Scarborough residents say they're being left out of transit improvements in the city

Depsite plans to open a busway in the borough, Scarborough residents say they’re being left behind as major transit lines open across Toronto. 

Rhoda Potter, president of the Agincourt Village Community Association, has lived in Scarborough for more than 50 years and says her community is waiting to see a subway line come to fruition.

“Many people in Scarborough cannot afford a car. They need to take public transit and it takes them hours to get anywhere,” she said.

Potter says she's been attending Metrolinx meetings and talking with MPs to advocate for her community

Scarborough has been without a subway line since the Scarborough RT shut down in 2022 after a train derailment. In the meantime, the city put in designated bus lanes and Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow recently announced that a busway will open on the old RT route in September.

But Potter said the busway does not solve Scarborough's "desert of of higher order public transit."

The city is planning the Eglinton East light-rail transit project that would, per its website, serve eastern Scarborough from Kennedy Station to Malvern Town Centre. But community members in Scarborough haven’t heard about a timeline for the project.

Krissan Veerasingam is the board co-chair for TTCriders, a volunteer advocacy group of transit riders. He grew up in Scarborough.

“It feels like everywhere else, transit is being invested in and projects are being completed,” he said. “Whereas in Scarborough, we've actually gone backwards in terms of the transit infrastructure we had.”

The long-delayed Finch West LRT opened on Dec. 7. And the Eglinton Crosstown, even further delayed, recently completed its last day of testing. Ontario Premier Doug Ford has said it could open in 2026 or "very soon after."

Potter says better transit options are needed to speed up travel within Scarborough and east-end Toronto. But, she says, most interim solutions and in-the-works developments, like bus rapid transit and the Scarborough Subway Extension, are geared towards transporting people to the city’s core. 

“We need to be able to get around here as well. We don't all want to go to Union,” she said.

Veerasingam says the interim bus lanes implemented by the city are a “Band-Aid solution,” and that a transit line like the Eglinton East LRT would require financial backing from the province and the federal government.

“When we don't prioritize these projects that serve the most underserved people in our community, the effect is felt wider than just this transit project,” said Veerasingam.