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Two stations on new York subway extension among the least used on the TTC network

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One year after the six-stop Spadina subway extension opened, some of its stations are bustling, but two are among the least used on the entire TTC network.

The $3.2-billion extension of the TTC’s Line 1 went into service on Dec. 17, 2017. The extension, which has two stops in Vaughan in York Region, took the subway outside Toronto’s borders for the first time.

The Highway 407 station on the TTC’s Line 1 is one of the least-used subway stations on the network. The average daily usage of the TTC’s 75 stations is just over 34,000.
The Highway 407 station on the TTC’s Line 1 is one of the least-used subway stations on the network. The average daily usage of the TTC’s 75 stations is just over 34,000.  (Richard Lautens / Toronto Star)

Numbers collected by the TTC between October and November show the best performing station on the extension is York University, which has about 34,100 combined boardings and disembarkings every day.

That’s followed by Finch West, with 17,700, and Pioneer Village, which also serves the York campus, with 17,300. Vaughan Metropolitan Centre station at the end of the line has a daily usage of 14,800.

But two of the extension’s new stops have performed much worse. Highway 407 station is used by just 3,400 people a day, and Downsview Park by just 2,500.

Highway 407 and Downsview Park are both near the very bottom of the list, and are less-well used than most stops on the lower-capacity Scarborough RT.

TTC spokesperson Susan Sperling said that the agency is “pleased” with extension’s numbers however, because they already represent 94 per cent of the stations’ projected “mature state” ridership.

“Based on past experience with Line 4 (Sheppard), we expected that we would achieve 75 per cent of our projection in the first year, with projections fully realized approximately two to three years after opening,” she said.

Transit blogger Steve Munro said it’s no surprise York University is a major transit destination and the two stations that serve the campus are well trafficked. There are fewer obvious trip generators around the less busy stops, however.

Highway 407 station, which sits in a field to the southeast of an intersection between two provincial highways, “is only ever going to be an interchange station for bus service,” Munro predicted.

The stop is currently served by connections to GO Transit and York Region Transit bus routes. But in a decision that has angered students, next month GO will stop running buses directly to York campus, and will reroute them to Highway 407 station instead. That’s expected to boost the use of the TTC stop.

The immediate area around Downsview Park station is a federally owned urban park and is relatively underdeveloped, although there have long been plans to bring more employment and residential uses to the area.

Toronto’s secondary plan for Downsview suggests that there could eventually be 42,000 more residents and jobs near the stop, but they’ve yet to materialize.

According to Munro, it might have been wise to omit Downsview Park station from the extension, at least initially. The TTC could have left space for the stop and built it later once sufficient development occurred around the site.

The transit agency took that approach with North York Centre station, an “infill” stop that was completed in 1987, 13 years after the Yonge subway extension was built.

“The advantage basically being, you don’t have to actually build the station until there’s something there to serve,” Munro said.

Although Downsview Park and Highway 407 stations see few riders, those who do use the stops are grateful they were built.

Toronto’s subway system just grew. Check out this timeline of the TTC’s growth since 1954.

Standing on the near empty southbound platform at Highway 407 Friday afternoon, Sherry Marksman, 45, said the extension has dramatically reduced the time it takes her to commute between her packing job at a warehouse north of Highway 401 and her home in the St. Clair neighbourhood of Toronto.

Before it opened?

“Oh my goodness, chaos,” she said. She used to have to transfer between a bus and the subway at Sheppard West station, a trip that took 90 minutes. Now it takes about 25.

“Right now it’s 3:36 p.m. I guarantee you I’ll be home by about five to four, I’ll be in my house,” she said.

Downsview Park station and Highway 407 station are underused stations even on a Saturday afternoon, not long before Christmas.
Downsview Park station and Highway 407 station are underused stations even on a Saturday afternoon, not long before Christmas.  (Richard Lautens/Toronto Star)

The six cavernous stops each cost between $125 million and $404 million to build (subway tunnels are included in some of the costs). They’ve been praised for their architectural ambition, but also criticized for supposedly being overbuilt.

