[Richard White]

MADD is opposed to drunk driving. They are not against drinking. The way I see it, someone who purchases a beer in the subway is very unlikely to end up behind a wheel.

Unless they get blitzed and attempt to drive off with a bus...

 

[WillTo]

I tell you where I'm going. Don't ask who I am.

 

[TransitBart]

From CP24.


Anyone have a photo of one of these?

What a stupid f*cking idea. This government is composed of peasants lead by the peasant in chief. I know what is right, what is wrong and what is foolish. And I ain’t that old. Ford I (RoFo), Ford II (DoFo), Bolsonaro, Trump, Modi...Lord deliver me from these fools, fascists, racists, and ideologues.

 

[Johnny Au]

What a stupid f*cking idea. This government is composed of peasants lead by the peasant in chief. I know what is right, what is wrong and what is foolish. And I ain’t that old. Ford I (RoFo), Ford II (DoFo), Bolsonaro, Trump, Modi...Lord deliver me from these fools, fascists, racists, and ideologues.

Don't forget Trump clone Duterte of the Philippines.

 

[Neutrino]

^Yes because Trump is rounding up and killing people

 

[Johnny Au]

From CP24.


Anyone have a photo of one of these?

The full article: https://www.cp24.com/news/could-bee...e-gateway-kiosks-raise-the-question-1.4568426

Fairness and Choice often forget that even the most responsible of all adults do purchase items impulsively. There's a very good reason why many convenience stores inside subway stations around the world don't sell alcohol, even in jurisdictions with very liberal alcohol retail laws.

 

[Johnny Au]

@Jonny5

Here's the Want Beer sign at the Eglinton West station Gateway Newstands.

Why do groups like Fairness and Choice treat alcohol consumption as a human right for those over 19? Alcohol is a luxury, albeit at commodity prices. Though many drink, many other people happily live without alcohol (including myself due to the alcohol flush syndrome).

 

[thettctransitfanatic]

In Star:


GTA
Monday is your last chance to ride the TTC’s old, articulated streetcars

By Ilya BañaresStaff Reporter
Wed., Aug. 28, 2019timer2 min. read
If you’re a transit enthusiast, now is your chance to take one last ride on one of Toronto’s oldest streetcars.
On Monday, the TTC is officially retiring the last two of its articulated light rail vehicle (ALRV) streetcars — which are about three decades old — despite the agency’s efforts to extend their life for up to an additional 10 years.
According to the transit agency, both vehicles will run on Queen St. from 2 p.m. until roughly 5 p.m. on Labour Day. One will depart from the Russell Carhouse near Queen St. E. and Greenwood Ave. and head east until Bathurst St.

The other streetcar will depart from Bathurst and Wolseley Sts., at around the same time, although the precise time won’t be determined until later due to road closures and traffic from the Canadian National Exhibition.
The very last car leaves from the Wolseley Loop at 4:15 p.m. and will return to the Russell Carhouse at around 5 p.m., the TTC said.
Service on the two ALRVs will be free on their last day in commission.

Toronto transit expert Steve Munro said he was “surprised” by the news of the ALRVs’ retirement.

“I’ll go out and track them down and hope that it’s still in service by the time I get there,” he said.

I am quite surprised that they are able to get the remaining two ALRVs in working order given they have been out of regular service for months now, but I'm glad they were able to for one last ride.

 

[Jonny5]

I am quite surprised that they are able to get the remaining two ALRVs in working order given they have been out of regular service for months now, but I'm glad they were able to for one last ride.

I'm not sure it's been months. This summer has gone by quickly, as it always does, but I'm reasonably sure I randomly encountered one running on the 501 no more than about five or six weeks ago, so sometime in July.

 

[W. K. Lis]

Meanwhile...

French tramways deliver best value

From link.

The world’s best tramway? The French city of Dijon came top in the Eurogroup benchmarking exercise. This is Boulevard de Brosses, which, as with most French tramway streets, has been transformed across its whole width to accommodate the arrival of trams. Image courtesy of Y. Allain

On 2 July Eurogroup Consulting published Trams at the Heart of the 21st Century Metropolis – a benchmarking study of 32 tramway networks worldwide. It concluded that French systems led the way when judged against ten performance criteria.

Noting that almost 200 cities have introduced new tramways since the year 2000, the report concluded that trams are an important part of the 21st Century city: they are a common form of accessible, sustainable mobility, in addition to being an aggregator of other ‘micro mobility’ solutions.

The 32 systems studied in the report were divided into three categories: large cities where the tram is the backbone of public transport; cities that used the tram to complement metro systems; and cities using trams to connect outlying municipalities that are 15-20km (9-12 miles) from the centre.

Those networks highlighted were a mixture of modern and historic systems in North America, Europe, the Middle East and Australia. Amongst the large city systems Lyon, Paris, Bordeaux and Strasbourg came top with scores in the range 71-67 out of 100. Manchester was fifth with 66. Four other French systems followed.

For mid-sized cities, Dijon and Tours came top (66 and 61) with Bergen third (58). Nottingham was sixth (54), Croydon eighth (50) and Sheffield ninth (47).

For the historic systems, Zürich, Vienna and Brussels were at the top (63/60/56 respectively) followed by Melbourne (56).

The study reported that the arrival or revival of a tramway drives up mass transit ridership, as it attracts new customers who may not traditionally use public transport.

Tramway systems in France enjoy above average levels of patronage, with Paris T3 carrying 280 000 passengers/day, or 3.8m trips per km of tracks. This gives an operating cost recovery ratio of 114% (Dublin recorded 118%, Manchester 105%).

