-
There are reports this morning that the TTC Union has decided to "work to rule" and purposefully delay service in response to customers asking them to do their jobs properly. Clearly the message from the Union, and its Drivers to Customers is "Either let us treat you badly, or we won't drive you at all"
UPDATE
City TV ran into the head of the TTC Union - Bob Kinnear - who states that the Union is not behind this. Okay, fair enough. I remember him pleading with employees during the last wildcat strike. I apologize to the ATU, the reality is this is not from them, it is from the operators who are unwilling to show passengers respect, even when asked to. When even the Union can't control it's workers, you know things are bad.
Sorry, no extra data today!
Showing posts with label Transit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Transit. Show all posts
Monday, February 8, 2010
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Toronto - Class 2 Transportation Situation
-
I'm declaring a Class 2 Transportation Situation in Toronto.
The subway is down from Bloor to Eglinton, and was down during Rush hour.
More on our classes.
Class 1 - Total disruption of a Major route (Yonge Subway, 401, Lakeshore West) for both peak transportation periods. Example: When the city blew up.
Class 2 - Total disruption of a Major route during at least one peak period. Example: The unfortunate accident near Lawrence Station that took a life last year.
Class 3 - Partial disruption of a Major route or Total disruption of a Busy route (IE Eglinton West bus, Allen expressway, Sroufville GO line) during a peak period, or a class 2 incident outside of peak.
Class 4 - Partial disruption of a busy route, or total disruption of a minor route (IE Sheppard East, in Scarborough) during a peak period, or a class 3 incident outside of peak.
Class 5 - All other transportation emergencies.
Sorry, no extra data today!
I'm declaring a Class 2 Transportation Situation in Toronto.
The subway is down from Bloor to Eglinton, and was down during Rush hour.
More on our classes.
Class 1 - Total disruption of a Major route (Yonge Subway, 401, Lakeshore West) for both peak transportation periods. Example: When the city blew up.
Class 2 - Total disruption of a Major route during at least one peak period. Example: The unfortunate accident near Lawrence Station that took a life last year.
Class 3 - Partial disruption of a Major route or Total disruption of a Busy route (IE Eglinton West bus, Allen expressway, Sroufville GO line) during a peak period, or a class 2 incident outside of peak.
Class 4 - Partial disruption of a busy route, or total disruption of a minor route (IE Sheppard East, in Scarborough) during a peak period, or a class 3 incident outside of peak.
Class 5 - All other transportation emergencies.
Sorry, no extra data today!
Sunday, November 8, 2009
More on Transit
<- Click here to see the full post
This post contains information about the changes due to the busway, and information on accessibility within the TTCs various routes.
With the new accessible routes, more and more of the TTC network is becoming accessible. It is become so widespread that it is easier to list the non-accessible routes than it is to do the opposite. So which routes are non-accessible? Other than the three seeing changes on November 22nd, we have...
All the streetcar routes.
Express routes 142 and 141. Night routes 312 St. Clair, and 352 Lawrence West. As well as the following daytime routes:
6 Bay
52 Lawrence West
59 Maple Leaf
171 Mount Dennis
77 Sweansea
90 Vaughan
71 Runnymeade
117 Alness
160 Bathurst North
33 Forrest Hill
196 York University Rocket
Of these...
171 is a public bus route, but it's primary purpose is to be an 'employee shuttle' getting TTC workers to and from the Mount Dennis bus garage.
160 Bathurst North mirrors two bus routes that are accessible. 196 Rocket is a short cut of a route that is accessible. 77 and 71 bus routes interline with one another, so if one is to be made accessible, the other would have to be as well. 117 goes deep into an industrial area, but the 105 bus, which is accessible, mirrors it on the main drag.
This leaves us with the following.
6 Bay.
This route runs downtown, and is one of the few buses to do so. Most other downtown routes are rail based, either streetcar, subway, or GO Train. 6 Bay is the weak link in the system. Streetcars are not accessible, and many downtown stations are not either. Bay is not far from Yonge, and there is no Yonge bus for most of the day. Making this route accessible would be a very important step towards making the city accessible. The problem is that the bus garage that this bus route operates out of is the newest of the garages, and hence, had last pick of equipment at the time of the move. Hopefully some of the newly ordered accessible buses will go to that garage, and then to this route.
52 Lawrence West.
This is one of the more 'main' routes of the TTC network. While it's sister route, 58 Malton, may be accessible, the fact that this route is not does leave gaps in the network. This route certainly should be a priority.
77/71 Runnymeade. 33 Forrest Hill. 90 Vaughan. 59 Maple Leaf.
All these routes are physically close to accessible routes, but are not themselves. All of them run through residential areas, and connect those areas to areas for shopping or working. They may find that they are the last to be converted.
Also in this recent set of service changes are changes due to the busway to York University opening. The 196 Rocket and VIVA Orange will change, of course, to use this new busway. What may be of interest is that other routes will be changing as well. In order to get the most out of the new busway, a new exit/entrance to Downsview station has been built that empties right on to Allen Road. Due to this there are a few changes. The 105 Dufferin North will use this new entrance, and therefore, not run along Wilson Heights Blvd at all. 117 Alness will also use this new entrance and not Wilson Heights. The biggest change is going to occur to the 104 Faywood route. This route will now head from Wilson to Finch, then down Dufferin to Wilson Heights, and finally down to Downsview. It will connect the two stations but go out of it's way to do so. This requires the removal of service on Overbrook (at least it will once the gaping hole in Finch is fixed) It also means reduced service levels on Wilson Heights. The fact that it connects two subway stations, however, can be a bonus. I personally recommend using it to transit between the two in the event of subway disruptions (as the replacement shuttles would likely be full to the brim of people who do not read this blog!)
