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King Street (Streetcar Transit Priority)

UD2 said:
There should also be barriers protecting the streetcar loading area from traffic/cyclists. My understanding is that the entire space on the road was meant to be a street car "platform" and therefore people could technically wait on the road instead of side walk.

And what happened to painting coloured zones on the street? Isn't that in every single pilot slide deck? Painting the street isn't something that's very expensive to do and I'm surprised they didn't do it.
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Yeah, my points prior, but perhaps they haven't gotten around to doing it yet.

There should also be a double yellow solid line (broken only for turns at intersections) to stop overtaking streetcars along the opposing lane.
 
Rapparee said:
I spoke to the TTC employee at the northeast corner of King and University. She's been there since 6 a.m. I watched several cabs and other cars sail straight through the intersection. She said that there hasn't been a single police officer there all day other than a paid duty officer between 6 and 7:30 to direct traffic while construction debris was cleaned up. She sounded exasperated.
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Yes, the TPS need to get people out there on the street; no doubt it's more fun driving around but .....
 
UD2 said:
I actually find the LED lit version to be more ineffective. The doted LED lights are very bright and sometimes create a blinding effect that makes the sign harder to discern. the signs need to be bigger. Make the pictogram it self the full height of the traffic light and put words "buses bicycles excepted" beside the pictograms. And the pictogram for no straight and no left can be combined into one.

Drivers need to pay attention to cars, lights, people, bicycles, streetcars, and sometimes small signs are easy to miss if you're not particularly looking at it. Especially if you are following a larger vehicle (like a streetcar) which pretty much block your entire view of any signs within visible range.
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I disagree, and so does TorStar and others.
Drivers need a telescope to spot no-left-turn signs: Fixer
Left turns from Elm St. onto University Ave. are banned during rush hour, but signs that say so are a long way from drivers.
https://www.thestar.com/yourtoronto...lescope-to-spot-no-left-turn-signs-fixer.html

Here's Toronto's take:
19 September 2017 - Case studies
Signage for no right/left turn in the city of Toronto
Most large urban centres use several signage tools to control road traffic, including static signs, cones and barriers. As shown in the image below, the City of Toronto controls traffic flow on several thoroughfares with static signs prohibiting drivers from turning right or left during high-traffic periods.


Most large urban centres use several signage tools to control road traffic, including static signs, cones and barriers. As shown in the image below, the City of Toronto controls traffic flow on several thoroughfares with static signs prohibiting drivers from turning right or left during high-traffic periods.

As traffic on the roads continues to increase, clear signage has become a considerable challenge in Toronto. Drivers, pedestrians and cyclists need to be extra vigilant to read and understand the many signs cropping up on the road network. The number of traffic violations for failing to obey signs keeps rising. Perhaps this is due to the increased number of construction projects, the aging of the population, the complexity of certain signs or changes to road regulations according to time of day. Whatever the cause, cities must find solutions to improve safety and traffic flow on the roads.

The solution proposed by Orange Traffic: LED traffic signs

Developed in Canada by Orange Traffic, the LED signs authorize or prohibit certain manoeuvres at intersections, including left or right turns. The messages on the signs can be changed according to the situation or time of day, thus optimizing traffic flow in a simple way that is clear for road users. Here is an example:

orange-traffic-LED-no-left-turn-sign-ontario-300x300.png


Pilot project in Toronto yields conclusive results*

A pilot project was launched to assess whether the solution met the City of Toronto’s needs. LED Blank-out traffic signs were installed at two busy intersections, next to the existing static signs. The objective was to evaluate the number of no-turn traffic violations before and after implementing Orange Traffic’s solution.

The results were highly convincing. With Blank-Out sign technology installed, the number of traffic violations fell on an average of 46% at the two intersections under study.

The City of Toronto, finding a solution that provided the intended results, has since installed the Blank-out sign solution at 14 other busy intersections in its downtown area.

