[ItsTehBean]

2. Stop people from crossing solid lines or using the ramp to get 5 cars ahead.
8. Build more bicycle lanes and connect them together. Ban cyclist from passing from the right elsewhere.
9. Fine jaywalkers heavily.

What kind of nutjob dares to say these things?
I'd like one of what Archanfel is smoking please.

 

[Redroom Studios]

I have no specific interest in the daily commute and clearly the best solution is building more subways that make it attractive for people to use public transit. I just wanted to comment on the disorganized nature of the street grid in Toronto and Canadian cities in general. Major cities in the US seem to have done well coordinating lights in consecutive intersections so that traffic flow is more continual... whereas here traffic lights seem mostly uncoordinated and during rush hour you seem to move along one block at a time. Another part of the problem (especially in the old City of Toronto) is that we have very few avenue type roads that can handle massive volumes of traffic. Certainly the major one ways like Richmond and Adelaide work best for moving traffic (when multiple lanes arent blocked for construction of one type or another), but they become defacto highways and there is less 'street life' on them...

 

[drone]

I'm not sure if I would ever take public transit over taking my car.I do have to drive for my job,it's a requirement,but, if I was given the choice, I would rather sit alone in my car in traffic rather than be stuck on a bus with tons of other people for the same amount of time it would take me to drive

 

[Hipster Duck]

. Another part of the problem (especially in the old City of Toronto) is that we have very few avenue type roads that can handle massive volumes of traffic. Certainly the major one ways like Richmond and Adelaide work best for moving traffic (when multiple lanes arent blocked for construction of one type or another), but they become defacto highways and there is less 'street life' on them...

We have a few avenues, but like a lot of transport infrastructure in Toronto, they're stubs of an inconsistent length. Take College: it's a proper avenue of 4 traffic lanes, 2 bicycle lanes and on-street parking between Elizabeth and Manning. This section is very urban, and all traffic - including streetcars - moves quickly and consistently. Out of nowhere, the street narrows at two minor side streets rather than at two major arterials (University and Bathurst) where a reasonable amount of traffic could be diverted. Of course, this leads to a traffic jam at these two pinch points at rush hour and this is where most streetcars begin to bunch up.

Another maddening thing about Toronto is how much traffic is constricted by delivery vans illegally parking in traffic lanes, taxis making three point turns or people generally treating the road as a place to stop and run into a convenience store to buy a pack of smokes. There should be a huge fine slapped on drivers who do this because they, more than any bicyclist or streetcar, are really what's holding up a lot of traffic in the downtown area.

Out in the suburbs, a major cause of traffic is the 2km spacing between major arterials - among the widest supergrids of any North American city I know. You can immediately see how much quicker traffic flows on the north-south arterials in Scarborough and Etobicoke (eg. Brimley, Birchmount and Martin Grove are almost never jammed except if there's an accident), whose townships had the wisdom to locate major concession roads roughly 1 km apart almost two centuries ago. Traveling east-west you are really screwed, especially when an accident forces you to make at least a 4 km diversion (2 km there and 2 km back to the next arterial north or south of you).

 

[spider]

In pioneer times surveyors laid out a grid composed of 6600' squares which contained 1000 acres each. Concessions and sideroad allowances spaced 6600' or 1.25 miles or 2.0 Km were created before the settlers arrived and the municipalities were formed . All these allowances were not developed into passable roads until needed, sometimes never. Municipalities were allowed to add to the grid to avoid terrain problems such as rivers and lakes.

 

[Electrify]

Out in the suburbs, a major cause of traffic is the 2km spacing between major arterials - among the widest supergrids of any North American city I know. You can immediately see how much quicker traffic flows on the north-south arterials in Scarborough and Etobicoke (eg. Brimley, Birchmount and Martin Grove are almost never jammed except if there's an accident), whose townships had the wisdom to locate major concession roads roughly 1 km apart almost two centuries ago. Traveling east-west you are really screwed, especially when an accident forces you to make at least a 4 km diversion (2 km there and 2 km back to the next arterial north or south of you).

I love how quickly the north-south routes in Scarborough are. I'm guessing the plan was to have a number of these kinds of arterials, and cross traffic would use the 401 or Scarborough Expressway. Of course, since the Scarborough Expressway was never built, you either have to make your way to the 401, or deal with frustrating congestion. With that said, Steeles and Kingston are decent arterials. Maybe not great, but certainly better than Sheppard or Eglinton...

 

[Rocky]

I'm not sure if I would ever take public transit over taking my car.I do have to drive for my job,it's a requirement,but, if I was given the choice, I would rather sit alone in my car in traffic rather than be stuck on a bus with tons of other people for the same amount of time it would take me to drive

+1 only if my salary supports the gas rate hikes. Turn the gas rates to $2 (its 1.07 already) and the drive will automatically improve as people themselves will start dropping out of driving habbits. I guess the government is doing their best to promote this solution by consistently ensuring that GAS prices never come down - urghhh !

 

[adma]

I love how quickly the north-south routes in Scarborough are. I'm guessing the plan was to have a number of these kinds of arterials, and cross traffic would use the 401 or Scarborough Expressway.

Though said N-S arterials are a century plus older than plans for the 401 or ScarbEx...