This post contains information about the changes due to the busway, and information on accessibility within the TTCs various routes.
With the new accessible routes, more and more of the TTC network is becoming accessible. It is become so widespread that it is easier to list the non-accessible routes than it is to do the opposite. So which routes are non-accessible? Other than the three seeing changes on November 22nd, we have...
All the streetcar routes.
Express routes 142 and 141. Night routes 312 St. Clair, and 352 Lawrence West. As well as the following daytime routes:
6 Bay
52 Lawrence West
59 Maple Leaf
171 Mount Dennis
77 Sweansea
90 Vaughan
71 Runnymeade
117 Alness
160 Bathurst North
33 Forrest Hill
196 York University Rocket
Of these...
171 is a public bus route, but it's primary purpose is to be an 'employee shuttle' getting TTC workers to and from the Mount Dennis bus garage.
160 Bathurst North mirrors two bus routes that are accessible. 196 Rocket is a short cut of a route that is accessible. 77 and 71 bus routes interline with one another, so if one is to be made accessible, the other would have to be as well. 117 goes deep into an industrial area, but the 105 bus, which is accessible, mirrors it on the main drag.
This leaves us with the following.
6 Bay.
This route runs downtown, and is one of the few buses to do so. Most other downtown routes are rail based, either streetcar, subway, or GO Train. 6 Bay is the weak link in the system. Streetcars are not accessible, and many downtown stations are not either. Bay is not far from Yonge, and there is no Yonge bus for most of the day. Making this route accessible would be a very important step towards making the city accessible. The problem is that the bus garage that this bus route operates out of is the newest of the garages, and hence, had last pick of equipment at the time of the move. Hopefully some of the newly ordered accessible buses will go to that garage, and then to this route.
52 Lawrence West.
This is one of the more 'main' routes of the TTC network. While it's sister route, 58 Malton, may be accessible, the fact that this route is not does leave gaps in the network. This route certainly should be a priority.
77/71 Runnymeade. 33 Forrest Hill. 90 Vaughan. 59 Maple Leaf.
All these routes are physically close to accessible routes, but are not themselves. All of them run through residential areas, and connect those areas to areas for shopping or working. They may find that they are the last to be converted.
Also in this recent set of service changes are changes due to the busway to York University opening. The 196 Rocket and VIVA Orange will change, of course, to use this new busway. What may be of interest is that other routes will be changing as well. In order to get the most out of the new busway, a new exit/entrance to Downsview station has been built that empties right on to Allen Road. Due to this there are a few changes. The 105 Dufferin North will use this new entrance, and therefore, not run along Wilson Heights Blvd at all. 117 Alness will also use this new entrance and not Wilson Heights. The biggest change is going to occur to the 104 Faywood route. This route will now head from Wilson to Finch, then down Dufferin to Wilson Heights, and finally down to Downsview. It will connect the two stations but go out of it's way to do so. This requires the removal of service on Overbrook (at least it will once the gaping hole in Finch is fixed) It also means reduced service levels on Wilson Heights. The fact that it connects two subway stations, however, can be a bonus. I personally recommend using it to transit between the two in the event of subway disruptions (as the replacement shuttles would likely be full to the brim of people who do not read this blog!)
Blog Announcement: Public Transit
<- Click here to see the full post
I've decided to make a change to this blog.
One blog I read often is Steve Munro .ca Over there Steve talks about Transit, but every once in a while does a review of plays and movies. I am not interested in either of those two, but rather read his blog due to this focus on Transit. He is free to post about what he wants, as it's his blog.
Well, this is my blog, and I've decided to put the new "Read More" option to good use. I will, from time to time, make posts regarding Public Transit in Toronto and elsewhere. I will, however, hide them 'below the fold' so that those who do not wish to read them will not have to. To begin, our first story, below the fold.
The TTC in what has become an unusual move, has put out it's service changes early. Also early is the Official Service Summary, a technical document explaining the workings of each route in numbers. This document is useful for anyone who wants to know how "frequent" that "frequent service" bus really is. For the record, a "headway" is the time between when the front bumper of one vehicle passes a point, and the front bumper of the next vehicle passes the same point. Due to red lights and traffic it's idealized, of course, but it is a good guidepost to go by.
There are not many changes to look at. In November we get some bike racks, and a few diversions ending. The Bathurst streetcar gets two new trips, southbound, on sunday, in the morning. The only route with a 'true' improvement is my home bus route, 106 York University, which goes back to its last-winter headway of 8 minutes and 15 seconds in the morning peak. The afternoon peak also will see an improvement. In December, the St. Clair streetcar will run from Yonge St to Lansdowne, leaving a much smaller Lansdowne to Keele area for shuttle buses to cover.
Beyond this, we gain some new accessible routes. 107 Keele North, 10 Van Horne, and 89 Weston will now all run accessible low floor buses (or high floor buses with lifts) at all times of the day. Remember, this starts November 22nd.
The last change is due to the busway to York University. A closer examination of the busway and accessible services is in the next post.
I've decided to make a change to this blog.
One blog I read often is Steve Munro .ca Over there Steve talks about Transit, but every once in a while does a review of plays and movies. I am not interested in either of those two, but rather read his blog due to this focus on Transit. He is free to post about what he wants, as it's his blog.
