scarberiankhatru
Senior Member
It's Steve Munro: streetcars are not a laughing matter...
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- Thread starter drum118
- Start date
Panzerfaust
Active Member
I dunno, that's how I've always heard it used. Then again, I tend to hang around in the lowest levels of internet humour message boards, so perhaps my view on slang is different from the common person's. Doesn't explain my hearing it a few times in real life though. I think it's just because slang can have so many different meanings to so many different people that it's completely possible to hear it used by one person, only to have the meaning not be understood at all by another person who has heard it used in a different way.
As much as I'm enjoying this etymological derail, I think we've lost sight of the original topic, that being the service changes. Might I suggest that we get back to that?
As much as I'm enjoying this etymological derail, I think we've lost sight of the original topic, that being the service changes. Might I suggest that we get back to that?
nfitz
Superstar
Sure chief. These upgrades are great - but it seems a lot more is needed. The extended 6 AM to 1 AM running will be great, but what about routes like Leslie, which only run once ever 30 minutes in the afternoon?
Are we going to be sitting until the fall before we see anything more, or is this stuff going to trickle in all year.
RedRocket191
Senior Member
Word on the street is that Mount Dennis garage will open this fall and all the rush-hour improvements will come with 20 'till 1 service. Doubt we'll see anything until then, as it seems they like big press conferences.
JasonParis
Moderator
TTC riders moved by better service
But GO commuters still dealing with fallout from earlier derailment
Feb 20, 2008 04:30 AM
Toronto Star
Tess Kalinowski
Staff Reporter
Helga Schlatter was among the TTC patrons who noticed a welcome change yesterday: more buses on the Dufferin 29 line. She had watched three pass as she was dropping her children off at school.
"You miss a bus on Dufferin and you have to wait. But to my astonishment another one showed up," Schlatter told TTC chair Adam Giambrone, who was out during the morning rush checking on this week's improvements – the single largest bus service expansion in the city's history.
One of the busiest lines in the city, Dufferin carries about 34,000 people a day. It was among 43 bus and three streetcar routes that got a boost to rush hour, off-peak and weekend service, starting Sunday.
The addition of between two and six buses on Dufferin, depending on the time of day, means customers should see a bus come by every three minutes, Giambrone said.
Not everyone got that kind of service yesterday. Giambrone waited about 10 minutes for both north- and southbound buses before three or four buses pulled up together.
This week's service enhancements won't be instantly noticeable, he said.
"A month or six weeks from now people may notice a little less crowding."
But as TTC riders were finding something to cheer about, GO riders on the busy Lakeshore West line were coping with ongoing delays caused by the derailment of a freight train just east of Aldershot station around 1 a.m. Monday.
CN crews worked for a second day to clear the third track where 19 rail cars derailed. The other tracks were cleared yesterday morning, allowing VIA to restore most of its service, a spokesperson said.
GO passengers, meanwhile, were shuttled by bus between Hamilton, Aldershot and Burlington. In some cases, trains eastbound from Burlington were delayed to give those passengers time to board, said spokesperson Ed Shea. Service was expected to return to normal late this afternoon or tomorrow morning as crews continued clearing and repairing the track.
Early investigations showed the incident occurred when a wheel broke on one car, derailing the others. No one was injured.
But GO commuters still dealing with fallout from earlier derailment
Feb 20, 2008 04:30 AM
Toronto Star
Tess Kalinowski
Staff Reporter
Helga Schlatter was among the TTC patrons who noticed a welcome change yesterday: more buses on the Dufferin 29 line. She had watched three pass as she was dropping her children off at school.
"You miss a bus on Dufferin and you have to wait. But to my astonishment another one showed up," Schlatter told TTC chair Adam Giambrone, who was out during the morning rush checking on this week's improvements – the single largest bus service expansion in the city's history.
One of the busiest lines in the city, Dufferin carries about 34,000 people a day. It was among 43 bus and three streetcar routes that got a boost to rush hour, off-peak and weekend service, starting Sunday.
The addition of between two and six buses on Dufferin, depending on the time of day, means customers should see a bus come by every three minutes, Giambrone said.
Not everyone got that kind of service yesterday. Giambrone waited about 10 minutes for both north- and southbound buses before three or four buses pulled up together.
This week's service enhancements won't be instantly noticeable, he said.
"A month or six weeks from now people may notice a little less crowding."
But as TTC riders were finding something to cheer about, GO riders on the busy Lakeshore West line were coping with ongoing delays caused by the derailment of a freight train just east of Aldershot station around 1 a.m. Monday.
