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Bloor Station - New Crowd Control Measures

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Jonny5

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TTC to unplug Bloor station bottleneck
November 07, 2009

Tess Kalinowski


It could be called the sardine station.

That's why the TTC is launching an experiment later this month to try to relieve the crowding and train delays at Bloor, the system's most notorious bottleneck, where about 200,000 people jockey for elbow room every day.

The idea is to move passengers farther along the southbound platform so trains can load and move out more quickly.

"It's really about passenger flow, trying to eliminate that bottleneck at the north side of the southbound platform and reduce the times the train sits at the platform," said TTC spokesman Brad Ross.

If the experiment works in shaving seconds off what's called "dwell time" – the period a train spends in the station – the TTC could move another train or two up the Yonge-University line every hour.

That would mean at least 1,200 people getting to work sooner.

So, starting Nov. 23, between 7 a.m. and 10 a.m., the TTC will be using a combination of stanchions to control the flow of passengers and staff to urge riders south along the platform. Staff stationed at subway doors will encourage riders to wait and step back from the yellow line instead of rushing the train so it can move off faster.

Bloor Station was designed in such a way that people coming off the Bloor-Danforth line or down from the concourse tend to congregate at the north end of the platform, said Ross.

"A lot of it is going to be about educating our customers as to why (moving farther down) will speed up your ride," he said.

The dwell time for trains at Bloor is about 55 seconds. The goal is to reduce that to 30 to 45 seconds, for the 20 or so trains that move through during a typical rush hour.

The line should also see some relief when the new Toronto Rocket trains are introduced next year. Those trains are expected to add 10 per cent capacity to the Yonge-University line.

The idea of turning employees into human screen doors, making sure riders don't block the entrances to the trains, might cost about $1.5 million annually or about $30 million over 20 years.

"To buy a 5 per cent capacity increase on the Yonge-University-Spadina line – that's a bargain," said TTC chair Adam Giambrone.
Click to expand...
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/ttc/article/722544--ttc-to-unplug-bloor-station-bottleneck

This should be umm... hillarious? "Stanchions?" How about a velvet rope?

I think there was some "field analysis" this morning. Passing through Bloor Station at around 8:15, there were several groups of TTC uniformed employees standing around the platforms staring at everyone coming and going. By the way, we were in and out of Bloor in about 20 seconds... but apparently that never happens and we need a dozen TTC staff on hand every day to make sure it does!
 
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What I wanna know is why did they suddenly realise there's a bottleneck at Bloor? Not like this is a recent occurrence.. and they're definitely not using some fancy new technology. Stanchions....
 
Swarley said:
What I wanna know is why did they suddenly realise there's a bottleneck at Bloor? Not like this is a recent occurrence.. and they're definitely not using some fancy new technology. Stanchions....
Click to expand...

I'm waiting for Dragon's Den lady to take credit for this....:rolleyes:
 
We all know the solutions here.

Aside from the DRL

And that is a new dedicated Eastbound Platform for Yonge-Bloor Station, with new connections further south in the mezzanine.

Now the argument against this typically cost; but aha, there lies all that land to the south, nicely cleared by Bazis for us!

Great Gulf needs to excavate anyway, I see this being able to be done conveniently and cheaply for the western 1/2 of the project.

The Eastern 1/2 is a little more an issue, I'd have to see where the foundation walls are; still, it will never be cheaper than now.

Partner w/GG and just pay them for the extra digging, knock-out panels and rough-ins.

Then worry about the rest later.

The platform space and mezzanine space are both desperately needed and this will spread people almost 1/2 way down the upper (Yonge Line) platforms.

****

This thing with TTC Staff going 'This Way Please' ...does not strike me as particularly likely to succeed, by I wait to be proven wrong.
 
A few of those moveable queue ropes (seen at movie theatres, banks, coffee shops, etc) could be installed on the pillars in the station. Extend them in the peak period to direct passengers down the platform, retract them in the off peak...
 
Northern Light said:
We all know the solutions here.

Aside from the DRL

And that is a new dedicated Eastbound Platform for Yonge-Bloor Station, with new connections further south in the mezzanine.

Now the argument against this typically cost; but aha, there lies all that land to the south, nicely cleared by Bazis for us!

Great Gulf needs to excavate anyway, I see this being able to be done conveniently and cheaply for the western 1/2 of the project.

The Eastern 1/2 is a little more an issue, I'd have to see where the foundation walls are; still, it will never be cheaper than now.

Partner w/GG and just pay them for the extra digging, knock-out panels and rough-ins.

Then worry about the rest later.

The platform space and mezzanine space are both desperately needed and this will spread people almost 1/2 way down the upper (Yonge Line) platforms.

****

This thing with TTC Staff going 'This Way Please' ...does not strike me as particularly likely to succeed, by I wait to be proven wrong.
Click to expand...

Isn't the Bloor line a fair distance north of Bloor street? It surely isn't directly below Bloor through that area, so I don't think it would be that simple to ask GG to incorporate space for a new platform and station space in their development. There is still the building on the North East corner (Scotia?) to get through.
 
The existing Bloor Line's southernmost wall is essentially the southern building limit (and foundation) of the Hudson's Bay Centre.

So the immediate expansion area would be under Bloor, though the likely width of any stairs/escalators off a new Eastbound Platform would have them up against or just inside the property line for the GG site.

It really depends on how wide the platforms, then the connections are.
 
Woodbridge_Heights said:
A few of those moveable queue ropes (seen at movie theatres, banks, coffee shops, etc) could be installed on the pillars in the station. Extend them in the peak period to direct passengers down the platform, retract them in the off peak...
Click to expand...

That's what stanchions are, and that's what's being done.

You can't just leave them there though. People getting off the front cars won't want to walk through a maze and most likely would just duck under the stanchions.

You're going to need a TTC employee for every pillar on the first few cars retracting the stanchions when subways arrive and putting them back once they leave the station.
 
An Alternative to the busy Bloor/Yonge Subway station...

Everyone: I remember and realize how important the Bloor/Yonge transfer station is to the TTC Subway-why not encourage the use of the well-designed transfer station at St.George instead? Thought from LI MIKE
 
Long Island Mike said:
Everyone: I remember and realize how important the Bloor/Yonge transfer station is to the TTC Subway-why not encourage the use of the well-designed transfer station at St.George instead? Thought from LI MIKE
Click to expand...
How do you do that though? People who want to go to/from a destination on Yong aren't going to wanna ride around the loop.
 
Using the University over the Yonge Street Subway...

Keith: I feel that if the TTC emphasized how many extra minutes to access points using the less-crowded University Subway over the congested Bloor/Yonge transfer and promoted this alternative perhaps some may use the St.George transfer. It could maybe ease some of that crowding depending on how many noted and used it...LI MIKE
 
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