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dowlingm said:
Correct. There are three installed but unusable crossovers near St Clair, College and King. Starting to get annoying how long it's been since they've been (re-)installed (at least in King's case, but it was removed because it wasn't powered/tied in to signals.
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They are currently replacing the old (1950s!) signalling system on that line. The reinstated crossovers are only part of the new system. So they can't be used until they switch over from the old, to new system. Which is still months away. 2016? There was no (recent) plan to have these working quickly - just to make sure they are ready to go as part of the new system.
 
There should be automated entrances for Eglinton West station at Alburn, since Eglinton West station will be under renovation anyways. The stairs and the turnstiles would partially mitigate concerns that Alburn is too far from the station platforms. Alternatively, there can be a small pedestrian/cycling bridge linking Whitmore with Old Forest Hill and an automated entrance can be installed there for much less money, since Whitmore/Old Forest Hill is closer to Eglinton West station than Alburn.
 
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nfitz said:
They are currently replacing the old (1950s!) signalling system on that line. The reinstated crossovers are only part of the new system. So they can't be used until they switch over from the old, to new system. Which is still months away. 2016? There was no (recent) plan to have these working quickly - just to make sure they are ready to go as part of the new system.
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Thesystem was designed in the 50s and is still based on the signal principals of that time, but the backend is modern, right? Like they aren't using vacuum tubes, are they?
 
Jonny5 said:
Thesystem was designed in the 50s and is still based on the signal principals of that time, but the backend is modern, right? Like they aren't using vacuum tubes, are they?
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But the IBM 701 computer was state-of-the-art in the 1950's.

 
Toronto lags other Canadian cities in building transit: Pembina report

Read More: http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/201...ities_in_building_transit_pembina_report.html

PDF Report: http://www.pembina.org/reports/fast-cities-report.pdf

.....

A new report released Friday by the Pembina Institute shows that much of Toronto’s success in attracting people to transit is based on old investments in subways and streetcars.

- But our continuing devotion to those subways is not cost-effective, and it threatens Toronto’s success in attracting riders that other cities are trying to emulate, according to the report. The study compares Toronto transit to four other Canadian centres: Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary and Ottawa.
It shows that Toronto still has the most transit and the most ridership. But, as the city’s election campaign kicks into high gear, the report suggests politicians step back and look more broadly at how other cities are building transit, said Pembina’s Ontario director, Cherise Burda.

- It points to the perils of dithering over yet another round of subway plans. --- “It’s not to say we shouldn’t build subways. Of course we need to keep doing, that but the subways we’re going to be building are for the next generation, and this generation is stuck in traffic,†she said. --- In the past 20 years, Vancouver built 44 kilometres of SkyTrain and bus rapid transit (BRT). Calgary built 29 kilometres of light rail and BRT. Toronto opened only 18 kilometres of new rapid transit in the same period. Those cities moved ahead by diversifying their systems, building transit that can be realized faster and serve more communities, said Burda.

.....




ttc_streetcar.jpg.size.xxlarge.promo.jpg
 
Jonny5 said:
Thesystem was designed in the 50s and is still based on the signal principals of that time, but the backend is modern, right? Like they aren't using vacuum tubes, are they?
Click to expand...

There really isn't a "back-end" per se with older signal systems. There is no one central office which manages the system, unlike the Seltrac II system that is used on the SRT.

While certain aspects of the system have been upgraded over the years, it still runs the same way that it did when it opened in 1954. No, we're not talking about vacuum tubes, but there are a lot of relays and copper wire.

Dan
Toronto, Ont.
 
M II A II R II K said:
Toronto lags other Canadian cities in building transit: Pembina report

Read More: http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/201...ities_in_building_transit_pembina_report.html

PDF Report: http://www.pembina.org/reports/fast-cities-report.pdf

.....

A new report released Friday by the Pembina Institute shows that much of Toronto’s success in attracting people to transit is based on old investments in subways and streetcars.

- But our continuing devotion to those subways is not cost-effective, and it threatens Toronto’s success in attracting riders that other cities are trying to emulate, according to the report. The study compares Toronto transit to four other Canadian centres: Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary and Ottawa.
It shows that Toronto still has the most transit and the most ridership. But, as the city’s election campaign kicks into high gear, the report suggests politicians step back and look more broadly at how other cities are building transit, said Pembina’s Ontario director, Cherise Burda.

- It points to the perils of dithering over yet another round of subway plans. --- “It’s not to say we shouldn’t build subways. Of course we need to keep doing, that but the subways we’re going to be building are for the next generation, and this generation is stuck in traffic,” she said. --- In the past 20 years, Vancouver built 44 kilometres of SkyTrain and bus rapid transit (BRT). Calgary built 29 kilometres of light rail and BRT. Toronto opened only 18 kilometres of new rapid transit in the same period. Those cities moved ahead by diversifying their systems, building transit that can be realized faster and serve more communities, said Burda.

.....
Click to expand...

I see two politicians directly responsible for Toronto lagging behind other Canadian cities. Mike Harris and Rob Ford.

Of the two, Mike Harris was the worst. He reduced (more like eliminated) provincial transit operating subsidies for all cities in Ontario, not just Toronto. It was under Harris that the original Eglinton West Subway was cancelled. The TTC was forced to reduce transit service big time. Some route hours of service were reduced, some routes eliminated entirely, and crowding increased.

Under Rob Ford, in the name of "efficiency", it was a near duplication of what happened under Harris. He tried to cancel rapid transit projects, just like Harris did. Under his direction, there were reduction of service for some routes, and crowding on buses returned. All in the name of "efficiency"... not.
 
The problem is that the way we build subways has changed significantly since the 1950s--all track is in underground bored tunnels. The stations are massive. Subway construction isn't that expensive if you use the old methods of cut-and-cover tunnels, elevated track and trenches. To draw a line on a map and demolish every building in the way for a trenched subway corridor probably costs as much as surface LRT. The great subway networks people admire like New York and London have extensive above ground trackage outside their city centres.
 
I know this is temporary for TIFF but oh man, were the 504 and 502 an absolute and total mess this weekend. I'm sorry if any of you had to ride these cars, while walking by Queen St it looked like an unmitigated disaster of backlogged streetcars.

A number of things boggle my mind:

1. Against the stance of the TTC, how was King blocked for the 504 streetcar? Why must the rest of the city that relies on the 504 (and 502, from the spillover) be inconvenienced for this event? Why do the rights of those attending TIFF trump everyone else?

2. How did previous years get by without such a ban?

3. Why weren't left turns by cars on Queen totally banned while TIFF is going on (i.e. after normal left-turn ban hours and on the weekend)? We all know how much of a problem this can be on the best of days, but you'd think just for *4 days* they could ban lefts totally.

4. Did any of you see any traffic officers directing streetcar vs. car traffic at key intersections like King / Spadina, Queen / Spadina? You'd think the city could have had some cops out there to prioritize streetcar turns.

We can't keep having this go on in this city.
 
During TIFF, the city should have just let only, ONLY streetcars (and VIPs) through King Street West. The streetcars don't have to go full throttle, just at a walking pace.
IMG_4406w.jpg


Instead, they put advertisements down the middle. Restaurants did expand out onto the roadway, up to the tracks.
tiff-street-closure-king.jpeg


If both pedestrians and streetcars used the track area, the restaurants could still have their space. The VIPs could still get in and so would the transit user.
 
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