CN crews worked for a second day to clear the third track where 19 rail cars derailed. The other tracks were cleared yesterday morning, allowing VIA to restore most of its service, a spokesperson said.
GO passengers, meanwhile, were shuttled by bus between Hamilton, Aldershot and Burlington. In some cases, trains eastbound from Burlington were delayed to give those passengers time to board, said spokesperson Ed Shea. Service was expected to return to normal late this afternoon or tomorrow morning as crews continued clearing and repairing the track.
Early investigations showed the incident occurred when a wheel broke on one car, derailing the others. No one was injured.
Disparishun
Active Member
Erm ... "the last century" was nine years ago. Everyone on this forum was watching television during "the last century".
JasonParis
Moderator
I don't get this. Unless of course the "enhancements" will be rolling out more slowly than we expected (or were led to believe).
299 bloor call control.
Senior Member
I think he means that the service will become perceptively better over time... instead of complaining every day that your bus is full, it'll happen once every week or two. e.g., if there was a big delay on a route one of the past few days, no increase of buses would have fixed that... and the rider perception would be the service is no better. I think the greatest gain from these service improvements will be some restored trust in the reliability in the system. Some.
PaulG
New Member
They updated the schedules too,
http://www.toronto.ca/ttc/schedules/index.htm
I used them to update my wireless schedules
dowlingm
Senior Member
doady -
1. Yes you did miss a joke
2. The subway CAN'T go 24hr until 2015 (assuming the signal upgrade goes in on time) - the subway does need maintenance. Or was that a joke on YOUR part?
1. Yes you did miss a joke
2. The subway CAN'T go 24hr until 2015 (assuming the signal upgrade goes in on time) - the subway does need maintenance. Or was that a joke on YOUR part?
ShonTron
Moderator
According to Steve Munro, more improvements are to come March 30 and May 11 (by this time, the 139 midday and evening service will be removed as well).
Service improvements will have a maximum 30 minute service 7 days a week on almost all routes now in the fall, rather than 20 minutes. That now might not come until 2009 at the earliest.
Service improvements will have a maximum 30 minute service 7 days a week on almost all routes now in the fall, rather than 20 minutes. That now might not come until 2009 at the earliest.
JasonParis
Moderator
Surprisingly, the bus is still the better way
The TTC is finally doing something right
Peter Kuitenbrouwer, National Post
Published: Friday, February 29, 2008
Merle Robillard/National PostA TTC bus at Eglinton and Bathurst.
The TTC, which expects to set a record this year by transporting 464 million passengers, has recently announced major service improvements and has plans for a big expansion. Peter Kuitenbrouwer continues his series on the challenges faced by the city's transit service with a look at the bus network.
At 8:25 a.m. last Thursday, 16 people waited for an eastbound 32 Eglinton bus at the corner of Dufferin Street. The bus shelter, in a dumb spot 10 metres west of the stop, was empty. Four buses -- 32s and 32Ds -- arrived together. Most of us got on the third one, because the first two were too packed. At the centre of the bus, clinging to a pole in the crowd, stood Peter Telles-Langdon. He teaches construction to mental health and substance abuse survivors at George Brown College. He was in high spirits.
"I know people sometimes find the overcrowding a problem but I've found Toronto has been absolutely wonderful," said Mr. Telles-Langdon, who has lived in Winnipeg, Calgary, Vancouver and London, Ont. "Here, every race, colour, creed, everybody packs onto the bus together, every-one's smiling.
"I have a car at home, but dealing with parking and traffic, it's easier to use the TTC. And I meet all kinds of interesting people. The TTC is a good social program."
Certainly, the TTC is a good place to get up close and personal with Toronto, especially these days. After ridership peaked in 1988, the TTC went into a steep decline in the 1990s. The province cut funding, the TTC responded with fare hikes and service cuts, and ridership dropped. But the service has emerged as one of the success stories of the new millennium. Ridership has jumped 12% in five years, from 405.4-million riders in 2003, to 459.8-million riders last year.
The crowding has become horrendous, and the reason is simple: In 1988, the TTC operated 1,787 buses and trolley buses. As we return to our peak, we have (as of Dec. 31) 1,491 buses, and no trolley buses.
"We are carrying more people with less vehicles," says Mike DeToma, a TTC spokesman.
As a TTC report to a meeting on Wednesday notes, "Unusually, it has not been possible to add service to reduce observed overcrowding for much of the past three years. There have been insufficient buses and operators available since March, 2005."
