[BeaverFever]

Here is why transit city and surface routes are needed:

1) Subway service does not provide "local" stops. Subways are good for moving people from one area of the city to another, e.g. from North Toronto to the downtown core, but most people still need connecting surface routes between the subway line and their actual points of origin and destination to complete their trips. Subway stops are far apart.

2) Subways are so ridiculously expensive that no city council can promise these - they require federal and provincial funding

3) Subways are only cost-effective if there is a significant number of fare-paying passengers using those routes. This is measured in passengers per hour. Below a certain number,light rail is more cost effective. Below another number, buses and streetcars are more effective.

4) Even if money and ridership were magically not a problem, you can't build subways wherever you feel like it. These are massive construction projects and all sorts of considerations have to be taken into account, such as the existing underground infrastructure, structural integrity of the structures on the surface, etc.

5) The Yonge-University-Spadina line and its stations are already over-crowded and its gets worse as its extended further and further north. There is no bandwidth on this line to accommodate increased traffic from new feeder routes. New subway projects should look to relieve pressure on this line. A parallel track with express service like they have in London or New York, or another North-South line somewhere else would help. Otherwise, smaller North-South lines throughout the city, such as those included in Transit City are needed.

6)Subway line construction results in developers building high-rise condos over the subway line; Streetcar and light-rail construction results in mid-rise developments. Toronto residents living outside the core have been pretty vocal about not having high-rise developments overshadowing their neighborhoods.

7) Life is about choices. Live in the hustle and bustle of downtown and have a convenient commute or live in the quiet 'burbs and have a less convenient commute. MAKE YOUR CHOICE AND LIVE WITH IT. People like Ford seem to think they're entitled to everything and any time they can't have the best of all worlds, they cry like babies.