http://www.thestar.com/GTA/Columnist/article/624342
Sleek streetcar fleet will drive us into the future
Apr 25, 2009 04:30 AM
Comments on this story (4)
Christopher Hume
It comes a decade late, but Toronto transit users will finally be able to ride into the 21st century without leaving town to do so.
The TTC's long-awaited decision to replace its aging streetcars with a fleet of Bombardier LRVs (Light Rail Vehicles) will transform transit, and with it Toronto.
The current cars, which have lumbered up and down the streets of the city for 30-odd years, might as well have been made in the 1800s. Visitors, especially Americans, love them, but for regulars, they have long outlived their welcome.
Sleek, modern, efficient and user-friendly – words that haven't been associated with the TTC for decades – will soon apply. The new vehicles, variations of which are in use around the world, will possess all those virtues.
Most obviously, Bombardier's cars will hum their way through the city just centimetres above ground. This may not sound like much, but eliminating those four steps will make all the difference to the aged, the infirm and anyone schlepping grocery carts or baby strollers.
The current rolling stock presents an unintentional obstacle course. In addition to their height, these vehicles have only two doors, front and back, both invariably blocked. The entrance, which also serves as an exit, is particularly problematic.
By contrast, the replacement carriages will be longer, lower and accessible from multiple doors.
Because entry will be computerized, riders will no longer need to pay their cash fare or flash their Metropass to the long-suffering operators up front. Drivers will sit in their own enclosed compartments, free to concentrate on the task at hand, not on the passengers counting out $2.75 in nickels and dimes.
Inside, the vehicles will be clean and simple. The fact there's more than one entrance will eliminate the inevitable crush of passengers standing and blocking the rear of the car.
Typically, those who do manage to fight their way through the crowd at the front often find empty seats at the back. But the struggle to get there isn't for the faint of heart.
As in the existing vehicles, seating on the new LRVs is perpendicular to the sides, not parallel. This means passengers can see where they're going, and, if inclined, enjoy the view.
Experts will tell you that to succeed in North America, public transit service must be better than driving; in other words, it must be more convenient. The car isn't viewed as the preferred alternative; here it's the enemy of transit. The Bombardier LRV will change these perceptions by presenting a more up-to-date image, as well as improved service. Both are critical. The idea of the "Red Rocket," as romantic and charming as it may be, doesn't quite jive with a contemporary urban transportation system used by grown-ups.
The clunky streetcars we have today are the steam locomotives of urban transit. They speak of an earlier time when people weren't so rushed. They look slow, sound heavy and are hard to take seriously. The LRV reverses that; it will make cars, freeways, elevated highways, gridlock, exhaust, smog and, indeed, the very notion of city driving seem as old-fashioned, and as quaint, as top hats and spats.
Bombardier's LRVs won't appear on the streets of Toronto until at least 2011, but their arrival can be counted on to unleash an emotional debate about the traditional dominance of the single-occupancy vehicle. The new LRVs will make it clear our roads are simply too valuable to be left to cars.
If the current streetcars brought us to where we are today, the new ones will take us where we need to be tomorrow.
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Don't be so quick to criticize the existing CLRVs now that we are getting new streetcars, Mr. Hume. I'd say if it wasn't for the CLRVs Toronto might not have a streetcar network today, and you won't have a new streetcar design to drool over.
The CLRV streetcar is unique to Toronto. It's the number one transportation icon of modern Toronto, and shows up in quite a number of postcard shots of the city. I'd like to see it retired honourably, and some should be preserved in a heritage fleet.