That's tramways, or streetcars, with a good recovery ratio. Wonder how Toronto's streetcars compare with its buses with its recovery ratio?

 

[W. K. Lis]

Trams at the heart of the 21st century metropolis

The return of trams in cities confirms the important role they play in the 21st-century urban landscape. Nearly 120 cities have introduced their own tram systems since 2000. This study published by Eurogroup Consulting, compares and ranks the performance of 32 tram systems around the world.

From link.

Three categories of tram systems were studied:

• recent tram systems in large cities with more than 500,000 residents,
• recent tram systems in mid-sized cities or serving neighbourhoods of large cities with under 500,000 residents,
• historic tram systems that have never been retired, such as those in Vienna, Zürich, Melbourne and Berlin.

The performance criteria used for the study included multimodal integration, speed, pricing, reliability and ridership.

Lyon, Dijon and Zurich head up the comparative study

In large cities, the Lyon, Paris and Bordeaux networks top the ranking. The Lyon tram network scores highly in terms of the high level of multimodal integration that it enjoys with bus routes, the metro, stations and soft transport modes as well as the tram corridor potential with three of the network's five lines carrying more than 100,000 passengers every day.

In mid-sized cities, Dijon and Tours in France and Bergen in Norway are distinguished. According to the study, the Dijon tram network scores above average in several criteria, notably its ticketing system where Open Payment has been introduced so passengers can now use their contactless bank cards instead of tickets. The tram's introduction in 2012 gave a major boost to public transport usage in the city with the numbers of people using it increasing by 40% in three years.

Among historic tram systems, Zürich is distinguished in the top spot, performing well in terms of ridership as well as making good use of resources and enjoying a high level of multimodal integration. Thanks to regular investments designed to modernise the network and enhance its longevity, the Zürich tram is delivering a performance comparable to those of younger systems.

Tram trends in 2019

The study also looked at tram trends in different fields including regional, management and industrial and technological trends. In regional terms, the tram is strengthening its position in a number of regions including Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, China and Australia.

Regarding management trends, although globally the public management model remains the most widespread, the study observes that transport authorities are increasingly awarding the operational management of tram systems – and more widely of their public transport networks – to private operators which are specialised in operation, maintenance and asset management. Indeed, in addition to day-to-day operational management, these operators are tasked with modernising and transforming networks as part of long-term contracts which are sometimes longer than 10 years.

Find out about the 32 tram systems, five tram trends and the 10 keys to the success of tram networks in the attached study.

To download, click on this link: Study - Trams at the heart of the 21st century metropolis

 

[drum118]

Metrolinx creates team to take over subway development

 

[Johnny Au]

Trams at the heart of the 21st century metropolis

The return of trams in cities confirms the important role they play in the 21st-century urban landscape. Nearly 120 cities have introduced their own tram systems since 2000. This study published by Eurogroup Consulting, compares and ranks the performance of 32 tram systems around the world.

From link.





Find out about the 32 tram systems, five tram trends and the 10 keys to the success of tram networks in the attached study.

To download, click on this link: Study - Trams at the heart of the 21st century metropolis

Wroclaw in Poland has a rather extensive tram system for a city of its size and age.

 

[kotsy]

Grabbed a bunch of photos from the ALRV's final run yesterday

https://www.flickr.com/photos/121506072@N02/albums/72157710679380746

 

[W. K. Lis]

Meanwhile...

Melbourne’s ‘Big Bang’: Report urges rail growth

From link.

A blueprint for rail development in the capital of Victoria (Australia) has been produced. The Melbourne Rail Plan 2019-2050, released by the Rail Futures Institute, recognises that car dependency levels are becoming unsustainable and existing trams and trains are near capacity. Patronage on the world’s largest tramway is up 13% in the last five years alone.

The plan seeks to provide new connections from middle and inner suburbs to the city centre, cross-suburban journeys, and improved links to heavy rail interchanges. New medium-capacity cross-suburban transit corridors would be developed, while the electrified commuter rail network would be extended to outer growth areas (11 schemes). A key target is to create a cross-city grid network.

Five new metro-style lines are proposed: Footscray – Caulfield; Southern Cross – Airport; Newport – Southern Cross – Croxton; Southern Cross – Pakenham (perhaps Gippsland); Glen Waverley – Knox City. A new fleet of 206 metro trains would also be required by 2037.

The plans include 13 tramway extensions, three cross-suburban tramlines and eight supplementary suburban routes, needing a further 483 trams by 2034. A new city line would run from Clifton Hill station via Alexandra Parade, Barkly St, Grattan St and Hawke St to Spencer St, while new links from Collins St to Westgate Park and Sandridge/Wirraway are also suggested. Medium Capacity Transit (MCT) is defined as light rail, bus rapid transit or light metro, with 231 route km on ten corridors, including a northern/eastern orbital line from the Airport via Broadmeadows, Keon Park, Heidelberg, Doncaster and Box Hill to Monash University, and a Ringwood – Knox City – Dandenong – Mentone line.

The total cost of infrastructure in the plan is suggested as AUD108.2bn (EUR67.2bn) – with rail at AUD69.6bn (EUR43.25bn), tram AUD8.6bn (EUR5.35bn) and MCT AUD30bn (EUR18.6bn). AUD3.4bn (EUR2.7bn) would be needed for the tram fleet, AUD2.4bn (EUR1.7bn) on the MCT fleet and AUD5.3bn (EUR3.3bn) for heavy rail.

The plan is now subject to consultation and political consideration.

Sounds like a Melbourne (better) version of Toronto's Transit City. Think Melbourne will have a better chance of fully implementing it.

You can download their plan summary, in PDF form, from this link.

You can follow on Wilkipedia, at this link.