TTC surface stop spacing

[W. K. Lis]

It won't ever line up exactly. It will be interesting to see if the cars on the right will give enough room to deploy the ramp when it is requested. It's been many tight squeezes through the back doors as it is between cars.

The TTC may have to create ads to educate drivers to stop their cars before the REAR doors to allow room for the ramps to extend out. Except that they'll still not do that anyways (see Rob Ford experience with streetcar doors currently).

 

[nfitz]

It won't ever line up exactly. It will be interesting to see if the cars on the right will give enough room to deploy the ramp when it is requested. It's been many tight squeezes through the back doors as it is between cars.

Yes, that's an interesting thought ...

 

[drum118]

Houston, Texas: New Study Looks At Health Benefits Of Walking To Transit Stops

http://app1.kuhf.org/articles/13866...lth-Benefits-Of-Walking-To-Transit-Stops.html

[h=1]New Study Looks At Health Benefits Of Walking To Transit Stops[/h] [h=2]by: Gail Delaughter, February 3, 2014 5:02:00 am[/h]

Reseachers will measure the health and fitness of people who walk to stops along Houston's new light rail lines.

With two new light rail lines set to open in Houston later this year, health and transportation researchers are teaming up for a long-term study on the benefits of walking to transit stops. They want to know if a couple of brisk walks a day can lead to major changes in well-being.
The sun is just coming up over southwest Houston as we meet up with bus rider Neil Orts.
"Hey Neil, Hi, Good Morning."
We're tagging along as he makes his ten-minute walk to to the bus stop at Richmond and Chimney Rock.
"I live without a car, which I know is crazy in Houston."
Orts works downtown, and he's been making his weekday walk to the bus for about two years now. Along with saving money on parking and other expenses, Orts says there's another benefit to using the bus, and that's his health.
A few years ago Orts experienced what he calls a heart event. He says it wasn't to the level of a heart attack, but it was serious enough for his doctor to warn him he wasn't getting enough exercise. So Orts decided to do something about it.
"When I worked by the Galleria I just started walking home in the evenings, which was just about a forty-minute walk, and that got me back into walking a whole lot."
And on a follow-up visit to his doctor Orts saw his efforts were paying off.
"He grabbed my calves one day and said, you really do walk a lot, don't you? (laughs) I don't lie to my doctor. You have science to figure out if I'm lying."
And researchers will now try to figure out if other transit riders are getting the same results. With the help of a grant from the National Institutes of Health, UT Health and the Texas Transportation Institute are teaming up for a first-of-its-kind study.
The five-year effort focuses on people who live near Metro's new light rail lines. The Red Line extension opened in December. Two more lines are set to open this fall.
Researchers will study the travel patterns of people who start using the trains and measure changes in their level of physical activity.
"This is a once in a lifetime opportunity."
UT Health researcher Harold Kohl says Houston's situation is unique, since they can look at behavior before and after the trains start rolling.
"We call it a natural experiment in that the study really couldn't be done, asking these particular questions, if the rail lines weren't being extended."
Also working on the study is Texas Transportation Institute researcher Ipek Sener. She says participants will keep diaries and fill out questionnaires.
"We are hoping the results of this project will inform future transportation policy and funding at all levels of government."
Meanwhile back in southwest Houston, we get to Richmond Avenue just as the #25 bus glides to a stop. Neil Orts says if you've been thinking about walking to the bus stop, just do it.
"It's just not as hard as people want to make it out to be."

This story was informed by sources in KUHF's Public Insight Network ®. To become a news source for KUHF, go to www.kuhf.org/pin.

 

[muller877]

The TTC may have to create ads to educate drivers to stop their cars before the REAR doors to allow room for the ramps to extend out. Except that they'll still not do that anyways (see Rob Ford experience with streetcar doors currently).

Why do we still have such a small light to indicate a stop? How many people from out of town have no idea what the red light means?

Even with the big red flashing lights on a school bus they added a hinged stop sign 20+ years ago. Would this be hard to do for streetcars?

 

[Admiral Beez]

Why do we still have such a small light to indicate a stop? How many people from out of town have no idea what the red light means?

Even with the big red flashing lights on a school bus they added a hinged stop sign 20+ years ago. Would this be hard to do for streetcars?

I drive up Birchmount from Kingston Road to Steeles most mornings, and everytime I see a school bus with flashing red lights on Birchmount dropping off kids, there is always someone driving straight through, and sometimes honking at the cars that have stopped. And that is a $2000 fine with many points. If that, plus the risk of killing children won't stop them, what chance does the TTC have?

 

[W. K. Lis]

Why do we still have such a small light to indicate a stop? How many people from out of town have no idea what the red light means?

Even with the big red flashing lights on a school bus they added a hinged stop sign 20+ years ago. Would this be hard to do for streetcars?

Red means stop. Green means go. Sometimes.

In Ontario, we must have red exit signs.

Yet, in other jurisdictions, they require green exit signs. Look at movies and/or television shows, and look at the exit signs to see where they were filmed.

That might be the confusing point.

At turnstiles on the TTC, they use green pictorgrams to show which turnstile to use to exit.

Which some other jurisdictions use as well for exit signs

to add to the confusion.

