[GenerationLee]

I took the west side of the line (west of Yonge) for the first time last night. I was impressed by the speed, but the station names throw me off. I think I prefer the open space of the interchange at Eglinton West, but the grey scale is very off putting, and depressing. The new entrances are great, very helpful in getting past Allen Road as a pedestrian.
Once I got to Mount Dennis, I wanted to see the Kodak building...sure enough, I got lost quickly. The layout if Mount Dennis, while not the worst, is certainly very unfortunate. It's far too confusing for travelling to street level, or to the next train as I noticed when a couple came by trying to go to No Frills. I directed them to the right stairwell, but, even before that I had my troubles getting to the heritage structure.
Anyways, I think the heritage building will be a great part of the community, even if the birds love it too...as you can see on my plaque photo

 

[felix123]

Story to share. Was heading eastbound on Line 5 this morning at around 11-noon. I noticed something me and left me disappointed but also to makes one think twice that Transit signal priority will solve anything for the surface portions of line 5 and line 6.

I was seated and standing in the front car and able to see out the front with same view as the driver/conductor. As we approached Sloane station from a distance I could see the green arrow from about 300-400 meters away. I could even see much further beyond that and clearly there was no other streetcar in site in front of us. But at this point the train was advancing at very slow speeds and even slowing down more and more ( for no apparent reason) as he was approaching the intersection even though he had the green arrow for transit signal. Then as the green arrow signal changed(at approx 20 meters away), that's when he maintained his speed and came to full stop. Even though the station stop was situated on the other side of the intersection, he made every effort possible to force an unnecessary stop at the intersection for the commuters. That's frustrating!. When I got off that station stop, I could see from not too far behind another car coming. Hence there doesn't appear to be evidence that he was ahead of schedule somehow.

It is beyond me what the rationale or logic was for this kind of behavior by the driver/conductor. He was clearly making every effort to make an unnecessary stop for no apparent reason. So now we are hearing that TSP is supposed to be the magic bullet. Maybe it its time to look at the operators before we look at TSP.

Nearly all of the drivers do that and they've been doing it on the streetcars for years too. It's because the TTC is idiotic and insists on it.

 

[nfitz]

Nearly all of the drivers do that and they've been doing it on the streetcars for years too. It's because the TTC is idiotic and insists on it.

The TTC is idiotic for slowing vehicles that are ahead of schedule??

Not doing this creates gaps, which then overloads the following vehicle, which then slows it down, with service getting screwed up.

 

[felix123]

The TTC is idiotic for slowing vehicles that are ahead of schedule??

Not doing this creates gaps, which then overloads the following vehicle, which then slows it down, with service getting screwed up.

I've been on many streetcars that were behind schedule (as they often are) that did this. Especially the 511. It almost seems like the drivers are brake-checking the vehicle behind them, or it's as if they're scared to hit the speed limit of the road. So yeah I think the TTC is idiotic for this behaviour.

We also don't know that the line 5 tram was ahead of schedule. Especially since the other poster wrote that there was another tram right behind it.

 

[nfitz]

I've been on many streetcars that were behind schedule (as they often are) that did this. Especially the 511. It almost seems like the drivers are brake-checking the vehicle behind them, or it's as if they're scared to hit the speed limit of the road. So yeah I think the TTC is idiotic for this behaviour.

What was the gap between the streetcar in front of them, and the streetcar behind them. Which streetcar did you most recently observe it, so we can pull the data and confirm if it was behind schedule, or not in sync with the cars around it.

I ride streetcars near every day, and really the only time I've seen this without reason, there's an instructor standing there with the trainee driver.

It's certainly not unusual to see streetcars (marginally) exceeding the speed limit - up hill!

 

[Vortex112]

The TTC is idiotic for slowing vehicles that are ahead of schedule??

Not doing this creates gaps, which then overloads the following vehicle, which then slows it down, with service getting screwed up.

The TCC operates slowly so they pad schedules so they operate slowly so they pad schedules so they operate slowly so they pad schedules so …

The TTC is a death spiral of slow operations.

 

[alexthettcguy]

Story to share. Was heading eastbound on Line 5 this morning at around 11-noon. I noticed something me and left me disappointed but also to makes one think twice that Transit signal priority will solve anything for the surface portions of line 5 and line 6.

I was seated and standing in the front car and able to see out the front with same view as the driver/conductor. As we approached Sloane station from a distance I could see the green arrow from about 300-400 meters away. I could even see much further beyond that and clearly there was no other streetcar in site in front of us. But at this point the train was advancing at very slow speeds and even slowing down more and more ( for no apparent reason) as he was approaching the intersection even though he had the green arrow for transit signal. Then as the green arrow signal changed(at approx 20 meters away), that's when he maintained his speed and came to full stop. Even though the station stop was situated on the other side of the intersection, he made every effort possible to force an unnecessary stop at the intersection for the commuters. That's frustrating!. When I got off that station stop, I could see from not too far behind another car coming. Hence there doesn't appear to be evidence that he was ahead of schedule somehow.

It is beyond me what the rationale or logic was for this kind of behavior by the driver/conductor. He was clearly making every effort to make an unnecessary stop for no apparent reason. So now we are hearing that TSP is supposed to be the magic bullet. Maybe it its time to look at the operators before we look at TSP.