There is good news: This month the TTC added service to 173 bus routes, at all times on weekdays and on weekends, including a total of 30 additional buses during the morning peak, "the single largest permanent TTC service increase in recent decades."
In the past week I tested out a dozen bus lines in North York, Scarborough, York and Toronto, and came away impressed. I never waited more than three or four minutes for any bus.
At Downsview Station, the 195 York University Rocket was waiting when I arrived. The trip to York took 10 minutes. I got chatting with the driver.
"Yeah, you can put on more service, but there's always little problems," he observed. "Snowstorms, ice, traffic. And these newer buses, I notice, break down a lot. The hybrids lose their charge." He pointed to his instrument console. "Let's say something goes wrong in here, Then all of a sudden the thing stalls and won't go. Those old GMs -- they go forever." (The seats in the rear, raised portion of the new buses are also terribly designed, miserable little spots with scant leg room, a problem the TTC has promised to rectify.)
Even as service increases, the buses remain packed. The 25, which travels north on Don Mills Road from Pape Station, remains a cocktail sausage package, and the TTC so far has no resources to add more buses there.
Riders have to put up with a lot. I boarded the 95 York Mills bus at 3:30 p.m; it was packed with private school kids in ties and grey pants. From the size of their homework knapsacks, it looked like they were heading to Afghanistan. One kid flattened me with his backpack.
"Oh my god," said one girl. "It's so crowded today." Another said to a boy who boarded, "Don't worry, just push through if you're trying to get by me. "
A third student said, "I don't know how we are going to get off." Somehow, we all got off.
At 4 p.m. at the Don Mills subway station, the 95 Sheppard also came right away. Everyone got a seat. A father, with his two kids, said service has definitely improved. "I am surprised," he said. "I came two weeks ago and this bus was packed. Normally it's packed." (The TTC last week added three buses here in the "early evening.")
Yes, folks, it is time to applaud the TTC. They are doing something right. I tried the 36 Finch East and the 41 Keele, too: both were busy, but on time and offered quick service.
And then, at 6:17 p.m., I arrived at Dufferin and Bloor streets, fully expecting my usual 15-minute wait for an overcrowded southbound bus. Instead, the bus came at 6:20 p.m. Another 29 is right behind. Sure, the bus smells of fish. But it is here. And I even have a seat. Thank you, TTC.
pkuitenbrouwer@nationalpost.com
Next: Subways
---
BY THE NUMBERS
1,787 Number of TTC buses and trolley buses in 1988.
1,491 Number of TTC buses today. The TTC has no trolley buses.
173 Number of bus routes that saw service improvements, starting on Feb. 17.
$16.02 Maximum operator hourly wage in 1988.
$26.58 Maximum operator hourly wage in 2008.
$4.50 Minimum wage in 1988.
$8 Minimum wage in 2008.
70 Percentage of TTC users who get a seat.
(Averaging in rush hour and off-peak times. Less than half of subway riders get a seat in rush hour.)
The TTC is finally doing something right
Peter Kuitenbrouwer, National Post
Published: Friday, February 29, 2008
Merle Robillard/National PostA TTC bus at Eglinton and Bathurst.
The TTC, which expects to set a record this year by transporting 464 million passengers, has recently announced major service improvements and has plans for a big expansion. Peter Kuitenbrouwer continues his series on the challenges faced by the city's transit service with a look at the bus network.
At 8:25 a.m. last Thursday, 16 people waited for an eastbound 32 Eglinton bus at the corner of Dufferin Street. The bus shelter, in a dumb spot 10 metres west of the stop, was empty. Four buses -- 32s and 32Ds -- arrived together. Most of us got on the third one, because the first two were too packed. At the centre of the bus, clinging to a pole in the crowd, stood Peter Telles-Langdon. He teaches construction to mental health and substance abuse survivors at George Brown College. He was in high spirits.
"I know people sometimes find the overcrowding a problem but I've found Toronto has been absolutely wonderful," said Mr. Telles-Langdon, who has lived in Winnipeg, Calgary, Vancouver and London, Ont. "Here, every race, colour, creed, everybody packs onto the bus together, every-one's smiling.
"I have a car at home, but dealing with parking and traffic, it's easier to use the TTC. And I meet all kinds of interesting people. The TTC is a good social program."
Certainly, the TTC is a good place to get up close and personal with Toronto, especially these days. After ridership peaked in 1988, the TTC went into a steep decline in the 1990s. The province cut funding, the TTC responded with fare hikes and service cuts, and ridership dropped. But the service has emerged as one of the success stories of the new millennium. Ridership has jumped 12% in five years, from 405.4-million riders in 2003, to 459.8-million riders last year.