 

[DSC]

The Green Running Man signage is coming here soon, the National Building Code has changed" See:

THE RUNNING GREEN MAN: EMERGENCY EXIT SIGNAGE , THE NEW STANDARD
As Canada inches closer and closer to the International Fire Code (IFC) – slated to come into effect from 2015; changes are slowly being implemented in the existing
National & Ontario Building Codes (NBC & OBC). How many times have we been stuck in an underground garage while helplessly looking for signage to indicate a way of egress? I’m sure it has happened to most of us at some point of time or the other. Well don’t be surprised if instead of the familiar red EXIT signs, you see the ‘Green Running Man’. He’s by no means a superhero comparable to the Green Hornet or Green Lantern, but he will safely lead to an exit if you follow him! In fact, he can already be spotted in many American airports, or in our very own Union Station in downtown Toronto. The new signage goes beyond lingual
limitations as it is simply a pictorial depiction of a man running through an exit door

See: http://www.orhma.com/Portals/0/Insider/2012/Emergency Exit Signage.pdf

 

[BurlOak]

The Green Running Man signage is coming here soon, the National Building Code has changed" See:

THE RUNNING GREEN MAN: EMERGENCY EXIT SIGNAGE , THE NEW STANDARD
As Canada inches closer and closer to the International Fire Code (IFC) – slated to come into effect from 2015; changes are slowly being implemented in the existing
National & Ontario Building Codes (NBC & OBC). How many times have we been stuck in an underground garage while helplessly looking for signage to indicate a way of egress? I’m sure it has happened to most of us at some point of time or the other. Well don’t be surprised if instead of the familiar red EXIT signs, you see the ‘Green Running Man’. He’s by no means a superhero comparable to the Green Hornet or Green Lantern, but he will safely lead to an exit if you follow him! In fact, he can already be spotted in many American airports, or in our very own Union Station in downtown Toronto. The new signage goes beyond lingual
limitations as it is simply a pictorial depiction of a man running through an exit door

See: http://www.orhma.com/Portals/0/Insider/2012/Emergency Exit Signage.pdf

Is there a method of identifying emergency exits from regular exists.

I guess before, the RED EXIT sign was used for both and then words added for emergency.

How would this be handled with pictographs?

 

[nfitz]

In Ontario, we must have red exit signs.

Is there any evidence that a single person, ever, has been confused because an exit sign was red rather than green?

That might be the confusing point.

Is there ANY evidence of this?

Surely that sign is erroneous. It says No Entry. But then when you try and exit through it, it won't let you through. Surely it should say No Exit.

Which some other jurisdictions use as well for exit signs

to add to the confusion.

Ah, the infamous running man. The last symbol you should show on an emergency exit. Aren't people taught to walk to the exit in a fire, not to run?

Perhaps that's why when I've been in a building when the fire alarm has gone off unexpectedly, those of us who were educated in Canada were walking calmly to an exit were passed by a bunch of people who were educated elsewhere, who were running like their lives depended on it.

What has any of this got to do with stop spacing? Are you suggesting there should be exit signs placed at surface stops?

 

[W. K. Lis]

Is there any evidence that a single person, ever, has been confused because an exit sign was red rather than green?

Is there ANY evidence of this?

Surely that sign is erroneous. It says No Entry. But then when you try and exit through it, it won't let you through. Surely it should say No Exit.

Ah, the infamous running man. The last symbol you should show on an emergency exit. Aren't people taught to walk to the exit in a fire, not to run?

Perhaps that's why when I've been in a building when the fire alarm has gone off unexpectedly, those of us who were educated in Canada were walking calmly to an exit were passed by a bunch of people who were educated elsewhere, who were running like their lives depended on it.

What has any of this got to do with stop spacing? Are you suggesting there should be exit signs placed at surface stops?

Usually emergency exits add words or a pictogram for such a circumstance.

 

[JasonParis]

The Green Running Man signage is coming here soon, the National Building Code has changed"

This makes me happy. Not only as a well-travelled geek, but also because it's safer and frankly also has more personality.

 

[nfitz]

This makes me happy. Not only as a well-travelled geek, but also because it's safer and frankly also has more personality.

Running towards the exit is safer than walking?

 

[Juan_Lennon416]

Running towards the exit is safer than walking?

If there is a crowd, I would walk to prevent from tripping over people. However, if I am by myself, I would probably run

 

[ShonTron]

The running man - how does that apply to people using mobility devices?
Seriously, it's a globally recognized symbol for a quick exit - not running, necessarily.

Finally, what does this have to do with stop spacing?

 

[reaperexpress]

May 21st 2015 update:

A major step forward in the journey toward rationalized surface stops! Today, notices were installed at Sunday stops and a regular service stop*, indicating that they will be removed as of June 7th.

Typical notice:

This pole still has traces of the old painted style of streetcar stop sign.

* The midblock stop at 276 Bathurst currently has a regular stop southbound, but only a Sunday stop northbound. Both the northbound Sunday stop and the southbound regular stop are being removed.

Removal notice at 276 Bathurst southbound, the only regular stop being removed in this batch.

Interestingly, even though the same situation exists at Broadview and Simpson, in that case only the northbound Sunday stop is being removed. The equally ridiculous southbound stop survives for now, but its days are undoubtedly numbered.