Toronto-Astral Street Furniture Program

[MetroMan]

allabootmatt -- how so? the parking meters already spit out printed parking tickets, there's nothing to say that it can't spit on printed transit tickets. The technology used for the meters is identical to transit ticket dispensers in many cities without the use of smart cards.
I'm not saying smart cards aren't a good thing, I'd love to see that happen. But in the short term, this is an easy and low-cost solution.
Once PresTO is implemented around the region, I'm sure the TTC will eventually follow suit. You can't have a regional fare card without the biggest regional player.

Exactly. Parking meters can print subway-like TTC transfers. This is great for people who don't carry around change and would rather pay their fare on a credit or debit card.

What I'm suggesting is indeed a little more bold though. I'd like to see the parking meter upgraded to fit the street furniture look and to include a large 10" LCD screen.

This screen could display the cost of a metropass vs parking/gas or even sell parking customers a discounted TTC ticket: "Keep your car parked here for X amount of time and buy a TTC return fare for a fraction of the cost".

You'd also be able to scan your parking tickets and pay them right there. I'm not sure how many parking tickets go unpaid simply because the driver is lazy but this could be one of many services offered at these Transit/Parking Points.

The timing is right for something like this with PresTO coming along soon, with the TTC looking at new ideas and with the street furniture program being implemented.

 

[alklay]

How about machines in subway stations that take credit and debit cards for payment and tickets (as opposed to parking metres, which are sometime nowhere near stations). All major cities in the world have had this for years.

 

[deerparker]

from torontoist.com...

http://torontoist.com/2008/05/final_street_fu_1.php

 

[MetroMan]

^Thanks for the link.

I'm surprised they're keeping this model of bike rack:

Weren't they proven to be easily breakable by wedging a 2x4 in the loop?

This preliminary design solved that problem:

If both feet were installed in the concrete sidewalk, there would be no way to break it without bringing along a pick axe and breaking the sidewalk itself.
This model also seemed practical because one could place the back wheel through the rack and the bike would stand, rather than lean on the rack.

Regarding the transit shelters, I don't see any difference from what we have now.

I like the new garbage bins:

They seem large enough to hold more trash than the current generation and the pedal is a welcome addition. Contrary to Torontoist's critique, the pedal has been improved to accommodate the reality of snow piling underneith. Nonetheless, I still imagine that snow banks will be shoveled up against the bins like is currently done, rendering the pedal useless.

I love these:

Anything to reduce the clutter on the sidewalks is welcome to this obsessive compulsive.

Public Washroom's are finally coming...

I love their design and I'm sure they'll come in handy. I wonder what the price will be. They're quite large though so I'm guessing that they won't be that plentiful because they require either a public square or a wide sidewalk like on University Avenue.

Can't wait to see some of these go up. 2009 can't come soon enough.

 

[Prometheus The Supremo]

how do those public washrooms work? you have to pay? what if you're constipated and take a really long time? do you have to pop in more quarters? will the door pop open if you don't?

 

[Janbe]

City website says summer 2008.

 

[MetroMan]

Yeah, I read that too but apparently the bulk of items will only be installed next year.

My wish list is to see the garbage bins installed first. Although they're not the most in need of homogenization, they're the items most of us use the most and will make the biggest visual impact.

Next up, I can't wait... let me say that again: I cannot wait to see the newspaper box corrals and the integrated newspaper vending machines put out. This single act will reduce so much of the street clutter with the least amount of action.

I'm a little upset that a coordinated street lamp/post design wasn't introduced though. Toronto's lamp posts are the worst of the big american cities I've been to.

Chicago wins by far in regards to street furniture and their light poles match the coordinated street furniture design:

The good news is that BIA's are taking that upon themselves. I like the ones on Yonge St:

 

[Archivist]

In Paris they have made all the outdoors, timed, self-cleaning washrooms free of charge, from the small fee you had to pay a few years ago. Unfortunatanely, they are now filthy, and after four tries to use four different ones in different parts of the city, I gave up and ignored them.

Athough I did see a lineup of Parisians waiting for one by the Rue des Rosiers, so some must be OK.