Well, this is my blog, and I've decided to put the new "Read More" option to good use. I will, from time to time, make posts regarding Public Transit in Toronto and elsewhere. I will, however, hide them 'below the fold' so that those who do not wish to read them will not have to. To begin, our first story, below the fold.
The TTC in what has become an unusual move, has put out it's service changes early. Also early is the Official Service Summary, a technical document explaining the workings of each route in numbers. This document is useful for anyone who wants to know how "frequent" that "frequent service" bus really is. For the record, a "headway" is the time between when the front bumper of one vehicle passes a point, and the front bumper of the next vehicle passes the same point. Due to red lights and traffic it's idealized, of course, but it is a good guidepost to go by.
There are not many changes to look at. In November we get some bike racks, and a few diversions ending. The Bathurst streetcar gets two new trips, southbound, on sunday, in the morning. The only route with a 'true' improvement is my home bus route, 106 York University, which goes back to its last-winter headway of 8 minutes and 15 seconds in the morning peak. The afternoon peak also will see an improvement. In December, the St. Clair streetcar will run from Yonge St to Lansdowne, leaving a much smaller Lansdowne to Keele area for shuttle buses to cover.
Beyond this, we gain some new accessible routes. 107 Keele North, 10 Van Horne, and 89 Weston will now all run accessible low floor buses (or high floor buses with lifts) at all times of the day. Remember, this starts November 22nd.
The last change is due to the busway to York University. A closer examination of the busway and accessible services is in the next post.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Some good news
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Toronto has won the 2015 Pan Am games. Like the Olympics, this draws in crowds, and media attention. Also like the Olympics, this has side effects attached to it.
Economic:
This is good for the economy. People debate weather the games "cost" more than it "brings in" but these are false options. The "costs" often include construction, and the spending on that (by the government) goes to corporations and individuals. The economic benefit is therefore not cost minus 'profit' but cost plus 'profit'. The only one that stands to 'lose' is the Government's chequebook; and since the 'profit' of the games is not taxed at 100%, the games would 'lose' money regardless.
Political:
Being Mayor of Toronto, and to a lesser extent, Premier of Ontario, and Prime Minister of Canada in 2015 suddenly has become more important. We will have one provincial election, two municipal elections, and one, two, or more federal elections between now and then. The job of Mayor becomes much more sexy with this on the table, and it may give big names like Tory and Smitherman more of a reason to run. This would also give Harper and McGunity, presuming they get re-elected, a good 'break' and 'excuse' to leave.
Other:
This likely means much better public transit for Toronto. One of the big things that governments spend money on when they win bids such as this one is building a better and better public transit network to move around all the visitors to the games. Toronto has some great plans, but with the recent economic troubles, it became possible that like other past good ideas that have been proposed for public transit in Toronto, that this one could just become a "what could have been". My personal worry was that this recession would either directly or indirectly kill some of the great plans for transit that we have. Personally, my fear levels have been reduced, and I feel much more confidant about our future.
This is something that will pop up repeatedly, especially locally, again and again between now and 2015. Congrats to the committee who won us this bid.
Sorry, no extra data today!
Toronto has won the 2015 Pan Am games. Like the Olympics, this draws in crowds, and media attention. Also like the Olympics, this has side effects attached to it.
Economic:
This is good for the economy. People debate weather the games "cost" more than it "brings in" but these are false options. The "costs" often include construction, and the spending on that (by the government) goes to corporations and individuals. The economic benefit is therefore not cost minus 'profit' but cost plus 'profit'. The only one that stands to 'lose' is the Government's chequebook; and since the 'profit' of the games is not taxed at 100%, the games would 'lose' money regardless.
Political:
Being Mayor of Toronto, and to a lesser extent, Premier of Ontario, and Prime Minister of Canada in 2015 suddenly has become more important. We will have one provincial election, two municipal elections, and one, two, or more federal elections between now and then. The job of Mayor becomes much more sexy with this on the table, and it may give big names like Tory and Smitherman more of a reason to run. This would also give Harper and McGunity, presuming they get re-elected, a good 'break' and 'excuse' to leave.
Other:
This likely means much better public transit for Toronto. One of the big things that governments spend money on when they win bids such as this one is building a better and better public transit network to move around all the visitors to the games. Toronto has some great plans, but with the recent economic troubles, it became possible that like other past good ideas that have been proposed for public transit in Toronto, that this one could just become a "what could have been". My personal worry was that this recession would either directly or indirectly kill some of the great plans for transit that we have. Personally, my fear levels have been reduced, and I feel much more confidant about our future.
This is something that will pop up repeatedly, especially locally, again and again between now and 2015. Congrats to the committee who won us this bid.
Sorry, no extra data today!
Monday, May 11, 2009
Commuter chaos in Toronto
EDIT - these protesters have now left the highway.
This will be my last post about transit issues on this blog, this week we will create two new blogs to separate out...
Our election projections (which will remain here at niXtuff)
Our transportation and transit information (which will go on a blog titled "OnTrans"
And my own personal political opinion (which will go on a blog titled "The Green Blue Grit"
Regardless, anyone reading this in Toronto before their monday morning commute, beware. It threatens to be utter chaos. Tamil protesters have shut down the Gardnier, and all traffic is being forced to exit at Jameson. The police have, for safety reasons, closed the DVP. The allen was, as of 10pm, backed up to Lawrence southbound. Anyone wanting to head into the city tomorrow morning is well advised to take transit. Alternate routes (Don Mills, Lakeshore) are going to be overcrowded. If you have to reach the core, try roads like Avenue, Dufferin, College, and Gerrard.
