St., an electrified GO transit service, and a 17-stop eastern extension of the Crosstown LRT, to name a few.

“Historically, the city advances one project at a time, and the thinking is, when that project is built then we’ll start planning for the next project,” said Keesmaat.

But in order for the city to play catch-up on the years it didn’t invest in transit, Keesmatt says Toronto will need to take on multiple projects at a time.

Last night, there were 18 open houses, including seven in Toronto, which are meant to inform and invite discussion on the future of the TTC. The ambitious nature of the expansion means the province and municipalities need to know that the public is on board with the plans, or respond to objections.

As Metro News reports, these meetings will be held twice a year going forward, with the first round of meetings running until March 22.

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