EastYorkTTCFan
Senior Member
No but I would assume that it would be in place by the time the Crosstown opens up.Do you know the timeline for completion of Vision?
No but I would assume that it would be in place by the time the Crosstown opens up.Do you know the timeline for completion of Vision?
Do you know the timeline for completion of Vision?
Funny you mention this. I had sent an email to 311 on January 23 about this exact issue, and i just received a reply today from Heather Glicksman on the Crosstown Community Relations team. She mentions they are aware of the issue, and they will perform the repainting within the next week or two, pending warmer weather.The constant changes to Don Mills/Eglinton have also been a bit chaotic. Lanes seem to shift on a weekly basis, with little to no changes made to the pavement marking or signage. I have already seen two pretty bad accidents in the past few weeks where cars have pretty much hit head on because the lane markings didn't exist.
The middle lanes sometimes seem to lead into the opposing lane from the other direction, or lanes simply end with no warning, forcing last minute lane changes. There was also a few days of the middle lane disappearing mid-intersection, forcing cars to suddenly change lanes illegally and at the last minute, in the middle of the intersection. Absolutely no signage or warning, and impossible to see from afar as the jog in Don Mills now directs you to the right before reaching the intersection. The contractor needs to do better at managing traffic flow. I don't think they are even trying at this point.
This isn't a case of people changing lanes in the intersection. It has been the constant shifting of lanes to and fro through the intersection during different phases of work on the Crosstown, with lines of paint all over the place or nonexistent every time the lanes get shifted. The current setup through the intersection has lanes actually bending through the intersection itself, but no lines to guide you. Hence why we are seeing cars heading straight for each other in the intersection.Changing lanes in an intersection is technically legal, IIRC.
they would only really gain enough energy to power lights at the station and maybe the presto gates. Trains require a lot of power for traction. Also, the panels wouldn't do much in built-up areas as they'd only see the sun a few hours a day.Around the world (outside of North America) they include reusable power sources with their transit stations. From this link, for example, they use solar panels on top of a metro station in Tokyo.
Metrolinx and Toronto Hydro should look into installing solar panels on top of all the station roofs, including bus bays and at the light rail stop shelters.
they would only really gain enough energy to power lights at the station and maybe the presto gates. Trains require a lot of power for traction. Also, the panels wouldn't do much in built-up areas as they'd only see the sun a few hours a day.
...Officials at the national conference on 'Green Metro Systems' at Metro Bhawan on Friday said the stations are currently generating about 7MW. "About 30-40% of our total operational expenditure is on power. There is enough reason for us to move to renewable energy. DMRC consumes about 3% of Delhi's total energy," said an official.
The on-ground stations can meet most of their energy needs with solar, but the underground stations need about 1.2MW each for lighting and other needs...
The facility will be located at the site of the future Mount Dennis Station and LRT maintenance and storage facility, currently under construction. It will store energy generated at night during off-peak hours and supply energy the following day to reduce peak energy use and lower the Crosstown's overall emissions and operating costs. The facility will also provide emergency power to the Crosstown in the event of a power interruption, creating a better experience for transit riders.
I feel like the roofs should be green roofs or something if we want to have an environmental impact. The solar panels should be put up, but in places where they receive adequate sunshine. Hydro corridors come to mind. There's no sense putting valuable technology in areas of underutilization.I don't see why not though? If we could eliminate the need to pay for that energy on an ongoing basis that would be worthwhile.
Tell that to New Delhi. See link.
That's cool, and begs the question if the same approach should be used for GO electrification.
Instead of researching "hydrogen" trains, that need no catenary but have to carry heavy metal tanks with compressed hydrogen, should Metrolinx proceed with the conventional catenary system, and add storage facilities to accumulate the energy generated off-peak?
The case for hydrail is built around avoiding the capital expense for catenary and power supply, as opposed to the cost of energy per se. Once you string wires, grid power (nuclear and hydro, so low-carbon) is likely cheaper than hydrogen power.
Ontario still has a hefty base generation surplus, meaning cheap, low carbon overnight power is still available. Anything you can power by storing a trickle charge overnight for use in the day is inherently green and low cost.
I wonder about a base storage system for peak traction power. Transit energy demand coincides with existing demand peaks so it is inherently uneconomical as a draw on the grid and at present is met by burning natural gas. So build up the energy for use at rush hour overnight via wind, and/or during midday using wind and solar.
The electric bus projects coming in Peel, Vaughan, and Toronto apparently include mass storage - store up the charge slowly overnight, then transfer it to each bus rapidly during layover at the ends of the route. No reason rail can't apply this principle.
- Paul