Unfortunately, GO Transit's lakeshore west line is already overcrowded, and they have little to no extra buses to help. GO Transit gets the smallest per-fare subsidy of any public transit agency in north america, ahead of the TTC, which is #2. My personal suggestion to those in Halton or Peel who need to get into the city is to take GO's milton line, or to get on to the TTC subway. King and Queen streetcar routes are likely going to be insane, avoid them, take Dundas if you can. Also avoid the yonge subway line south of bloor, take university if you can. If your workplace allows it, try to come in an hour early or late to avoid the worst of the mess.
A political note, there has been debate to tear down the Gardiner (as it blocks the view) east of Jameson. If the protest remains, the entire city will get to experience just what that will feel like. My read is that if the protest is still there tomorrow morning at 8am, Toronto will never ever allow the gardiner to be taken down due to the pure chaos this will create.
This will be my last post about transit issues on this blog, this week we will create two new blogs to separate out...
Our election projections (which will remain here at niXtuff)
Our transportation and transit information (which will go on a blog titled "OnTrans"
And my own personal political opinion (which will go on a blog titled "The Green Blue Grit"
Regardless, anyone reading this in Toronto before their monday morning commute, beware. It threatens to be utter chaos. Tamil protesters have shut down the Gardnier, and all traffic is being forced to exit at Jameson. The police have, for safety reasons, closed the DVP. The allen was, as of 10pm, backed up to Lawrence southbound. Anyone wanting to head into the city tomorrow morning is well advised to take transit. Alternate routes (Don Mills, Lakeshore) are going to be overcrowded. If you have to reach the core, try roads like Avenue, Dufferin, College, and Gerrard.
Unfortunately, GO Transit's lakeshore west line is already overcrowded, and they have little to no extra buses to help. GO Transit gets the smallest per-fare subsidy of any public transit agency in north america, ahead of the TTC, which is #2. My personal suggestion to those in Halton or Peel who need to get into the city is to take GO's milton line, or to get on to the TTC subway. King and Queen streetcar routes are likely going to be insane, avoid them, take Dundas if you can. Also avoid the yonge subway line south of bloor, take university if you can. If your workplace allows it, try to come in an hour early or late to avoid the worst of the mess.
A political note, there has been debate to tear down the Gardiner (as it blocks the view) east of Jameson. If the protest remains, the entire city will get to experience just what that will feel like. My read is that if the protest is still there tomorrow morning at 8am, Toronto will never ever allow the gardiner to be taken down due to the pure chaos this will create.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Public Transit in Toronto
Historically, this is a Public Transit blog, and we do intend to return to that shortly. Here is a blog entry in that vein.
The TTC has announced that it plans to increase off peak service to now provide service on almost every route, at 30 minute intervals or better, whenever the subway is open. While it is not complete, it does make for a new stronger network that really opens up the entire city to transit service. I work nights. I'm a security guard - IE one of those people who works in the lobby if your office tower who is there when you are not. I head into the downtown core in the late evening and head out during the morning peak when everyone else is rushing the other direction. For me and people like me these service upgrades are a godsend.
The reality is that not everyone works 9-5 at King and Bay. There are hundreds of thousands of us that work off-peak hours throughout the city. Even those who do not will often take transit to go shopping, or to see the doctor, or to visit friends, or to go out with friends for a night on the town. These are all off-peak ventures. If you can easily get to work via transit but cannot use it to go shopping, you are more likely to, when you get money, buy a car. If you have a car, its oh-so-easy to take it to work on a day when you may be running behind, or when it is very cold, or whatever the reason may be. Building a successful transit network is not a quick-fix thing, it is a long term plan for success.
Buses that are empty tomorrow night will, within a few years, fill themselves up, as new arrivals to our city find out they can get around without a car, and therefore do not buy one, and as younger Torontoians who currently take the TTC out of necessity find that they can take it out of convenience as well. This new network literally "opens up" the city. No longer does an off-peak worker have to actively think about where to live, and where he or she can work; this new network opens up all those locations to all sorts of various hours of travel.
The city is almost done. There are a few more steps they could take to make this "perfect". One is to extend this service to every route in the network, 30 minutes or better while the subway is open. This may mean that certain routes need to be 'adjusted'. Take for example the 101 Downsview Park bus. The only passenger I've ever seen on that bus is myself, who took it because I was curious why it's so darn empty. The bus currently runs on a 20 minute headway as its journey only takes 10 minutes each direction. Extending the route and turning it into a loop that reaches Keele and Sheppard, would make it a useful bus for people to use to transfer to the Keele bus. It would, at most, add 10 minutes to the trip making this bus have a 30 minute headway. Another example is the 117 Alness, and the 107 Keele North; not today but in the future. When the YUS subway is extended into the York Region, its almost certain that YRT will take over operations of the 107. Being the biggest money-loser for the TTC, they are wise to cancel the service. While most of the 107 route is close enough to other service for passengers to walk the difference, the service on Chesswood is not. Fortunately, Chesswood is surprisingly close to Alness St and the two routes could be easily combined into one route operating from the new Sheppard West station.
Two is to expand service from 30 minutes at all times into something better. I'm personally a fan of at least 20 minutes to 10pm every day of the week, and at least 15 in the mid-day and peak periods, every day of the week. With this end-goal in mind the TTC could start implementing this service in the busier routes and expand outward. Current dashed-line routes on the map that are "limited service" could be re-designated as routes that run all day ever day but do not follow the 15-20-30 formula.