The crowding has become horrendous, and the reason is simple: In 1988, the TTC operated 1,787 buses and trolley buses. As we return to our peak, we have (as of Dec. 31) 1,491 buses, and no trolley buses.
"We are carrying more people with less vehicles," says Mike DeToma, a TTC spokesman.
As a TTC report to a meeting on Wednesday notes, "Unusually, it has not been possible to add service to reduce observed overcrowding for much of the past three years. There have been insufficient buses and operators available since March, 2005."
There is good news: This month the TTC added service to 173 bus routes, at all times on weekdays and on weekends, including a total of 30 additional buses during the morning peak, "the single largest permanent TTC service increase in recent decades."
In the past week I tested out a dozen bus lines in North York, Scarborough, York and Toronto, and came away impressed. I never waited more than three or four minutes for any bus.
At Downsview Station, the 195 York University Rocket was waiting when I arrived. The trip to York took 10 minutes. I got chatting with the driver.
"Yeah, you can put on more service, but there's always little problems," he observed. "Snowstorms, ice, traffic. And these newer buses, I notice, break down a lot. The hybrids lose their charge." He pointed to his instrument console. "Let's say something goes wrong in here, Then all of a sudden the thing stalls and won't go. Those old GMs -- they go forever." (The seats in the rear, raised portion of the new buses are also terribly designed, miserable little spots with scant leg room, a problem the TTC has promised to rectify.)
Even as service increases, the buses remain packed. The 25, which travels north on Don Mills Road from Pape Station, remains a cocktail sausage package, and the TTC so far has no resources to add more buses there.
Riders have to put up with a lot. I boarded the 95 York Mills bus at 3:30 p.m; it was packed with private school kids in ties and grey pants. From the size of their homework knapsacks, it looked like they were heading to Afghanistan. One kid flattened me with his backpack.
"Oh my god," said one girl. "It's so crowded today." Another said to a boy who boarded, "Don't worry, just push through if you're trying to get by me. "
A third student said, "I don't know how we are going to get off." Somehow, we all got off.
At 4 p.m. at the Don Mills subway station, the 95 Sheppard also came right away. Everyone got a seat. A father, with his two kids, said service has definitely improved. "I am surprised," he said. "I came two weeks ago and this bus was packed. Normally it's packed." (The TTC last week added three buses here in the "early evening.")
Yes, folks, it is time to applaud the TTC. They are doing something right. I tried the 36 Finch East and the 41 Keele, too: both were busy, but on time and offered quick service.
And then, at 6:17 p.m., I arrived at Dufferin and Bloor streets, fully expecting my usual 15-minute wait for an overcrowded southbound bus. Instead, the bus came at 6:20 p.m. Another 29 is right behind. Sure, the bus smells of fish. But it is here. And I even have a seat. Thank you, TTC.
pkuitenbrouwer@nationalpost.com
Next: Subways
---
BY THE NUMBERS
1,787 Number of TTC buses and trolley buses in 1988.
1,491 Number of TTC buses today. The TTC has no trolley buses.
173 Number of bus routes that saw service improvements, starting on Feb. 17.
$16.02 Maximum operator hourly wage in 1988.
$26.58 Maximum operator hourly wage in 2008.
$4.50 Minimum wage in 1988.
$8 Minimum wage in 2008.
70 Percentage of TTC users who get a seat.
(Averaging in rush hour and off-peak times. Less than half of subway riders get a seat in rush hour.)
JasonParis
Moderator
A seat on the Queen streetcar? Don't make me laugh
Peter Kuitenbrouwer, National Post
The TTC, which expects to set a record this year by transporting 464 million passengers, has recently announced major service improvements and has plans for a big expansion. Peter Kuitenbrouwer begins a three-part series on the challenges faced by the city’s transit service with a look at streetcars.
On Tuesday at 9:20 a.m., Brent Hetherington, director of account management for an Internet software company, stood in snowfall at the corner of Greenwood Avenue and Queen Street East waiting for the 501 Queen streetcar.
“I’m kind of frustrated right now,†he said. “I’ve been waiting 20 minutes. A King one went by, but that turns off at Broadview. In general, the Queen Street line is overpacked. A lot of times a streetcar will go by and it’s so packed that you can’t even get on.â€
Finally a 501 arrived and we embarked, running the gauntlet of commuters lining the aisle, coaxed by the barking voice of the driver: “Move all the way to the back.†A seat? Don’t make me laugh.
