OK, for Christmas I broke down and drove to have family Christmas. I wasn't going to haul all my loot back home on the TTC. (Good thing, one of my gifts was a heavy cast-iron, enamled lined dutch-oven. It's actually more of a man's cooking tool - but that won't stop me from using it.)
Out of curiousity, I drove back along St. Clair W - from about Christie all the way to Mt. Pleasant. The roadway between Vaughan and Yonge now has the streetcar ROW built. Some observations:
1. The lanes are on the narrow end.
2. The lanes are constantly curving left and right to accomodate turning lanes and streetcar platforms.
3. The turning lanes are quite modest in length - between one and four passenger car lengths
This is at odds with what I've read in other places. There was a rather strident letter in The Star a few weeks back accusing the city of building a monster roadway on that stretch. The assertion is blatantly false. Due to the narrow lanes and the curving back and forth, there is really about 1 1/2 usebale traffic lanes when no vehicles are parked.
The roadway on the Bathhurst to Yonge stretch is likely to cause a significant congestion problem - but not a catastrophic one. The primary reason is that there is little in the way of commercial activity.
The same can't be said for the remainder. If the same design is followed West of Vaughan, the street will be at a standstill. Any type of commercial loading or construction requiring trucks to get in and out of sidestreets, loading areas etc, will cause traffic backups. In some cases trucks will need to mount the ROW to be able to back into loading areas.
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Xmas transit observations #1 - Mobility impairment
I hope some judge doesn't object to the overtly Christian title to this post - and make me move it to the footnote.
Anyway, I have a few weeks off over these holidays. This is allowing an escape from my the commute to my current assignment - and the one hour commute each way. I've become an expert on the QEW and Gardiner expressways.
Over the break, I'm trying to do as little driving as possible - walking and using transit instead. I thought I'd blog on a couple of things I found.
The first is that an large (and I'm guessing increasing) proportion of TTC riders have some level of mobility "impairment". These impairments fall into two categories - of those who can actually use most of the system:
1. Those who require a cane or other support to walk
2. Those who have noticeable difficulty walking - and more in ascending and descending
3. Those who have a baby stroller (these people are not physcally impaired - but their mobility is.)
Why am I mentioning this? Well these people have an especially difficult time reaching, boarding and alighting from the TTCs streetcars. Streetcars make life difficult for these people. In addition, streetcar average speed is noticeably slowed by the high proportion of riders who fall into these categories. In comparison, most of Montreal's surface routes (which use buses) are already low floor.
No one really knows when the TTC will get low-floor streetcars (or LRV or whatever). Just another example of transit narcissism winning out over people.
Anyway, I have a few weeks off over these holidays. This is allowing an escape from my the commute to my current assignment - and the one hour commute each way. I've become an expert on the QEW and Gardiner expressways.
Over the break, I'm trying to do as little driving as possible - walking and using transit instead. I thought I'd blog on a couple of things I found.
The first is that an large (and I'm guessing increasing) proportion of TTC riders have some level of mobility "impairment". These impairments fall into two categories - of those who can actually use most of the system:
1. Those who require a cane or other support to walk
2. Those who have noticeable difficulty walking - and more in ascending and descending
3. Those who have a baby stroller (these people are not physcally impaired - but their mobility is.)
Why am I mentioning this? Well these people have an especially difficult time reaching, boarding and alighting from the TTCs streetcars. Streetcars make life difficult for these people. In addition, streetcar average speed is noticeably slowed by the high proportion of riders who fall into these categories. In comparison, most of Montreal's surface routes (which use buses) are already low floor.
No one really knows when the TTC will get low-floor streetcars (or LRV or whatever). Just another example of transit narcissism winning out over people.
Saturday, December 02, 2006
The damage they've done
In a rather rantish guest column in yesterday's National Post, Howard Levine - a former city councillor criticizes the streetcar project on St. Clair West.
SOme of Mr. Levine's points are valid. The effort does indeed suffer from:
myopia, Toronto-centrism and a refusal to learn from experience in other cities
But he's got to be joking if he thinks the project is about making St. Clair more of a artery for automobikle traffic. Other that during rush hour, the street will have only one lane each way for cars and trucks. There are modest-length turning lanes at signalized intersections. With the ROW barrier, these are needed to allow residents and delivery vehicles to make left turns and U-turns.
This citizen has examined the lanes and the whole setup. The most servere sidewalks cuts are to accomodate the wider platforms. The traffic lanes are - if anything - slightly narrower than standard in Toronto. The lanes must accomodate commercial traffic. There must be enough space for delivery vans and trucks to maveuvre in and out of loading areas without bringing traffic to a halt while they do 8-point turns.
Let's be clear. The sidewalk cuts and the general assault on the liveability and attractiveness of the street ARE BECAUSE OF THE STREETCARS.
The true myopia is the refusal to look at the success of cities - notably Montreal - in running successful and popular transit operations without streetcars. Mr. Levine can blame himself for helping foist the idea of keeping these in service.
SOme of Mr. Levine's points are valid. The effort does indeed suffer from:
myopia, Toronto-centrism and a refusal to learn from experience in other cities
But he's got to be joking if he thinks the project is about making St. Clair more of a artery for automobikle traffic. Other that during rush hour, the street will have only one lane each way for cars and trucks. There are modest-length turning lanes at signalized intersections. With the ROW barrier, these are needed to allow residents and delivery vehicles to make left turns and U-turns.
This citizen has examined the lanes and the whole setup. The most servere sidewalks cuts are to accomodate the wider platforms. The traffic lanes are - if anything - slightly narrower than standard in Toronto. The lanes must accomodate commercial traffic. There must be enough space for delivery vans and trucks to maveuvre in and out of loading areas without bringing traffic to a halt while they do 8-point turns.
Let's be clear. The sidewalk cuts and the general assault on the liveability and attractiveness of the street ARE BECAUSE OF THE STREETCARS.
The true myopia is the refusal to look at the success of cities - notably Montreal - in running successful and popular transit operations without streetcars. Mr. Levine can blame himself for helping foist the idea of keeping these in service.
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