Three is to make a serious expansion to the Blue Night network. First, the TTC should add more buses to the 300 Bloor and 320 Yonge night routes. These routes should never go below 7:30 service, that means two buses every 15 minutes.
Secondly, service on these routes should be increases when needed, for example a closing-hour for the clubs, and just prior to the opening of the subway, to ensure that true off-peak loading standards (where everyone gets a seat) is maintained. These should be the 'star' routes of the Blue Night Network and should be marketed as such. Next is to increase service on other well-used blue night routes. Perhaps a 20 minute headway on Queen and Eglinton West, if not an outright 15 minute headway on both.
Lastly, the TTC needs to 'fill in the gaps' on the network. This would include a Keele bus, and a Sheppard West bus. While the latter can run the same routing as the daytime, ideally the Keele bus would head into York University, which is a large generator of party-goers at nighttime. Nothing against York, this is true for any University with residence buildings. I also think that bringing night service back to King and Spadina is wise. Money could be saved by keeping Queen at at 30 minute headway but properly scheduling service on King so that arrival time on cross streets like Bathurst or Sherbroune is staggered so that where one streetcar arrives at 3:15am, the other arrives at 3:30am in the same direction. While Queen would make an important connection with the Yonge line, King would make one with Bloor. Additional service on Spadina would also help relieve some of the club crowd. It may even be wise to run a blue night bus into the entertainment district - and I mean into the district itself, not up university and call that the district, I'm talking down Adelaide and Richmond - and then express to various destinations in the city. Beyond this the city should examine bringing service to other routes. Kipling, Kennedy, St.Clair-Kingston-Markham, both Warden and Vic Park separately, and extending Lawrence West to the Airport, and staggering the schedule so that it meshes with Eglinton West's arrivals there.
Once these steps are taken the TTC will find themselves in possession of a seamless network connecting all the corners of the city to one another. While this may be costly, it will build off-peak ridership and help to fill those dreaded "empty buses". Off-peak ridership is important as these services are far less crowded and more comfortable to ride. Peak-heavy systems often leave buses sitting around all day aging by themselves. A successful network needs to run at all times in all places. I can think of no better way to lay the groundwork for the coming Transit City improvements.
For those wishing to read the new service changes for themselves, they are available on the TTC website at http://www3.ttc.ca/Service_Advisories/Service_Changes.jsp
The TTC has announced that it plans to increase off peak service to now provide service on almost every route, at 30 minute intervals or better, whenever the subway is open. While it is not complete, it does make for a new stronger network that really opens up the entire city to transit service. I work nights. I'm a security guard - IE one of those people who works in the lobby if your office tower who is there when you are not. I head into the downtown core in the late evening and head out during the morning peak when everyone else is rushing the other direction. For me and people like me these service upgrades are a godsend.
The reality is that not everyone works 9-5 at King and Bay. There are hundreds of thousands of us that work off-peak hours throughout the city. Even those who do not will often take transit to go shopping, or to see the doctor, or to visit friends, or to go out with friends for a night on the town. These are all off-peak ventures. If you can easily get to work via transit but cannot use it to go shopping, you are more likely to, when you get money, buy a car. If you have a car, its oh-so-easy to take it to work on a day when you may be running behind, or when it is very cold, or whatever the reason may be. Building a successful transit network is not a quick-fix thing, it is a long term plan for success.
Buses that are empty tomorrow night will, within a few years, fill themselves up, as new arrivals to our city find out they can get around without a car, and therefore do not buy one, and as younger Torontoians who currently take the TTC out of necessity find that they can take it out of convenience as well. This new network literally "opens up" the city. No longer does an off-peak worker have to actively think about where to live, and where he or she can work; this new network opens up all those locations to all sorts of various hours of travel.
The city is almost done. There are a few more steps they could take to make this "perfect". One is to extend this service to every route in the network, 30 minutes or better while the subway is open. This may mean that certain routes need to be 'adjusted'. Take for example the 101 Downsview Park bus. The only passenger I've ever seen on that bus is myself, who took it because I was curious why it's so darn empty. The bus currently runs on a 20 minute headway as its journey only takes 10 minutes each direction. Extending the route and turning it into a loop that reaches Keele and Sheppard, would make it a useful bus for people to use to transfer to the Keele bus. It would, at most, add 10 minutes to the trip making this bus have a 30 minute headway. Another example is the 117 Alness, and the 107 Keele North; not today but in the future. When the YUS subway is extended into the York Region, its almost certain that YRT will take over operations of the 107. Being the biggest money-loser for the TTC, they are wise to cancel the service. While most of the 107 route is close enough to other service for passengers to walk the difference, the service on Chesswood is not. Fortunately, Chesswood is surprisingly close to Alness St and the two routes could be easily combined into one route operating from the new Sheppard West station.
Two is to expand service from 30 minutes at all times into something better. I'm personally a fan of at least 20 minutes to 10pm every day of the week, and at least 15 in the mid-day and peak periods, every day of the week. With this end-goal in mind the TTC could start implementing this service in the busier routes and expand outward. Current dashed-line routes on the map that are "limited service" could be re-designated as routes that run all day ever day but do not follow the 15-20-30 formula.
Three is to make a serious expansion to the Blue Night network. First, the TTC should add more buses to the 300 Bloor and 320 Yonge night routes. These routes should never go below 7:30 service, that means two buses every 15 minutes.
Secondly, service on these routes should be increases when needed, for example a closing-hour for the clubs, and just prior to the opening of the subway, to ensure that true off-peak loading standards (where everyone gets a seat) is maintained. These should be the 'star' routes of the Blue Night Network and should be marketed as such. Next is to increase service on other well-used blue night routes. Perhaps a 20 minute headway on Queen and Eglinton West, if not an outright 15 minute headway on both.
