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TTC: RapidTO Bathurst Street

Mind_the_gap said:
This seriously needs to be implemented whole-scale across the City where streetcars aren't on their own ROW.

It always amazed me that Toronto allows on-street parking on active streetcar lines with four lanes only (ie. Old Toronto).

Toronto and Helsinki share something in common that our trams speeds are among the lowest in the world.

Maybe @Northern Light might be able to say, will the stops be clearly demarcated from vehicular traffic, akin to the zigzags you see at bus stops in the UK?
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The City has already started to put the zigzag stops down. I noticed it recently at (I believe) Yonge & College. I think they need to go further and place some big "stop begins here" signs at the back-end of the streetcar - they're all the same length now since we're now at 100% Flexitys.
 
Mind_the_gap said:
This seriously needs to be implemented whole-scale across the City where streetcars aren't on their own ROW.

It always amazed me that Toronto allows on-street parking on active streetcar lines with four lanes only (ie. Old Toronto).
Click to expand...

Agreed. Getting curb side parking curtailed on main streets, particularly those with streetcars has been a personal priority, but there is lots of internal opposition from the Parking Authority and Transportation, nevermind councillors and BIAs in many cases.

I'm hopeful we can use this precedent to go further, faster.

But we shall see.

Mind_the_gap said:
Maybe @Northern Light might be able to say, will the stops be clearly demarcated from vehicular traffic, akin to the zigzags you see at bus stops in the UK?
Click to expand...

You mean something like this?

1762455908522.png

Credit: https://bsky.app/profile/kayehm.bsky.social

Its at the pilot stage, this one is one of several stops to be done between now and mid '26. Then there will be a brief pause to evaluate their effectiveness and any refinements before a wider rollout.
 
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Mind_the_gap said:
This seriously needs to be implemented whole-scale across the City where streetcars aren't on their own ROW.

It always amazed me that Toronto allows on-street parking on active streetcar lines with four lanes only (ie. Old Toronto).

Toronto and Helsinki share something in common that our trams speeds are among the lowest in the world.

Maybe @Northern Light might be able to say, will the stops be clearly demarcated from vehicular traffic, akin to the zigzags you see at bus stops in the UK?
Click to expand...

Using main roads for car storage has always been the most non-sensical thing we do in Toronto. A city with the kind of gridlock we have and we're storing cars on lanes of traffic? WTF?
 
All it takes is one Uber Eats driver making a quick stop to grab their orders to impede traffic and force everyone into the streetcar lane.

This city is very bad at enforcement. It’s like drivers are being encouraged to park illegally without consequences. You take a look at Eglinton West between Dufferin and Keele. There’s always a few cars parked there westbound towards Keele between 4-6pm when it clearly states no parking. East of Caledonia, everyone starts parking around 5:45pm like rush hour has ended or their clock is running 20 min faster. I don’t see any enforcement doing anything.
 
Steve X said:
All it takes is one Uber Eats driver making a quick stop to grab their orders to impede traffic and force everyone into the streetcar lane.

This city is very bad at enforcement. It’s like drivers are being encouraged to park illegally without consequences. You take a look at Eglinton West between Dufferin and Keele. There’s always a few cars parked there westbound towards Keele between 4-6pm when it clearly states no parking. East of Caledonia, everyone starts parking around 5:45pm like rush hour has ended or their clock is running 20 min faster. I don’t see any enforcement doing anything.
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Yes! Bring a stopwatch and work out how much is added to the bus/streetcar journey by delivery vans and food delivery vehicles blocking the lanes and holding up traffic. I have been stuck on the streetcar on Queen more than a few times because those big white third party Amazon cargo vans, are double parked so far out in the middle of the street, the streetcar can't get by, causing huge traffic jams. Do the idiot drivers think the streetcar can just go around them?

Everyday i hear the bus outside my house, leaning on the horn, honking at some dumb food delivery moron or delivery truck blocking the bus stop.
 
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I only say this half-jokingly. But is it not possible to install padded bumpers on the front of streetcars to push cars out of the way?

Failing that, maybe in winter each streetcar route could have an assigned tow truck nearby to grab the cars. I can imagine this one will be a good source of revenue.
 
NoahB said:
I only say this half-jokingly. But is it not possible to install padded bumpers on the front of streetcars to push cars out of the way?

Failing that, maybe in winter each streetcar route could have an assigned tow truck nearby to grab the cars. I can imagine this one will be a good source of revenue.
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Not tied to RapidTO but related wrt the city's winter maintenance program, towing cars was a big issue during last winter's major snow events that is expected to be handled differently going forward, mentioned in this item and the attached reports going to Council next week: https://secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda-item.do?item=2025.EX27.2
 
Dan416 said:
I for one love the red paint. I know it's just paint, but it's a great visual for drivers. Whether drivers will get the message or not, I don't know. But they'll definitely see the red paint.
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Agreed.

But I think the turning restrictions are likely the biggest 'get' here, followed by the significantly reduced amount of parking.
 
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