Mississauga Hurontario/Main LRT and Dundas BRT Schemes

The Mississauga Hurontario/Main Street LRT and Mississauga Dundas Street BRT schemes both appear to offer good value for money, with Benefit:Cost ratios above 1.5, and a cost per new transit rider of about $20,000. Together, they cost about one-quarter as much as the Eglinton Crosstown LRT, yet they seem likely to attract almost as many new transit riders.

The Hurontario/Main Street LRT will link the centres of Mississauga, Brampton, and Port Credit, and connect with three GO stations. This scheme has the potential to encourage development of transit-related land uses along the corridor. Apparently for funding reasons, the line will be built in phases and the link south to the Lakeshore completed sometime after 2020.

Four options are presented in the Metrolinx BCA for the Mississauga Dundas Street BRT. Two show the same, attractive 1.7 Benefit:Cost ratio. Option 4, the more ambitious scheme, delivers about twice the absolute level of Net Benefits and appears to be the scheme that should be implemented. Given the relatively small costs compared with the Toronto schemes, we wonder if it might be possible to build these Mississauga BRT and LRT schemes sooner, to encourage transit-oriented development along the corridors.