[dropcap]O[/dropcap]ver the last few years, a massive amount of construction has been done on Highway 27 between Finch Avenue and Humber College Boulevard. Third-year students at Guelph-Humber haven’t known anything else but chaos between these intersections and we are getting closer to normality. This big-time construction project is to build a subway, and not the fast-food chain.
Metrolinx is in charge of building a subway station which will be a total of 11 kilometres long with 18 stops in between Finch West and Humber College. Back in February 2016, Infrastructure Ontario and Metrolinx released a request for proposal to companies shortlisted to design, build, finance, and maintain the Finch West Light Rail Transit (LRT) project. The contract was awarded to Mosaic Transit Group to build this subway. The construction began in 2019 and the subway is set to be built in 2023.
The mission statement for this subway reads “From students to seniors and everyone in between, the Finch West LRT will fuel the transformation of the community with fast, reliable transit from Humber College to Finch West Station. With essential links to TTC Line 1, York and Peel Region local transit, it will open up possibilities for all its customers to live, work, study, and play across the area. The Finch West LRT – It’s happening.”
This is major news for Guelph-Humber because of the location of the school. Across the street from a hospital and off of major roads, traffic can be very hectic which leads to delays with buses and traffic for students driving to school. A subway not only allows students an additional form of public transportation but might lower the number of cars being driven around the area as more people might find the subway a more useful tool.
Gurpartap Mann, a third-year student at Guelph-Humber lives in Brampton Ontario where it takes him 45 minutes to an hour to get to Guelph-Humber by bus and up to 30 minutes by car if there is a fair amount of traffic. He believes a subway is good for the school.
Mann had this to say regarding problems he’s encountered with travelling to school “Public transit only comes once every 30 minutes so I must plan at least five hours of my day to get to campus and back which is really difficult and tiring. Especially harder when it is snowing or freezing cold.”
Subways would lessen the number of cars on the road and would allow him to get to school in less time. It wouldn’t add unneeded stress about when to leave his house to ensure that he’s on time and just allow him to focus on being present for his classes.
Metrolinx also states “With trains that will run on a dedicated track, every 5-7 minutes during peak hours, the Finch West LRT will be giving those in northwest Toronto what they’ve wanted for a long time; a transit system that offers more choices to travel on their own schedule.”
Other universities have gone down the route of having subways located near their school and have worked very well for them. Recently York University has added a subway while schools like Ryerson and the University of Toronto have benefited from having subway stations located near their school for a long time now.
Andrew Gaudio, a first-year Kinesiology student at York University takes the subway to get to school and raves about how quick and easy it is to get to school and home. “All I need is my presto card, get on the subway and in about 10 minutes I’m at school doing my classes.” Andrew gets on the subway at the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre and is only on the subway for four stops but cuts the time it would take him with the bus by more than half.
Guelph-Humber promotes the close-knit community at the university and this is proven with a population of 4,900 which has an average of 49 students per class. Without a doubt, Guelph-Humber would still love to open up the possibility of having more students apply and apply from different regions of Ontario.
Promoting the subway is something that Guelph-Humber could use to bring more attraction to the school and get more students interested in applying to Guelph-Humber.
The new subway being built by Metrolinx next to Guelph-Humber will serve as a positive new form of public transit for students, teachers, and faculty. It will help bring more attraction to the school and by 2023 the school will have a new form of transportation to make people’s lives a little bit easier and create a healthier environment.