At a speech to the Toronto Region Board of Trade last month, Ontario Transportation Minister Jeff Yurek depicted the stations as an example of government waste, saying they looked like they had been built to resemble “Taj Mahals, as opposed to being functional as they were required.”

“To me, to our government, that’s a serious problem,” said Yurek, the Ontario PC MPP for Elgin-Middlesex-London. The extension was opened under the previous Liberal government.

The entire extension went well over budget. It was initially supposed to end near York University and cost only $1.5 billion, but delays and the decision to extend it to Vaughan centre dramatically increased the cost. The project was paid for by the City of Toronto, York Region, and the provincial and federal governments.

When the extension opened the TTC estimated it would cost the agency $25 million a year to operate. The TTC predicted the new stops would attract 1.2 million net new customers to the network each year, a fraction of the more than 530 million who used the transit agency in 2017.

Ben Spurr is a Toronto-based reporter covering transportation. Reach him by email at bspurr@thestar.ca or follow him on Twitter: @BenSpurr

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Nostalgia and much more with Starburst XXXtreme

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Get a taste of adventure with Starburst XXXtreme based on the legendary NetEnt Game. The nostalgic themes are sure to capture fans of the classic version as they get treated to higher intensity, better visuals, and features. The most significant element of the game is its volatility. Patience will not be an essential virtue considering the insane gameplay, and there is a lot of win potential involved. It retains the original makeup of the previous game while adding a healthy dose of adrenaline. 

Starburst Visuals and Symbols

The game is definitely more conspicuous than before. The setting happens over a 5-reel, 3-row game grid with nine fixed win lines, which function if a succession from the left to the right reel is present. Only those players that that attain the highest win per bet line are paid. From a visual standpoint, the Starburst XXXtreme slots illustrates lightning effects behind the reels, which is not surprising as it is inherited from the original version. Available themes include Classic, Jewels, and Space. The game is also available in both desktop and mobile versions, which is advantageous for players considering the global pandemic. According to Techguide, American gamers are increasingly having more engaging gaming experiences to socialize to fill the gap of in-person interaction. Starburst XXXtreme allows them to fill the social void at a time when there is so much time to be had indoors. 

Starburst XXXTreme Features

Players get to alternate on three features which are Starburst Wilds, XXXtreme Spins, and Random Wilds. The first appears on reels 2,3, or 4. When these land, they expand to cover all positions while also calculating the wins. They are also locked for a respin. If a new one hits, it also becomes locked while awarding another respin. Starburst XXXtreme offers a choice between two scenarios for a higher stake. In one scenario with a ten times stake, the Starburst Wild is set on random on reels 2,3, or 4, and a multiplier starts the respin. The second scenario, which has a 95 times stake, starts with two guaranteed starburst wilds on reels 2,3, or 4. it also plays out using respin game sequence and features. The game also increases the potential with the Random Wilds feature to add Starburst Wilds to a vacant reel at the end of a spin. Every Starburst Wild gives a random multiplier with potential wins of x2, x3, x5, x10, x25, x50, x100, or even x150.

The new feature is sure to be a big hit with the gaming market as online gambling has shown significant growth during the lockdown. AdAge indicates the current casino customer base is an estimated one in five Americans, so Starburst XXXtreme’s additional features will achieve considerable popularity. 

What We Think About The Game

The gambling market has continued to diversify post-pandemic, so it is one of the most opportune times to release an online casino-based game. Thankfully Starburst XXXtreme features eye-catching visuals, including the jewels and space themes. These attract audience participation and make the gameplay inviting. The game also has a nostalgic edge. The previous NetEnt iteration featured similar visuals and gameplay, so the audience has some familiarity with it. The producers have revamped this version by tweaking the features to improve the volatility and engagement. 

That is characterized by the potential win cap of 200,000 times the bet. Starburst XXXtreme does not just give betting alternatives for players that want to go big. The increase of multipliers also provides a great experience. If the respins in the previous version were great, knowing that multipliers can go hundreds of times overtakes the game to a new level. 