 

[archanfel]

I'm not sure if I would ever take public transit over taking my car.I do have to drive for my job,it's a requirement,but, if I was given the choice, I would rather sit alone in my car in traffic rather than be stuck on a bus with tons of other people for the same amount of time it would take me to drive

Why? You can read books, play video games or even work on a bus, which you can't do in a car (well, not legally). Plus, subways or sometimes even buses are faster than cars during heavy traffic.

 

[archanfel]

+1 only if my salary supports the gas rate hikes. Turn the gas rates to $2 (its 1.07 already) and the drive will automatically improve as people themselves will start dropping out of driving habbits. I guess the government is doing their best to promote this solution by consistently ensuring that GAS prices never come down - urghhh !

I doubt that. Even at $2, the gas cost would be more economical than TTC/Go most of the time. Especially if you commute between cities. Cars are getting far more fuel efficient now. Also, as soon as people start to drop out of the driving habit, gas price will come down.

 

[archanfel]

We have a few avenues, but like a lot of transport infrastructure in Toronto, they're stubs of an inconsistent length. Take College: it's a proper avenue of 4 traffic lanes, 2 bicycle lanes and on-street parking between Elizabeth and Manning. This section is very urban, and all traffic - including streetcars - moves quickly and consistently. Out of nowhere, the street narrows at two minor side streets rather than at two major arterials (University and Bathurst) where a reasonable amount of traffic could be diverted. Of course, this leads to a traffic jam at these two pinch points at rush hour and this is where most streetcars begin to bunch up.

Another maddening thing about Toronto is how much traffic is constricted by delivery vans illegally parking in traffic lanes, taxis making three point turns or people generally treating the road as a place to stop and run into a convenience store to buy a pack of smokes. There should be a huge fine slapped on drivers who do this because they, more than any bicyclist or streetcar, are really what's holding up a lot of traffic in the downtown area.

Out in the suburbs, a major cause of traffic is the 2km spacing between major arterials - among the widest supergrids of any North American city I know. You can immediately see how much quicker traffic flows on the north-south arterials in Scarborough and Etobicoke (eg. Brimley, Birchmount and Martin Grove are almost never jammed except if there's an accident), whose townships had the wisdom to locate major concession roads roughly 1 km apart almost two centuries ago. Traveling east-west you are really screwed, especially when an accident forces you to make at least a 4 km diversion (2 km there and 2 km back to the next arterial north or south of you).

Totally agree. I think it reflects a long term neglect of drivers in this city. As somebody pointed out, "We" can't build a city for "Them". Of course, "We" have no problem taxing"Them".

The drivers are to be blamed too. Illegal parking, taxis, lane changes cross solid lines, you name it.

 

[GraphicMatt]

The problem is that cities have to deal with the hands they've been historically dealt. Widening urban roads comes at a huge cost to often-historical buildings. Toronto's a city of narrow streets and ultimately we just have to work around that.

Toronto's problem has been, I think, balance. When they have made concessions for drivers in the past, they've gone way too far and created streets that were completely inhospitable to anything but driving (Jarvis Street is the best example). Segmenting purpose, by saying "This is a street for driving", "This is a street for pedestrians", etc., is generally a bad idea.

 

[W. K. Lis]

I doubt that. Even at $2, the gas cost would be more economical than TTC/Go most of the time. Especially if you commute between cities. Cars are getting far more fuel efficient now. Also, as soon as people start to drop out of the driving habit, gas price will come down.

Don't forget to add on the actual cost of the vehicle over the time you own it (less trade-in value), insurance, maintenance, parking, traffic fines, parking fines, storage. The TTC/GO is actually cheaper, especially when there is a car per driver instead o a car per family.

 

[Woodbridge_Heights]

Out in the suburbs, a major cause of traffic is the 2km spacing between major arterials - among the widest supergrids of any North American city I know. You can immediately see how much quicker traffic flows on the north-south arterials in Scarborough and Etobicoke (eg. Brimley, Birchmount and Martin Grove are almost never jammed except if there's an accident), whose townships had the wisdom to locate major concession roads roughly 1 km apart almost two centuries ago. Traveling east-west you are really screwed, especially when an accident forces you to make at least a 4 km diversion (2 km there and 2 km back to the next arterial north or south of you).

I will comment by saying that the 2 km spacing really isn't bad, however how these arterials and the space between them is treated is important.

- In the core these arterials (King, Queen, Dundas, etc) are generally under capacity for their purpose as arterials. 2 lanes in each direction with parking simply isn't sufficient to move traffic. A few (maybe not all) should be 3 lanes in each direction.
- In the suburbs these arterials are not supported by intermidiate roadways. Development goes straight from areterial to low density sprawl communites which turn their backs on the arterail. Drivers don't have many options for short distance travel other than 40 km/hr suburban streets or congested 70 km/hr arterial roads. Downtown at least does this well with having intermidiate streets in between connecting the arterials and having development front onto the concession arterials

 

[drone]

Why? You can read books, play video games or even work on a bus, which you can't do in a car (well, not legally). Plus, subways or sometimes even buses are faster than cars during heavy traffic.

convenience, I can drive anytime anywhere day or night,TTC is not as flexible,in other words, if I wanna go to the gym at 5 am, I go, I don't have to wait for a bus etc..
or worry about what schedule TTC is that day.

I just feel uncomfortable around so many people pack in so tight. when I look at a rush hour TTC bus or subway car,it's jam packed and I couldn't stand that. Gas and cars would have to be VERY expensive for me to even consider TTC.