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#TTC

5 posts5 participants1 post today
Public
CodeRedTO

Toronto Star feature article on the history and potential of Toronto's streetcar network.

"Toronto grew up around its streetcars. Do they fit into its future? Does Toronto have the faith — and money — to restore a transportation network that’s been on the decline for decades?"

thestar.com/news/gta/toronto-g

Screenshot of linked Toronto Star article, showing the headline quoted in the post, and a photo of a streetcar which is derailed on a sunny winter day. The photo is taken from about 25m ahead of the streetcar, at ground level, so snow is blurry in the foreground and we can't see the streetcar's wheels or the rails.
By Andy TakagiTransportation Reporter The ding-ding of a streetcar means something different to every Torontonian. For Laurence Lui, it evokes memories of nighttime rides on the classic streetcars, during which the TTC worker watched the sparkling streets of the city go by. For Shoshanna Saxe, it’s a reminder of chugging along the smooth metal tracks that carried the civil engineering professor to school as a child. For Steve Munro, it’s the soundtrack of a transit enthusiast first learning the city’s winding streets. For others, the familiar sound brings irritation and outright anger, the noise punctuating interrupted commutes and interminable delays. To name only a few recent examples: a garbage truck derailing the commute of tens of thousands for most of a week after clipping streetcar wires at King and Spadina. Or, over the span of 10 hours, 23 cars blocking streetcars throughout the city as Toronto reeled from consecutive snowstorms. It could also be, some experts contend, the sound of a solution coming to whisk away Toronto’s paralyzing congestion — that is, if we put faith, and money, back into a city transportation system that has been on the decline for decades.
Article excerpt followed by two maps of the streetcar network. The 1929 map shows a huge network of red lines across Toronto, while the map of 2016-2025 is far more limited. The excerpt reads: “Fundamentally, as a city, we grew up around the streetcar,” said Lui, the TTC’s head of service planning and scheduling. “The streetcar could be shaping our future Queen Streets, Dundas Streets and College Streets, where people want to live, work and be part of the city.” A past performer While the streetcar has persisted, it hasn’t always thrived. Ridership for streetcars has yet to rebound to pre-pandemic levels and lags behind buses and the subway lines. Although still some of the city’s busiest routes, the dozens of streetcar lines that the city had at its peak in the 1920s have been whittled down to just 18. The network has taken a back seat to the needs of the subways and the shiny new Ontario Line, all while becoming a target of drivers who blame streetcars gumming up the roads and cyclists whose tires can get caught in the tracks.
“Streetcars carry more people, more consistently, faster, more evenly. It feels better,” Saxe said. “Getting rid of the streetcar is just talking about making the city smaller (and) worse.” Lui agreed, emphasizing the important role the streetcar continues to play as part of the city’s transit network. “If one streetcar is carrying close to 200 people when it’s full, imagine if that was four or five buses and what that would mean in terms of congestion levels,” Lui said. In the short term, the city’s transit solutions lie in the realm of buses and bike lanes, Saxe said — “things that we can do this decade to make (transit) better.” That longer-term future includes LRTs, which depending on who you ask, is essentially the same as a streetcar. (Others argue that LRTs have distinct features, like right-of-ways and more distance between stops.) On top of the long-awaited — and long-delayed — Eglinton Crosstown and Finch West LRTs, the city has plans for Eglinton East and Waterfront East LRT, both of which remain in the design stage without long-term funding. The problem, as with most services in the city, is money, Lui said. With the TTC’s existing streetcar fleet, he explained, the city could run five-minute service throughout Toronto — if it had the money to pay drivers. All the while, the streetcar is one of the TTC’s most profitable modes of transit.
#Toronto#TOPoli#TTC
Public
Scrivolical

*More* new TTC fare inspectors? Just make the TTC free for everyone.

No more heavy expenditures for TTC fare inspectors. No more card readers & payment systems & payment barriers. All that tech infrastructure requiring maintenance, replacement, and taking physical space.

#TTC#Ontario
Public
A-Dub

just witnessed a #TTC employee with a radio repeatedly swear at a poor man on the streetcar, threatening him, etc. the guy was trying to smoke crack at the back but still. it was shameful. i'm sorry i didn't whip out my camera soon enough

Replied to maxcoutard
Public
teledyn 𓂀

@maxcoutard

I fail to understand why #ttc streetcars were not replaced by buses IMMEDIATELY until the #Toronto routes were cleared. It is astounding no one noticed streetcars being unable to swerve! "Smart like streetcar" is a local diss. 🤣

My conclusion is Toronto Council thinks like a streetcar: one track.

It took nearly two hours to travel what google estimated a 53 minute run today. Streetcars blocked by a bare edge of a stuck car, often many in a row. Who's great idea was this anyway?

Public
CodeRedTO

The TTC has plans to install bus-only lanes along Queens Quay East and Front Street to get buses out of traffic congestion. New bus lanes would reduce travel times by 30% and could be rolled out in May 2025 if approved - but will need your support!

Fill out the TTC’s survey before February 20 to help improve transit on the waterfront. The TTC will also be holding virtual and in-person consultations where you can voice your support for bus-only lanes.

surveymonkey.com/r/queensquayb

TTC route map showing the eastern harbourfront from around the SkyDome to Cherry Beach. Existing bus routes are shown, and the section of Queen’s Quay East which would gain bus lanes is highlighted. The routes which would benefit from the bus lanes are 65, 75, 114, and 202.
#TTC#Toronto
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