Streetcar service, the most iconic feature of Toronto’s transit system, has become its weakest link. Even as Mayor David Miller earlier this month announced sweeping improvements to bus service, with 30 more buses in the morning rush, he announced no changes to streetcar service during rush hour. The four downtown east-west streetcar lines — King, Queen, Dundas and College — are so slow that it is now faster to walk than take the streetcar for many trips.
Last Friday at 10:30 a.m., seeing a clump of 12 people shivering at the streetcar stop at College and Crawford streets, I chose to walk to Bay Street, and made it as fast as the streetcar. On Tuesday morning, my 501 left Dovercourt Road at 8:35 a.m., arriving at Yonge Street at 9 a.m.
The TTC has responded by removing one row of seats at the back end of streetcars, so that more people can stand.
“Not only do you get to pay higher taxes for a transit service that doesn’t work,†says Michael Mouland, a senior editor at Key Porter Books, “and higher fares, but now you don’t get a seat.â€
He commutes from College and Havelock streets to Yonge and Adelaide.
“My preference is bicycle, walk, drive and then transit, in that order. It infuriates me. And I’m pro-transit! Why does it take me 40 to 50 minutes [by TTC] to travel five kilometres?â€
Why? Part of the problem is a streetcar shortage. Back in 1988, when TTC ridership peaked, the TTC operated 300 streetcars. Since then the TTC has cut 52 streetcars, to 248, while adding streetcar service on Spadina and Queens Quay. In fact, the TTC informs me, it has “a maximum of 186 streetcars currently scheduled for service.†The other 62 are in the shop.
Yesterday, outside a TTC meeting at City Hall, Mitch Stambler, manager of service planning, said the TTC is considering temporarily replacing streetcar service with buses on Bathurst Street and Kingston Road “on an interim, temporary, defined, limited basis only,†so they can add streetcars on the busiest routes (King, Queen and Carlton).
“The streetcar fleet is so stinkin’ old that options are very limited,†he said.
There is one bright spot: the streetcar lanes on Spadina, about a decade old, where service is frequent and smooth. The St. Clair dedicated streetcar, mired in controversy, is not yet in full operation.
The TTC has a tender for 204 new, longer streetcars to replace the existing fleet; the tenders close in April and delivery is in 2011.
Wow. In the 20 years since the TTC last received a streetcar, did no one think we might need more of these things? We ordered lots more buses — why didn’t we order streetcars?
And if we don’t have more streetcars, why is the TTC spending $176-million between 2003 and 2008 to replace about 40 kilometres of streetcar tracks? There is so much track work that a friend calls it “the Toronto Cement Commission.†Shouldn’t we have spent at least a part of that on streetcars?
Longer term, the TTC has its Transit City light rail plan — outlined in some detail at yesterday’s meeting. It plans longer streetcars in dedicated lanes on Eglinton, Sheppard East, Finch West, Don Mills and the Waterfront West.
Mr. Stambler went through a slideshow of sexy streetcars in Barcelona, Paris and San Francisco, “to remind us of what Toronto will look like at some point in the future.â€
But not only is that future at least five years and $7-billion away, it does nothing to solve the problems of streetcars that fight mixed traffic on east-west routes downtown.
Six weeks ago, Mr. Hetherington moved into his new place in Leslieville. When we met at the streetcar stop, he was carrying several tins of cookies: housewarming party leftovers he was bringing to the office. He loves his new neighbourhood, with one caveat. He went from riding the Yonge subway line to the Queen streetcar. The transit adjustment has been a rude shock.
“It’s really slow considering there are so many people who use this line,†he says. “If they added service it’s not like it would go empty.â€
He visited San Francisco on business last week and reports, âœI thought, ‘Wow, this is quite impressive, considering it’s half the price of Toronto.’ â€
Photo by Merle Robillard for National Post
Peter Kuitenbrouwer, National Post
The TTC, which expects to set a record this year by transporting 464 million passengers, has recently announced major service improvements and has plans for a big expansion. Peter Kuitenbrouwer begins a three-part series on the challenges faced by the city’s transit service with a look at streetcars.
On Tuesday at 9:20 a.m., Brent Hetherington, director of account management for an Internet software company, stood in snowfall at the corner of Greenwood Avenue and Queen Street East waiting for the 501 Queen streetcar.
“I’m kind of frustrated right now,†he said. “I’ve been waiting 20 minutes. A King one went by, but that turns off at Broadview. In general, the Queen Street line is overpacked. A lot of times a streetcar will go by and it’s so packed that you can’t even get on.â€
Finally a 501 arrived and we embarked, running the gauntlet of commuters lining the aisle, coaxed by the barking voice of the driver: “Move all the way to the back.†A seat? Don’t make me laugh.