Before you throw the driver to the wolves, I’ll tell you what happens. The transit arrows are green but you have to watch the pedestrian hand counters. When they go zero, transit arrows turn to red while stop lights stay green for 10-15 seconds longer. From experience leaving credit union drive e/b you will not get Sloan green with the way signals are timed. And yes the TTC requires us to slow down to 25 at intersections because unfortunately car drivers do some stupid things and that slower speed helps save us from bad results more than enough times already. And the schedule right now isn’t held the tightest yet. Don’t forget we’ve only been open for 2 weeks. We’re still a work in progress.

 

[81-717]

transit arrows turn to red while stop lights stay green for 10-15 seconds longer.

Why would the transit signal turn red when car signals remain green? Why should trams have to stop while cars (that are going straight, not left) can keep going? Talk about "transit signal priority". If anything, trams should get an extended green to ensure they're not stopped at a red.

The first time I took L5, it was a mild annoyance when it decided to slow down approaching Swift dr. and wait for the light to turn red, despite there being 4 seconds remaining on the pedestrian counter, which it should've taken advantage of to cross the intersection at cruising speed.

 

[crs1026]

Anyways, I think the heritage building will be a great part of the community, even if the birds love it too...as you can see on my plaque photo

The refurb of this building is top notch and it is indeed a valuable venue for the community. Fantastic meeting hall.

Which begs the question - now that Mount Dennis is (mostly) no longer a construction site, who has carriage of this venue and how is it available for the public? How does one book an event there?

- Paul

 

[alexthettcguy]

Why would the transit signal turn red when car signals remain green? Why should trams have to stop while cars (that are going straight, not left) can keep going? Talk about "transit signal priority". If anything, trams should get an extended green to ensure they're not stopped at a red.

The first time I took L5, it was a mild annoyance when it decided to slow down approaching Swift dr. and wait for the light to turn red, despite there being 4 seconds remaining on the pedestrian counter, which it should've taken advantage of to cross the intersection at cruising speed.

From what we were told, because the trains take so long to clear the intersections , and even more so with 3 car trains, they wanted to ensure there was no conflict between cross traffic and pedestrians. Makes sense. And yes they need to rationalize the lights, especially the small side streets. We don’t expect to get every green light but there is no need to go several hundred meters to get a red light at a small side street.

 

[81-717]

the trains take so long to clear the intersections , and even more so with 3 car trains, they wanted to ensure there was no conflict between cross traffic and pedestrians

It shouldn't take too long, not more than a few seconds, not to mention there's always several seconds between one light turning red & the other turning green. Heck, whenever a 5XX tram crosses an intersection when the green ends, it creates a nice opportunity to jaywalk along with it by shielding the intersection from any other traffic. And 4 seconds of green plus a few seconds of yellow should've been more than enough time to clear the intersection.

 

[hw621]

It shouldn't take too long, not more than a few seconds, not to mention there's always several seconds between one light turning red & the other turning green. Heck, whenever a 5XX tram crosses an intersection when the green ends, it creates a nice opportunity to jaywalk along with it by shielding the intersection from any other traffic. And 4 seconds of green plus a few seconds of yellow should've been more than enough time to clear the intersection.

It's interesting that the faster the train speed, the shorter it takes to clear intersections. Who knew...

 

[duffo]

The refurb of this building is top notch and it is indeed a valuable venue for the community. Fantastic meeting hall.

Which begs the question - now that Mount Dennis is (mostly) no longer a construction site, who has carriage of this venue and how is it available for the public? How does one book an event there?

- Paul

I've heard it's basically going to be Metrolinx office space, not clear exactly how the community centre part is going to work

 

[Burnt creek]

@alexthettcguy. Really appreciate your response . But I am still a bit confused. When i mentioned that the the Driver/Conductor had green arrow from as far away as 300-400 meters, how could the pedestrian hand counters even be visible from that distance? And to me, there is a reason for that and it because they need not be considered or look at by any driver of any motor vehicle including transit vehicles (OK... Unless I am stopped at the intersection). They are for pedestrians only. Plus, if the car drivers get a extended green signal for 10-15 secs to go straight, that makes this behavior all the more confusing and further supports the notion, of making unnecessary stops because there is no way that a pedestrian should/would have been crossing the intersection over the tracks. Besides, jay walking could happen anytime.

I get and understand that we are talking here of motorized vehicle that is longer by far than any other road vehicle. And, I am sure that there are unique considerations at hand. And that would explain why there is the extended 10-15 seconds for motorist. But if there is risk of someone making a left turn that they shouldn't during those 10-15, then its the same risk of someone making a left turn that they shouldn't at anytime.

 

[81-717]

They are for pedestrians only.

I'll dispute this point, they are equally useful for drivers to know exactly how much time is left before green turns yellow. Unless of course the green is extended for some time after the pedestrian countdown ends, which is nice in the sense of giving drivers extra time to pass, but also not helpful in the sense that you're back to guessing & not knowing how much time you have left before green turns yellow (not to mention, why shouldn't pedestrians get the same few extra seconds to cross). Overall, I'd say it's more helpful when the countdown tells you exactly how many seconds of green are left.