Lastly, the TTC needs to 'fill in the gaps' on the network. This would include a Keele bus, and a Sheppard West bus. While the latter can run the same routing as the daytime, ideally the Keele bus would head into York University, which is a large generator of party-goers at nighttime. Nothing against York, this is true for any University with residence buildings. I also think that bringing night service back to King and Spadina is wise. Money could be saved by keeping Queen at at 30 minute headway but properly scheduling service on King so that arrival time on cross streets like Bathurst or Sherbroune is staggered so that where one streetcar arrives at 3:15am, the other arrives at 3:30am in the same direction. While Queen would make an important connection with the Yonge line, King would make one with Bloor. Additional service on Spadina would also help relieve some of the club crowd. It may even be wise to run a blue night bus into the entertainment district - and I mean into the district itself, not up university and call that the district, I'm talking down Adelaide and Richmond - and then express to various destinations in the city. Beyond this the city should examine bringing service to other routes. Kipling, Kennedy, St.Clair-Kingston-Markham, both Warden and Vic Park separately, and extending Lawrence West to the Airport, and staggering the schedule so that it meshes with Eglinton West's arrivals there.
Once these steps are taken the TTC will find themselves in possession of a seamless network connecting all the corners of the city to one another. While this may be costly, it will build off-peak ridership and help to fill those dreaded "empty buses". Off-peak ridership is important as these services are far less crowded and more comfortable to ride. Peak-heavy systems often leave buses sitting around all day aging by themselves. A successful network needs to run at all times in all places. I can think of no better way to lay the groundwork for the coming Transit City improvements.
For those wishing to read the new service changes for themselves, they are available on the TTC website at http://www3.ttc.ca/Service_Advisories/Service_Changes.jsp
Monday, April 28, 2008
TTC Strike over
The TTC strike has ended. Buses, Streetcars, and Subway trains are once again rolling in Toronto.
Friday, April 25, 2008
GO Double Deckers
According to a posting on Transit Toronto, GO's double decker buses will be entering service on monday morning, running from York U to Oakville.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
TTC – Essential?
I’d like to touch on the idea that the TTC is an essential service. If you pick up a dictionary you might think it is, but if you look at history, you might say no. I for one think it’s odd that all of a sudden after 5 years as Premier, Dalton has come to the conclusion that the TTC is important. I am no fan of Dalton; he grumbles that Harris cut funding to things like Transit, then does nothing to restore that funding. Regardless, that’s another battle for another time. First of all lets examine what it means to be an essential service.
The so-called “Essential services act” (more of a name then a real act, at least in Ontario) defines that certain services are “essential” and that employees providing that service therefore cannot strike. Fire, Police, and Medical services are covered by this. Anyone who’s ever had to be rushed to the hospital would understand why – who’d want the doctor to say “sorry, on strike”. Despite this, certain locales allow some medical professionals to take part in labour action. While I’m not certain of the numbers, I believe that somewhere on the order of 15% of paramedics are allowed to be “on strike” at any time. This means the service is still provided, and it does its job, but not at 100%. It is from this idea that I have my possible solution to the entire problem.
Europe is not faced with the same system-wide strikes that we are, at least not London. Anyone who is aware will know that London is not run by one company, rather different bus lines can be run by different companies, and even the tube is divided amongst two companies. This means that any “Transit Strike” only takes down part of the network. Those who cannot take their usual north-south bus, can hop on the local east-west bus and find another way. This is one of the two options that I see for the TTC – having only part of the network go down at any time.
This could be done in one of two ways. First would be to divide the TTC, and second would be to make certain routes “Essential”. In the first example, we could split the TTC into Bus and Rail services. Perhaps on Monday all rail (streetcar and subway) services will not operate, while all of the regular bus services will. On Tuesday this could be reversed. This would allow the union to call the shots (decide which half of the network goes down) but also allow for people to get where they are going, although with great difficulty. The second method using this option is to declare parts of the network “Essential”. For example, all rapid transit lines plus bus routes on Eglinton, Finch, Dufferin, and so on. This would allow the union to take down a part of the network while leaving a skeleton network operating.
Although these two options have their good points, I favour a third option. Part of the rationale behind any Labour action in any service industry is to make a point – that is to say “we are on strike and here is why”. Having a limit of 50% might do that. This would mean that only 50% of the buses run, and only 50% of the subways. This would mean that each transit vehicle would be very crowded – point made – but that people would still be able to get to their destinations via transit. This would not be without it’s problems, it would have to be decided how 50% would work, especially on routes that are normally serviced by, for example, 3 buses. In general each route would have half as many buses
While neither of these are attractive options, I point out that either a system-wide strike or taking away the right to strike is even less so.
The so-called “Essential services act” (more of a name then a real act, at least in Ontario) defines that certain services are “essential” and that employees providing that service therefore cannot strike. Fire, Police, and Medical services are covered by this. Anyone who’s ever had to be rushed to the hospital would understand why – who’d want the doctor to say “sorry, on strike”. Despite this, certain locales allow some medical professionals to take part in labour action. While I’m not certain of the numbers, I believe that somewhere on the order of 15% of paramedics are allowed to be “on strike” at any time. This means the service is still provided, and it does its job, but not at 100%. It is from this idea that I have my possible solution to the entire problem.
