Using the TTC yesterday with a.5 year old in tow was an adventure in climbing snowbanks. At one stop, we got off the streetcar to be faced with a high snowbank and no where to go except to walk in the live traffic lane up to the corner. We had lots of snow yesterday, I get it. I just shared this example to show that the snow wasn't just a problem for GO riders.
I was out yesterday as well with similar observations.
I'm still able bodied, and for the most part this was an irritation/nuisance more than an insurmountable obstacle for me.
But I noted that anyone who normally requires a bus to deploy a ramp, particularly someone using a mobility aid was out of luck. At most stops, 2-4ft high snowbanks made that impossible.
In Toronto, as I assume elsewhere, crews are trying to manage this. Lets acknowledge, a relatively major snowfall will always take some time to address, cities/regions simply can't keep thousands of crews/contractors on standby, and there are equipment limitations and rest periods.
That said, I think most of us feel that the performance more than 24 hours on left something to be desired.
To that end, I offer 2 thoughts........In the first decade of this century, Toronto had 5 snow melters (vehicles) in its yards.......... today, it has only 2. I'll use that as a singular example of how services are quietly reduced to meet a tax freeze or like goal without much advertising. Equipment ages/falls into to disrepair and it isn't replaced....... anyone remember the public debate on reducing snow melters by 60%? Me neither.
Second thought, I have been, continue to be and plan on staying an advocate for using built-in snow melt tech in sidewalks, at bus stops, and around gutters/drains, when this infrastructure comes up for reconstruction.
Its not cheap, but its probably less expensive than you would think.......~$12-30 per ft2 depending on what tech you use, and should be towards the middle/low number if done when the asset is being rebuilt anyway.
That would make a bus stop, including sidewalk, curb, gutter and portion of the roadway, something in the 6-15k range.
I'm not suggesting one would do this for every stop, much as that might be nice, but for high priority locations, hills, high volume stops and those in front of LTCs and hospitals would seem obvious choices.
Rebuild 200 stops per year, for 10 years, that's 2,000 stops at a cost of ~30M or 3M per year., on an a18.8B budget.
Take that that number up 5x to 150M for some key stretches of sidewalks, and 50 intersections over a decade (all 4 corners)
It seems like a good investment to me, and the crews who wouldn't be needed for the above work could be redeployed.
