Most Torontonians favour building a downtown relief line ahead of the Scarborough subway, according to a new poll from Forum Research.

The telephone survey of 769 randomly selected Torontonians found that 46 per cent of respondents want to build a downtown relief line first, while 41 per cent want the extension of the Bloor-Danforth line into Scarborough given priority. An additional seven per cent of respondents said that they wanted neither project built first while another seven per cent didn’t have an opinion.

The TTC has previously identified the downtown relief line as its number one priority due to overcrowding on the Yonge subway line.

Mayor Rob Ford, meanwhile, has said that the Scarborough subway should be built first, followed by an extension of the Sheppard subway line and then the construction of the downtown relief line.

In the Forum Research poll, preference for building the downtown relief line was highest among those between the ages of 18 to 34 (54 per cent), those with post-secondary education (college or university – 51 per cent, post-graduate studies – 56 per cent) and residents of the downtown (53%), North York (52 per cent) and Etobicoke (53 per cent).

Favouring the Scarborough subway extension were Scarborough residents (65 per cent), those with children (45 per cent), and supporters of Rob Ford (49 per cent)

Torontonians prefer subways to LRT

The poll also asked respondents to weigh in on what type of public transit system they envision for the city and 55 per cent opted for a subway-based system compared to 34 per cent support for a light rail transit-based system.

Looking at Scarborough specifically, 49 per cent of respondents said the neighbourhood needed a subway compared to 38 per cent who said an LRT would be more appropriate.

When given specific details about the proposed $2.5-billion, two-stop subway extension for the area, those numbers were reversed with 49 per cent saying they would prefer a previously approved LRT and 42 per cent opting for the subway.

The seven-stop LRT, which was scrapped by council in October, would have cost about $1.8 billion.

“The cry of subways, subways, subways has had the effect of making any comparison with other forms of transit somewhat loaded, but when people get a bit closer to the plans for Scarborough transit, they really prefer the LRT,” Forum Research president Dr. Lorne Bozinoff said in a press release. “Nonetheless, they want the Downtown Relief Line built first."

The poll was completed on Feb. 6 and results are considered accurate to within four percentage points, 19 times out of 20.