Europe is not faced with the same system-wide strikes that we are, at least not London. Anyone who is aware will know that London is not run by one company, rather different bus lines can be run by different companies, and even the tube is divided amongst two companies. This means that any “Transit Strike” only takes down part of the network. Those who cannot take their usual north-south bus, can hop on the local east-west bus and find another way. This is one of the two options that I see for the TTC – having only part of the network go down at any time.
This could be done in one of two ways. First would be to divide the TTC, and second would be to make certain routes “Essential”. In the first example, we could split the TTC into Bus and Rail services. Perhaps on Monday all rail (streetcar and subway) services will not operate, while all of the regular bus services will. On Tuesday this could be reversed. This would allow the union to call the shots (decide which half of the network goes down) but also allow for people to get where they are going, although with great difficulty. The second method using this option is to declare parts of the network “Essential”. For example, all rapid transit lines plus bus routes on Eglinton, Finch, Dufferin, and so on. This would allow the union to take down a part of the network while leaving a skeleton network operating.
Although these two options have their good points, I favour a third option. Part of the rationale behind any Labour action in any service industry is to make a point – that is to say “we are on strike and here is why”. Having a limit of 50% might do that. This would mean that only 50% of the buses run, and only 50% of the subways. This would mean that each transit vehicle would be very crowded – point made – but that people would still be able to get to their destinations via transit. This would not be without it’s problems, it would have to be decided how 50% would work, especially on routes that are normally serviced by, for example, 3 buses. In general each route would have half as many buses
While neither of these are attractive options, I point out that either a system-wide strike or taking away the right to strike is even less so.
Going back online.
This is a notice that this blog is going back online effective today. Following the completion of my argument and central point that Transit, while useful, is not the be-all-end-all, I intend to turn this into a blog for the discussion of transit, and transit related issues. I will begin that discussion shortly, with a topic on the coming possible strike.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
"Why I don't take transit"
More comments on this front:
I would have to take 3 buses... If I had a train option I'd take it... My spouse does... His commute is about 30 minutes and he loves taking the train
I drive... to work... it is a 12 to 15 minute ride. If I were to (take public transit) it would take me 45 to 50 minutes
We don't have (public transit)
I did (take transit) for 15 years... It took me 40 minutes. But we live in Georgia now and (it would take too long)
Because I have to walk to the bus stop and its cold in the winter.
I'd have to wait 50 mins after leaving work for the bus
safety issues...
(inclduing)
I'd have to take 3 or 4 buses and walk a half mile through a dicey neighborhood
(and)
a grandmother who was raped after being kidnapped from a parking garage at the MARTA (Atlanta) Lindbergh station in ... June 2002
I would have to take 3 buses... If I had a train option I'd take it... My spouse does... His commute is about 30 minutes and he loves taking the train
I drive... to work... it is a 12 to 15 minute ride. If I were to (take public transit) it would take me 45 to 50 minutes
We don't have (public transit)
I did (take transit) for 15 years... It took me 40 minutes. But we live in Georgia now and (it would take too long)
Because I have to walk to the bus stop and its cold in the winter.
I'd have to wait 50 mins after leaving work for the bus
safety issues...
(inclduing)
I'd have to take 3 or 4 buses and walk a half mile through a dicey neighborhood
(and)
a grandmother who was raped after being kidnapped from a parking garage at the MARTA (Atlanta) Lindbergh station in ... June 2002
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
More "Bus VS Car"
A certain CTV news report tells us that a panel has recommended taking cars out of downtown. According to the news story:
One of the ideas proposed by Dr. David Pearson was to ban private cars on busy downtown roadways. "We need to very quickly begin thinking about banning cars downtown
Personally my favorite part of the article is where they quote dear Dr.David as saying “You have an excellent subway system”. LOL! I wish. I’d rate our current subway system though the downtown as “adequate”, far from excellent. Regardless, this brings up the important point; is it even possible to get all the cars off the road? And if not why not? I’ll leave this one (for now) open ended, but will add three anecdotes regarding this very issue.
Quote:
My job is 17 miles away...I have to drive - either that or take 6 buses and hope none are late!
Quote:
My commute by car... usually takes between 10 & 15 minutes to get to work. Public transit would greatly increase my short commute... My commute would go to about 45-60 minutes
Quote:
Even if I had a choice (which I don't) I would still drive. Many times, on my way home I run errands and have to be able to go somewhere or change plans on a moment's notice. Going from suburb to suburb does not lend itself to mass transit.
One of the ideas proposed by Dr. David Pearson was to ban private cars on busy downtown roadways. "We need to very quickly begin thinking about banning cars downtown
Personally my favorite part of the article is where they quote dear Dr.David as saying “You have an excellent subway system”. LOL! I wish. I’d rate our current subway system though the downtown as “adequate”, far from excellent. Regardless, this brings up the important point; is it even possible to get all the cars off the road? And if not why not? I’ll leave this one (for now) open ended, but will add three anecdotes regarding this very issue.
Quote:
My job is 17 miles away...I have to drive - either that or take 6 buses and hope none are late!