I wonder if there is a link between paying and cleanliness?

 

[smuncky]

how do those public washrooms work? you have to pay? what if you're constipated and take a really long time? do you have to pop in more quarters? will the door pop open if you don't?

i know in NYC, it's something like 50 cents, and it is timed. you get somewhere around 15 min to do your business. you get a warning when your time is almost up. as i recall it was something like 2-3 min, and then the doors automatically open whether or not you're done. it then closes and goes through a disinfecting process that uses high pressure steam to clean all the surfaces.

 

[Prometheus The Supremo]

i know in NYC, it's something like 50 cents, and it is timed. you get somewhere around 15 min to do your business. you get a warning when your time is almost up. as i recall it was something like 2-3 min, and then the doors automatically open whether or not you're done. it then closes and goes through a disinfecting process that uses high pressure steam to clean all the surfaces.

jesus christ! that sounds like a suicide booth!

can you put more money to increase your time?

 

[MetroMan]

The ones in Europe that I used allowed for you to put additional money to increase the time. It won't start cleaning if it senses pressure on the floor. In fact, some of them are smart enough to know if two people are in there (separate points of pressure) so you know... hum... these don't become mini brothels.

 

[avatarreb]

New 'furniture' ready for Toronto streets

Bus shelters, benches and garbage bins bring consistent design — and cash for City Hall

Toronto Star
Jun 09, 2008 12:13 PM
John Spears
City Hall Bureau

Here come 26,000 new pieces of "street furniture" for Toronto's sidewalks and roadways: New bus shelters, garbage bins, benches, newspaper boxes and the like.

The city and its supplier, Astral Media, unveiled the newly designed objects Monday morning at Nathan Phillips Square.

Mayor David Miller enthused about the new furniture design.

"All of the elements fit together to give a very modern feeling to this very modern city," Miller said.

"The results Astral has delivered are even better than we had hoped."

The city also likes the cash that will flow to the city from the deal, in which Astral makes and maintains all the objects for 20 years.

Astral will sell advertising on bus shelters and information pillars, with the city guaranteed $428 million in revenue over the 20-year period. The city can get additional revenue if ad sales are robust.

Astral will spend about $250 million to make the new objects for the streets, and another $250 million on maintenance over the life of the 20-year contract. Company officials said that graffiti on the shelters and other objects should be removed within 24 hours.

Miller said the deal will actually reduce the amount of advertising on city streets, however, because ads will be limited to transit shelters and information pillars. Garbage and recycling bins -- which until now have carried ads -- will no longer carry advertising. Some will have space where local artists can display their work.

The new garbage bins -- which come in two sizes --- have foot pedals that open the flaps covering the openings where you deposit trash or recyclable materials. That means you don't have to use your hands to push open the flaps, which are often dirty.

Not everyone liked the furniture as much as Miller, however.

Roland Hill, a retired judge, passed a harsh sentence on the new benches.

"It's hard on your back, and there's no armrest," said Hill, 85, after trying out one of the new benches. (The benches have armrests, but Hill demonstrated as he sat in the bench that they are far too low to support his arm in a normal seated position.)

Hill said the benches in Queen's Park, where he often sits with a cup of coffee, are far superior to the new city design.

 

[Prometheus The Supremo]

Roland Hill, a retired judge, passed a harsh sentence on the new benches.

"It's hard on your back, and there's no armrest," said Hill, 85, after trying out one of the new benches. (The benches have armrests, but Hill demonstrated as he sat in the bench that they are far too low to support his arm in a normal seated position.)

i think they're that way on purpose. the arm rests are just there to keep people from laying down on the bench and sleeping, not for actual arm use. if the arm rests were high, you'd be able to pass your body through them and be able to sleep on the bench, unless there was some sort of divider.

 

[ceaz40]

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but I think that bus shelter looks pretty much like the ones I see on the street now....which, many of them by the way have been "engraved" by so-called "artists"/gang members who use keys and other sharp objects now instead of spray paint.

 

[MetroMan]

^ Is that a "Next Bus/Streetcar" ticker I see there on the far top right?