Players should get excited about this offering. All of the features can be triggered within a single spin. Whether one plays the standard game or takes the XXXtreme spin route, it is possible to activate all of the features. Of course, the potential 200,000 times potential is a huge carrot. However, the bet size is probably going to be restricted and vary depending on the casino. It is also worth pointing out that a malfunction during the gameplay will void all of the payouts and progress. Overall, the game itself has been designed to provide a capped win of 200,000 times the original bet. 

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Anglais

‘We’re back’: Montreal festival promoters happy to return but looking to next year

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In downtown Montreal, it’s festival season.

In the city’s entertainment district, a musical act was conducting a sound check on stage Friday evening — the second day of the French-language version of the renowned Just For Laughs comedy festival. Tickets for many of the festival’s free outdoor shows — limited by COVID-19 regulations — were sold out.

Two blocks away, more than 100 people were watching an acoustic performance by the Isaac Neto Trio — part of the last weekend of the Festival International Nuits d’Afrique, a celebration of music from the African continent and the African diaspora.

With COVID-19 restrictions continuing to limit capacity, festival organizers say they’re glad to be back but looking forward to next year when they hope border restrictions and capacity limits won’t affect their plans.

Charles Décarie, Just For Laughs’ CEO and president, said this is a “transition year.”

“Even though we have major constraints from the public health group in Montreal, we’ve managed to design a festival that can navigate through those constraints,” Décarie said.

The French-language Juste pour rire festival began on July 15 and is followed by the English-language festival until July 31.

When planning began in February and March, Décarie said, organizers came up with a variety of scenarios for different crowd sizes, ranging from no spectators to 50 per cent of usual capacity.

“You’ve got to build scenarios,” he said. “You do have to plan a little bit more than usual because you have to have alternatives.”

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MELS new major movie studio to be built in Montreal

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MONTREAL — MELS Studios will build a new film studio in Montreal, filling some of the gap in supply to meet the demand of Hollywood productions.

MELS president Martin Carrier said on Friday that MELS 4 studio construction will begin « as soon as possible », either in the fall or winter of next year. The studio could host productions as early as spring 2023.

The total investment for the project is $76 million, with the Quebec government contributing a $25 million loan. The project will create 110 jobs, according to the company.

The TVA Group subsidiary’s project will enable it to stand out « even more » internationally, according to Quebecor president and CEO Pierre Karl Péladeau. In the past, MELS Studios has hosted several major productions, including chapters of the X-Men franchise. The next Transformers movie is shooting this summer in Montreal.

Péladeau insisted that local cultural productions would also benefit from the new facility, adding that the studio ensures foreign revenues and to showcase talent and maintain an industry of Quebec producers.

STUDIO SHORTAGE

The film industry is cramped in Montreal.

According to a report published last May by the Bureau du cinéma et de la télévision du Québec (BCTQ), there is a shortage of nearly 400,000 square feet of studio space.

With the addition of MELS 4, which will be 160,000 square feet, the company is filling part of the gap.

Carrier admitted that he has had to turn down contracts because of the lack of space, representing missed opportunities of « tens of millions of dollars, not only for MELS, but also for the Quebec economy. »

« Montreal’s expertise is in high demand, » said Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante, who was present at the announcement.

She said she received great testimonials from « Netflix, Disney, HBO and company » during an economic mission to Los Angeles in 2019.

« What stands out is that they love Montreal because of its expertise, knowledge and beauty. We need more space, like MELS 4, » she said.

There is still not enough capacity in Quebec, acknowledged Minister of Finance, the Economy and Innovation Eric Girard.

« It is certain that the government is concerned about fairness and balance, so if other requests come in, we will study them with the same seriousness as we have studied this one, » he said.

Grandé Studios is the second-largest player in the industry. Last May, the company said it had expansion plans that should begin in 2022. Investissement Québec and Bell are minority shareholders in the company.

For its part, MELS will have 400,000 square feet of production space once MELS 4 is completed. The company employs 450 people in Quebec and offers a range of services including studio and equipment rentals, image and sound postproduction, visual effects and a virtual production platform.

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