Quote:
My commute by car... usually takes between 10 & 15 minutes to get to work. Public transit would greatly increase my short commute... My commute would go to about 45-60 minutes
Quote:
Even if I had a choice (which I don't) I would still drive. Many times, on my way home I run errands and have to be able to go somewhere or change plans on a moment's notice. Going from suburb to suburb does not lend itself to mass transit.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
and on transit, in general
I sometimes get worried by the direction I see transit discussions going. People, especially on blogs and the internet, will talk about transit and how they want to improve it, but at the same time there seems to be a hate on for anyone with a car. There is the ever-popular phrase that we are in a “car-culture”. I sat down and thought about that one day, what does this mean? Well, for one thing, on your stereotypical date with someone of the opposite sex, the guy will drive the gal home in his car. Sure, you could always take the bus, but it does not seem to have the same luster that a car does. Then there’s the vision of the soccer mom who, of course, drives a minivan. Next you have the suit-and-tie office worker, who really gets to unwind after work in, you guessed, his sporty car. I don’t disagree that such a culture exists, and that it’s actually harmful. I agree fully that the car culture need to come to an end. What I disagree with is those who take this idea too far and blame anyone with a car for all the problems in the world.
Take for example, discussion about mixed-traffic streetcars. Every time the topic is raised, on blog after blog, I see either the blogger or the commenters speak about how this argument by drivers that streetcars cause traffic is bunk. They say that if a mixed-traffic streetcar is anti-car, then so what. They support it because it is anti-car, without stopping to think that it is also anti-transit. Lets take for example, one car and one streetcar. The streetcar pulls up to a stop, and opens its doors. Since it is blocking both lanes, the car must stop. The driver of the car, not wanting to be stuck behind the streetcar decides to pass him before the next light, and does so. The next light is red, and now we find the streetcar is stuck behind the car, and cannot open it’s doors as it is not at the stop. It’s usually around here that the car-haters will come in and remind people that streetcars carry more people then cars do, or that they cause less pollution. They will in effect, blame the car driver for not taking the streetcar. The underlying assumption is that everyone can take transit, and therefore, they should. This is false. For one thing, you can drive across a municipal boundary without a problem, but on transit this will mean a transfer. You can drive anywhere there is a road (and there are a lot of those) but you can only take the bus where there is a bus route (not nearly as many). What if you were working installing a new bus stop at the end of a new bus line. You cant take the bus, because the route does not exist yet. Despite this, people continue to rail against drivers and make arguments that driving should be made harder so more people take transit. They call this “Induced Demand”, a cute little term.
Frankly, the idea that you have to force people on transit by making driving impossible is a very anti-transit idea. I’m sure those of us with siblings know how it feels when your mother orders you to play with your younger brother or sister. Obviously, you don’t want to play with them. The message this sends is that the only way that they will get played with is if you force it on someone else. What does that say about the kid? Not much. I see forcing people on transit the same way. If you have to force someone on a bus, it says pretty shitty things about that bus. If we want more people to take transit, we have to make transit more convenient for people.
In a dream world, everyone could take transit, but in reality, this is not possible. I do see signs that the “Car culture” is fading. For one, more and more people are starting to think about the environment. Outside of this, I don’t see any reason that transit ridership, as a mode-share, cannot reach 2/3rds or 3/4ths of all trips. There will always be, however, cars, and there will always be people who take them as an alternative. Cost is usually not the reason, its mostly time. What if to get to your destination you had to make three or four transfers? It might take you over an hour to do a trip that could take 15 minutes by car. What if you needed to buy a week’s worth of groceries, are you going to lug all that stuff on the bus? What if you needed to run errands and go to locations all around the city. By transit this could take you all day, by car, a hour or two. What if it’s freezing outside, and the nearest bus route runs every 30 minutes? Sure you could try to time it, only to get to the stop in time to see the bus drive away. Transit cannot do what cars can, nor should we expect it to.
There are some pro-transit bloggers, such as Mr. Steve Munro, who says clearly that he does not own a car. It might surprise some, after reading the above, to learn that I do not own a car, nor do I intend to buy one any time soon. Despite this, I will take cabs, at certain times, or to certain places. I live on Dupont, near Shaw, a 15 minute walk from the Bloor subway. From there I can go to Yonge, and head up to St.Clair, where I usually get off to grab some food before I start my shift at work. If I take transit the whole way, which I do almost every day, I will be more then halfway to my workplace, timewise. I work south of Yonge and Finch. Alternatively, and I do this when I’m late, or it’s very cold, I could get a taxi to take me to St.Clair station. This cuts my travel time nearly in half, but will cost me $10. People will usually talk about “A few seconds” when someone talks about running for a bus. What many people fail to note is that all of these “seconds” add up. I could spend a minute waiting for the light to change at an intersection. Then a few minutes waiting for the subway. A few minutes waiting for the next one after I transfer. Maybe I need to grab a bus before or after my trip. Using an example of someone who takes a 5 minute headway bus route to the Bloor subway, outside of peak, then gets off the Yonge subway and takes another 5 minute headway bus, you could end up with a 20 minute variance in when you arrive at your destination. If this is an otherwise short trip, it leads to annoyance. It takes me 55 minutes to get from my house to work, on average. 12 to walk to the subway station from my house, and 7 from the station to my workplace. One third of my time is spent walking. People might ask why I don’t take a bus to the subway? The answer is because it takes too long. I live almost dead between Ossington and Christie. The Christie bus runs every 30 minutes, so forget about that, I wont risk the driver being 3 minutes early and making me 33 minutes late. Ossington runs often, on paper, but by the time I walk to the stop, wait for the bus, then have the bus take me to the station, it can take 14 minutes, and that does not count the extra time in the tunnel. It all comes back to the fact that transit cannot be a doorstop service for everyone, where as your car can be. It is for this reason that you will never get rid of cars, and for this reason that I find it both silly and offensive to have a hate on for those who drive.
It is my hope to offer suggestions and discussion of transit from a balanced prospective. One that recognizes that you don’t need to hate drivers to love riders.
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