The Great Canadian Transit Thread

[miketoronto]

That photo was probably taken right after a train pulled out and that was the people who could not get onto the train.
I used to do that commute every morning, and you can't move at Bloor Station during rush hour. It is normal to have to let three or four trains go by before you can get on a train.


The TTC also has a weird gate system that forces people to walk all the way down the platform to get back up to the other end. It is supposed to spread people out.

[matt602]

Originally Posted by The Chemist

Is that all? Doesn't look very crowded to me at all.

The photo may not do it justice but it IS that bad at nearly all the stations on the Yonge line between Bloor and Union. I had to wait over 5 trains at Dundas last time I took the subway in Toronto at rush hour just to be able to physically board the train. I couldn't even push my way on until the 6th train. Next time I was downtown at that time trying to get East to Woodbine I figured I'd take the 506 Carlton streetcar instead. It was an even worse idea. After an hour's worth of passing, full to the doors streetcars, I went downstairs and battled my way into the subway instead.

Rush hour in Toronto = hell.

[Beedok]

Every time I've tried to take a streetcar in Toronto it was horribly crowded, though I suppose it was still within a couple hours of rush hour.

[Innsertnamehere]

Originally Posted by Beedok

Every time I've tried to take a streetcar in Toronto it was horribly crowded, though I suppose it was still within a couple hours of rush hour.

It's because the streetcars handle most east-west traffic as the bloor line is too far north. The king and queen streetcars (504 and 501) each carry more people in a day than many mid sized cities entire systems. (50,000+ for each) there is an extreme need for the DRL (an east west subway closer to the lake that would solve these problems) but political deadlock is preventing it and it is still 10+ years away.

[MexiQuebecois]

Mehh, that looks mild compared to the insanity I've experienced in Mexico City.

• Video Link


I hope it never gets like this in Toronto/Montréal.

[kwoldtimer]

Canadians feel crowded when another person gets within arms length.

[caltrane74]

Yonge Bloor from Spacing.ca


Downtown Relief Line Required

[MexiQuebecois]

Originally Posted by caltrane74

Yonge Bloor from Spacing.ca


Downtown Relief Line Required

So organized.

Here's another video.

• Video Link

[caltrane74]

There are only so many people you can fit onto any given train. The people on the platform that can't fit in that train have to wait for the next train. This is the challenge here, and why the second line into downtown is required.

And yes, Toronto is not Mexico City, and there is no reason for us to be crowded onto subways like they are down there. We are known for being refined and well run, like the Swiss Bankers Watch, and yet we have a pure Amazon Jungle Subway System, like Mexico City. Two new lines from the west and the east into the downtown core, will create a more civilized method of transport into the core, this is what Toronto would naturally be accustomed to.

[caltrane74]

TTC Chair proposes making Queen Street or King Street - Streetcar Only



http://toronto.ctvnews.ca/ttc-head-floats-streetcar-corridor-on-king-or-queen-1.1333645

The head of Toronto’s public transit agency is floating a bold idea to address downtown streetcar congestion, but the proposal may irritate motorists who are fed up with clogged roads.

TTC CEO Andy Byford wants the city to consider taking cars off a stretch of downtown King Street or Queen Street to create a corridor for streetcars, at least during the morning rush.

In an interview with CP24, Byford said a car-free zone on King or Queen - two busy routes where rumbling streetcars share the road with vehicles and cyclists - would help to prevent problematic bunching that result in gaps and service delays for riders


New Low Floor Street Cars Coming to Spadina and Bathurst First



TTC riders on Spadina and Bathurst will be the first to ride the city’s long-anticipated new streetcars when they roll out next year. Kingston Rd. and Carlton car riders, however, will be waiting until 2018 to 2019 for their turn.

An implementation plan for the new fleet of accessible, air-conditioned Bombardier streetcars shows that some routes will have less frequent service in the rush hours. In some cases riders will wait more than an extra two minutes.

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/transpor...na_as_first_line_for_new_streetcars.html

[niwell]

It would be great if they could shut down a portion of King, if even just for rush hour. The streetcar lanes are supposed to be transit only in theory now, but nobody pays attention to that, including the police. For the most part the King car is actually decently fast, it just realllllllly slows down from about Jarvis to Spadina.

Originally Posted by caltrane74

An implementation plan for the new fleet of accessible, air-conditioned Bombardier streetcars shows that some routes will have less frequent service in the rush hours. In some cases riders will wait more than an extra two minutes.

I do find it kind of funny people are making a big deal of this. During rush hour I think some routes will go from 2 minute to the eternity of almost 4 minute service! I remember living places where I wouid show up to the bus stop over 10 minutes early, you know, just in case.

[caltrane74]

Some nice street landscaping to demarcate the Streetcar tracks/lanes from regular traffic would be nice, without actually banning cars from those lanes. In theory, it just would make it more difficult for cars to switch back and forth from the transit lane to the car only lane, and this is what slows up traffic.

[MonkeyRonin]

The roads don't need to be car free - they just need to be free of on-street parking and left turns (ie. they have more than one lane of traffic). If needed, the streetcar lanes could then be used as a transit ROW.

[Chadillaccc]

Construction on Calgary's Lions Park Station expansion began today. By mid-2014, all of Calgary's stations will be expanded to 4-car platforms and primed for the introduction of 4-car trains.

[kwoldtimer]

The Region of Waterloo has started public consultations on the design of the stations for the K-C-W LRT/aBRT line.

http://rapidtransit.regionofwaterloo.ca/...CENTRES_FOR_ION_STOP_DESIGN_CONCEPTS.pdf

I must say that, after many years watching how these things happen (or more often don't, it seems) in Ottawa, I find it refreshing the way folks down here just seem to keep heads down and git 'er done.

[SignalHillHiker]

There will be an announcement about downtown trolley service in St. John's tomorrow.

We are secretly hoping they will return the Norway of the New World, the San Francisco of the East, to its former glory and return the trams.

But we're expecting a glorified Metrobus (Loser Cruiser) driving in circles downtown.

But it COULD be happy new tram news! We'll find out tomorrow.

My friend Bevie heard it'll cost $5/day to ride as much as you want. Doesn't sound like a bus... but time will tell.

[Chadillaccc]

Wow, that would be excellent. Is this as big of a surprise to you as it is to me? I haven't even heard a whisper of this in the 2.5 years I've been on this forum!

[SignalHillHiker]

Originally Posted by Chadillaccc

Wow, that would be excellent. Is this as big of a surprise to you as it is to me? I haven't even heard a whisper of this in the 2.5 years I've been on this forum!

Caught us all off guard tonight. Media personalities in town are tweeting/retweeting with a VOCM reporter who broke the news.

Now, it could very well be a normal Metrobus on a summer route. We have NO idea. But we'll find out tomorrow.

[Marty_Mcfly]

Maybe they'll tear up Water street to expose the old tram lines overnight, and we'll awake in the morning to a whole new downtown

I'll try and not get my hopes up until tomorrow; I'd hate to get all excited and the find out it's only going to be a bus designed like a train.

[SignalHillHiker]

You need to put some indication that you're from St. John's in your Location section, Marty. People are going to wonder why the f**k Marty in Charlottetown cares/knows so much about the city.

EDIT: Whoever moved that - sorry and thank you!