Streetcar service, the most iconic feature of Toronto’s transit system, has become its weakest link. Even as Mayor David Miller earlier this month announced sweeping improvements to bus service, with 30 more buses in the morning rush, he announced no changes to streetcar service during rush hour. The four downtown east-west streetcar lines — King, Queen, Dundas and College — are so slow that it is now faster to walk than take the streetcar for many trips.
Last Friday at 10:30 a.m., seeing a clump of 12 people shivering at the streetcar stop at College and Crawford streets, I chose to walk to Bay Street, and made it as fast as the streetcar. On Tuesday morning, my 501 left Dovercourt Road at 8:35 a.m., arriving at Yonge Street at 9 a.m.
The TTC has responded by removing one row of seats at the back end of streetcars, so that more people can stand.
“Not only do you get to pay higher taxes for a transit service that doesn’t work,†says Michael Mouland, a senior editor at Key Porter Books, “and higher fares, but now you don’t get a seat.â€
He commutes from College and Havelock streets to Yonge and Adelaide.
“My preference is bicycle, walk, drive and then transit, in that order. It infuriates me. And I’m pro-transit! Why does it take me 40 to 50 minutes [by TTC] to travel five kilometres?â€
Why? Part of the problem is a streetcar shortage. Back in 1988, when TTC ridership peaked, the TTC operated 300 streetcars. Since then the TTC has cut 52 streetcars, to 248, while adding streetcar service on Spadina and Queens Quay. In fact, the TTC informs me, it has “a maximum of 186 streetcars currently scheduled for service.†The other 62 are in the shop.
Yesterday, outside a TTC meeting at City Hall, Mitch Stambler, manager of service planning, said the TTC is considering temporarily replacing streetcar service with buses on Bathurst Street and Kingston Road “on an interim, temporary, defined, limited basis only,†so they can add streetcars on the busiest routes (King, Queen and Carlton).
“The streetcar fleet is so stinkin’ old that options are very limited,†he said.
There is one bright spot: the streetcar lanes on Spadina, about a decade old, where service is frequent and smooth. The St. Clair dedicated streetcar, mired in controversy, is not yet in full operation.
The TTC has a tender for 204 new, longer streetcars to replace the existing fleet; the tenders close in April and delivery is in 2011.
Wow. In the 20 years since the TTC last received a streetcar, did no one think we might need more of these things? We ordered lots more buses — why didn’t we order streetcars?
And if we don’t have more streetcars, why is the TTC spending $176-million between 2003 and 2008 to replace about 40 kilometres of streetcar tracks? There is so much track work that a friend calls it “the Toronto Cement Commission.†Shouldn’t we have spent at least a part of that on streetcars?
Longer term, the TTC has its Transit City light rail plan — outlined in some detail at yesterday’s meeting. It plans longer streetcars in dedicated lanes on Eglinton, Sheppard East, Finch West, Don Mills and the Waterfront West.
Mr. Stambler went through a slideshow of sexy streetcars in Barcelona, Paris and San Francisco, “to remind us of what Toronto will look like at some point in the future.â€
But not only is that future at least five years and $7-billion away, it does nothing to solve the problems of streetcars that fight mixed traffic on east-west routes downtown.
Six weeks ago, Mr. Hetherington moved into his new place in Leslieville. When we met at the streetcar stop, he was carrying several tins of cookies: housewarming party leftovers he was bringing to the office. He loves his new neighbourhood, with one caveat. He went from riding the Yonge subway line to the Queen streetcar. The transit adjustment has been a rude shock.
“It’s really slow considering there are so many people who use this line,†he says. “If they added service it’s not like it would go empty.â€
He visited San Francisco on business last week and reports, âœI thought, ‘Wow, this is quite impressive, considering it’s half the price of Toronto.’ â€
Photo by Merle Robillard for National Post
scarberiankhatru
Senior Member
The 4 o'clock hour is eerily quiet on most bus routes...high school kids have gone through the system, but downtown workers haven't yet arrived back out in the suburbs. Then, the 6-7 o'clock hour is unnecessarily overcrowded, as service is scaled back "after rush hour" even though crowds are still there. There's some evidence that the TTC acknowledges this, though, as I've seen the post-6pm Steeles East service improved over the years.
