I was excited on Sunday to have a chance to finally try out the new Line 5 in Toronto. We were staying in Mississauga by the airport, right at Eglington and Matheson, so it was an opportunity to use Mississauga Transit’s MiWay, transfer to a TTC bus, then hop on Line 5 at Mount Dennis station to ride as far as Eglington/Yonge.
The whole trip one-way took about an hour. I used the Transit app to time my departure to catch the MiWay 35 which arrived on time. It was an easy tap with Apple Pay to pay the $4.50 fare. That was a straight shot down Eglington to the Rangoon Walkway stop and a transfer to the TTC’s route 32. The scheduled 32 was a no-show, so about 15 minutes of my total time was waiting for the next one. The transfer when the 32 did finally arrive, tapping with the same Apple Pay, was seamless and the bus was another straight shot down Eglington to Mount Dennis.
Unfortunately it was Sunday, so the express buses weren’t running in the relatively new Mississauga BRT, which ran for the length of my trip on the 35 parallel to Eglington. The stations are very snazzy and I would have liked to travel that. I imagine the surface road gets pretty congested during peak. Line 5 is in the process of being extended from Mount Dennis to Renforth, and so eventually the LRT line will connect with Mississauga’s BRT for a fast trip. The 32 on a Sunday morning moved quickly, but, again, I can only imagine the relief it will be to bypass Eglington congestion.
Along the length of that Line 5 extension construction, there are multiple new mid-rises – a mix of commercial and residential. For much of the length, the LRT will be in a tunnel, but there are sections of elevated rail, too. The right of way in front of many of those buildings, where the tunnel runs underneath, have been nicely landscaped – I can’t wait to see what it all looks like when it’s re-developed and the landscaping all in place.
Mount Dennis is a big multi-modal station with extensive bus loop and connection to the LRT line as well as GO train. Everything was well-signed and there’s retail space opening up soon. Virtually everything is recognizable to an O-Train Line 1 user, from the fare gates to the signage. Disembarking from the bus, I was in the fare-paid zone, so no need to tap.
My train came quickly. The Bombardier Flexity Freedom LRVs are comfortable and quiet. They feel more like the O-Train Line 1 Citadis cars than the big diesel O-Train Line 2 cars, which is to be expected. While similar, though, the difference in track noise was significant. The Mount Dennis-Yonge/Eglington trip is a pretty straight shot, so there’s none of the Hurdman/Tremblay-like curves, so I’m not sure if Line 5 might squeal like our Line 1. It was a very smooth trip and I think the system has noticeably faster acceleration out of the station – possibly not true.
At the Yonge/Eglington station, I did a quick walkaround before starting my trip back. It’s a bit jarring moving from the freshly painted and tiled Line 5 area to the OG TTC subway gates. That TTC system is some old. Tapping back into the Line 5 was, again, seamless.
Natalie was waiting for me back at the hotel and Transit was telling me it was going to take another 45 minutes or something to make the reverse trip on two buses, so I opted to catch an Uber. On may way out of the fare-paid area I was wondering if and where there was a ride-hail pickup spot. Sure enough, signage is clear indicating where passengers should wait, and it was easy to get to.
At Mount Dennis, there’s some nice public art – a large literary-themed installation on one of the large walls. As far as look and feel goes, it’s all very similar, and not dissimilar to Montreal’s newly-opened REM system that I had the chance to try this summer. I’m guessing the new Algonquin station, as a major intermodal transfer point, will wind up feeling similar to Mount Dennis.
The TTC bus I took on a Sunday morning was fairly crowded as it made its way from the outskirts of Toronto closer to the city centre, and those taking it were predominantly younger. When the MiWay BRT connects to a completed Line 5, those folks are going to have a much quicker trip, particularly for commutes. It will help significantly reduce, I imagine, the congestion that is omnipresent in TO at almost all times of day. I don’t know what the trip time reduction will be from my starting point to Yonge/Eglington, but I’m guessing it would be around half, if not even more during the periods of highest congestion.
It’s heartening to see a lot of residential development along the Line 5 extension, but none of it looked affordable. I hope not-for-profits have the opportunity to participate in some of that new housing. Like in Ottawa, transit has the potential to make life a lot more affordable for people, but private development most immediately adjacent to it is very expensive. I’m glad the transit is going in, but the response to gentrification has yet to adequately emerge.