JasonParis
Moderator
One more person, and this subway's gonna explode
Posted: February 29, 2008, 4:50 PM by Rob Roberts
Peter Kuitenbrouwer
NATONAL POST
The TTC, which expects to set a record this year by transporting 464 million passengers, has recently announced major service improvements and has plans for a big expansion. Peter Kuitenbrouwer wraps up his series on the challenges faced by the city’s transit service with a look at the subway.
At 5:45 p.m. on Tuesday, two musicians, on accordion and violin, are belting out a Russian folk version of “Those Were the Days,” near the Gateway newsstand on the north end of the northbound Yonge subway, at Bloor station. A train leaves about 75 people on the platform.
Less than two minutes later, another train arrives. It takes everyone. A huge crowd of new passengers instantly appears on the platform. One minute later, another Finch train scoops them up.
Welcome to the most intense spot in Toronto. You have to step lively around here. Disembarking riders slam into me.
“Is this the way to Sheppard?” asks a woman in a fur coat. I nod.
“We just moved up here Dec. 1,” she explains. “Big difference from Newfoundland, right?”
Big difference, all right. I have weathered pack ice on a sealing boat off the coast of Bonavista, but nothing quite prepares you for the intensity of the Yonge line in rush hour. With 444,000 people walking through this station on a weekday, it is a madhouse. Low ceilings and poor stairway design on the Bloor platform contribute to the chaos.
The TTC says that between 8:35 and 8:55 a.m. on a weekday morning here, southbound on the Yonge train, it is now at capacity. The trains contain a truly scary mass of crushed, pressed, mashed, squished, flattened humanity. And that is with the TTC running trains as frequently as is possible. Should one additional rider arrive at this spot on Monday morning, they will not get a train.
Mitch Stambler, the TTC’s manager of service planning, compares it to the Queen Elizabeth Way at rush hour, suggesting that riders should travel at a different time.
“There’s not much more we can do to accommodate additional demand,” he says, speaking outside a TTC meeting at City Hall. “If people want to travel, they are forced to adjust their travel times, so they are not in the busiest of the busy.”
As his words sink, in, though, he struggles to find something encouraging to say.
“We’ve got approval to proceed with automatic signal control, which will speed things up,” he says. “And the TR Rocket, the new train we are getting [from Bombardier in 2009] holds 10% more people.”
Other cities, Montreal among them, choose to expand their subway networks, to take pressure off any one point of the system. (With the opening of three stations in Laval last year, Montreal’s Métro, which opened 13 years after Toronto’s, is now longer). After building half a subway on Sheppard Avenue, $1-billion for five stops, the TTC has decided that, with the exception of the new spur to York University, it is out of the subway business.
“Light rail” is the new buzzword, and this week commissioners saw a slide show of progress on Transit City, which involves dedicated streetcar lines on Eglinton, Don Mills, Sheppard, Finch, Jane and Lakeshore West. Each new line now has a project manager and several consultants on board. “The engineering and plannning teams are hiring like crazy,” Mr. Stambler says.
Vince Rodo, the TTC’s general manager, says light rail in its own right-of-way is the new better way.
“You build what you need for the people that you have to carry,” he says. “Transit City meets the needs of the city and it’s pretty cost-effective compared to subways.” But as questions Wednesday from commissioners Susan Hall and Glenn de Baeremaker, and Councillor Gord Perks, make clear, taking away space from cars on many of Toronto’s key thoroughfares promises to be a long and messy process. Subways are expensive, but they leave the surface unchanged.
Meanwhile the TTC overall, with 300 fewer buses and about 100 fewer streetcars than 20 years ago, still manages to employ 1,262 more people than in 1988, the last time it carried 464 million people. Mr. Rodo says those are mostly to fix the older subways, streetcars, buses, tracks and tunnels.
“The state of good repair budget is a lot higher than it was then,” he explains.
The TTC added buses this month. And with light rail, the TTC says, service will continue to improve. But we should not hold their breath for a comfortable transit experience, Mr. Stambler warns. When I asked whether riding the TTC is more enjoyable than it was 20 years ago, he pauses in thought.
“We don’t sell a very sexy product,” he says. “We provide a basic product. Safe, economical, pretty reliable transportation from A to B. It’s a derived demand -- something you do to accomplish something else.”
Then he plays the morality card. “I take transit every day because I know our planet is melting,” he says. “So people who take transit are part of the solution.”
Think about that, the next time you stand flattened, squished, cramped on an over-capacity subway, bus or streetcar. Yes, you are miserable. But on a spiritual level, you are at peace.
Photo by Peter J. Thompson, National Post
Posted: February 29, 2008, 4:50 PM by Rob Roberts
Peter Kuitenbrouwer
NATONAL POST
The TTC, which expects to set a record this year by transporting 464 million passengers, has recently announced major service improvements and has plans for a big expansion. Peter Kuitenbrouwer wraps up his series on the challenges faced by the city’s transit service with a look at the subway.
At 5:45 p.m. on Tuesday, two musicians, on accordion and violin, are belting out a Russian folk version of “Those Were the Days,” near the Gateway newsstand on the north end of the northbound Yonge subway, at Bloor station. A train leaves about 75 people on the platform.
Less than two minutes later, another train arrives. It takes everyone. A huge crowd of new passengers instantly appears on the platform. One minute later, another Finch train scoops them up.
Welcome to the most intense spot in Toronto. You have to step lively around here. Disembarking riders slam into me.
“Is this the way to Sheppard?” asks a woman in a fur coat. I nod.
“We just moved up here Dec. 1,” she explains. “Big difference from Newfoundland, right?”
Big difference, all right. I have weathered pack ice on a sealing boat off the coast of Bonavista, but nothing quite prepares you for the intensity of the Yonge line in rush hour. With 444,000 people walking through this station on a weekday, it is a madhouse. Low ceilings and poor stairway design on the Bloor platform contribute to the chaos.
The TTC says that between 8:35 and 8:55 a.m. on a weekday morning here, southbound on the Yonge train, it is now at capacity. The trains contain a truly scary mass of crushed, pressed, mashed, squished, flattened humanity. And that is with the TTC running trains as frequently as is possible. Should one additional rider arrive at this spot on Monday morning, they will not get a train.
Mitch Stambler, the TTC’s manager of service planning, compares it to the Queen Elizabeth Way at rush hour, suggesting that riders should travel at a different time.
“There’s not much more we can do to accommodate additional demand,” he says, speaking outside a TTC meeting at City Hall. “If people want to travel, they are forced to adjust their travel times, so they are not in the busiest of the busy.”
As his words sink, in, though, he struggles to find something encouraging to say.
“We’ve got approval to proceed with automatic signal control, which will speed things up,” he says. “And the TR Rocket, the new train we are getting [from Bombardier in 2009] holds 10% more people.”
Other cities, Montreal among them, choose to expand their subway networks, to take pressure off any one point of the system. (With the opening of three stations in Laval last year, Montreal’s Métro, which opened 13 years after Toronto’s, is now longer). After building half a subway on Sheppard Avenue, $1-billion for five stops, the TTC has decided that, with the exception of the new spur to York University, it is out of the subway business.
“Light rail” is the new buzzword, and this week commissioners saw a slide show of progress on Transit City, which involves dedicated streetcar lines on Eglinton, Don Mills, Sheppard, Finch, Jane and Lakeshore West. Each new line now has a project manager and several consultants on board. “The engineering and plannning teams are hiring like crazy,” Mr. Stambler says.
Vince Rodo, the TTC’s general manager, says light rail in its own right-of-way is the new better way.
“You build what you need for the people that you have to carry,” he says. “Transit City meets the needs of the city and it’s pretty cost-effective compared to subways.” But as questions Wednesday from commissioners Susan Hall and Glenn de Baeremaker, and Councillor Gord Perks, make clear, taking away space from cars on many of Toronto’s key thoroughfares promises to be a long and messy process. Subways are expensive, but they leave the surface unchanged.
Meanwhile the TTC overall, with 300 fewer buses and about 100 fewer streetcars than 20 years ago, still manages to employ 1,262 more people than in 1988, the last time it carried 464 million people. Mr. Rodo says those are mostly to fix the older subways, streetcars, buses, tracks and tunnels.
“The state of good repair budget is a lot higher than it was then,” he explains.
The TTC added buses this month. And with light rail, the TTC says, service will continue to improve. But we should not hold their breath for a comfortable transit experience, Mr. Stambler warns. When I asked whether riding the TTC is more enjoyable than it was 20 years ago, he pauses in thought.
“We don’t sell a very sexy product,” he says. “We provide a basic product. Safe, economical, pretty reliable transportation from A to B. It’s a derived demand -- something you do to accomplish something else.”
Then he plays the morality card. “I take transit every day because I know our planet is melting,” he says. “So people who take transit are part of the solution.”
Think about that, the next time you stand flattened, squished, cramped on an over-capacity subway, bus or streetcar. Yes, you are miserable. But on a spiritual level, you are at peace.
Photo by Peter J. Thompson, National Post