The Orange Traffic solutions used in this project

In addition to providing its expertise and technical support, Orange Traffic contributed several of its products to the project:

Benefits for the City of Toronto

The solutions presented in this case study offer the City several benefits:

  • Greater visibility than static signage according to time of day scheduling,
  • Over 46% fewer traffic violations for failure to obey traffic signs at intersections equipped with this solution,
  • Enhanced visibility for commuters, bicycles and pedestrians,
  • Improved and safer pedestrian flow when drivers are prohibited from turning,
  • Better vehicle traffic flow due to reduced congestion.
For more information on Orange Traffic’s solutions, contact Alan MacKenzie today. Our mission is to maximize road safety and traffic flow by developing technological innovations that meet cities’ specific needs.

*The study was conducted by the City of Toronto in 2014, at the intersection of King Street West and University Avenue, and at the intersection of King Street West and Spadina Avenue.


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https://www.orangetraffic.com/en_CA/2017/09/19/signage-no-left-right-turn-toronto/
 
Maybe the TPS are just involved in some budget juicing.....they said there would be no tickets in the first 2 weeks.....maybe they know they are going to have to have a "show of force clampdown" to get this to work and would rather do that when the tickets issued actually produced offsetting revenue for the effort/expense of that?
 
TOareaFan said:
Maybe the TPS are just involved in some budget juicing.....they said there would be no tickets in the first 2 weeks.....maybe they know they are going to have to have a "show of force clampdown" to get this to work and would rather do that when the tickets issued actually produced offsetting revenue for the effort/expense of that?
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Warnings first week, tickets the next. Then what?

The head of the Police Board warned (posted in this string by me months back) that there was no budget for enforcing this. WTF?
 
DSC said:
It really isn't that bad; I just walked from Sherbourne to University and my observations are:
1. As noted above, the traffic is extremely light - yes it's a Federal holiday but many people are just avoiding King.
2. It is definitely confusing to see a 'regular' green light when you are not actually supposed to go straight ahead - as noted by many the signage takes second place to the light (and to habit.)
3.Pedestrians are unused to the fact that they need to wait for THEIR light - there seem to be no signs for pedestrians (though they might not read them!)
4. Yes, there are vehicles breaking the law. Most I saw were cabs and a few fines will soon get the word out to that community.
4. I saw lots of TTC staff at stops but not a single cop. Absolutely no enforcement. The police REALLY need to get with it.
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As a daily pedestrian walking from west of Bathurst to John in the morning #3 I can assure you there are no signs for the pedestrians. I started twice into the intersect on the green opposed to the walk signal. It will take a few more days to get used to it. Advanced right light is 10sec consistent at all intersection with advance right.
#4 I saw police at Bathurst intersection and he was directing traffic. but that was it. I did see 1 car travel Eastbound through the lights at spadina and 3 cars follow the westbound streetcar through, but yeah eerily quite.

Still a bit fearful of trying to get to Lakeshore and Leslie from home tonight after work.
 
TOareaFan said:
So, I fancied a sushi burrito for lunch so I walked over to John Street from my office at King/Uni......again, things seem to be operating pretty smoothly......and King is eerily quiet (so same as my morning observation)....one thing that surprised me is how far someone who turns right onto King from Simcoe can travel WB without being forced to turn right.....they are not forced to turn onto Duncan....and when they get to John there is most definitely a right hand turn only option from the right lane but there is no signage saying they have to turn right and there is no "hashing" in the left lane......so it would appear from a legal perspective they have every right to to change lanes into the streetcar lane and continue through the intersection of King and John.......how far can they actually go before being forced off of King?
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looks like Peter before my hypothetical driver that entered King from Simcoe is forced to turn right.

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Adelaide did look insanely slow walking by. Its often terrible, it looks slightly (somewhat significantly) worse.

King is still empty even as 530pm haha
 
TheTigerMaster said:
Seeing King so empty on a weekday makes me uncomfortable. Did the apocalypse wipe wipe out Toronto?
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I have to say, I kind of miss the vibrancy on King. It’s actually “too” quiet (I’m on a stretch with police enforcement). That’ll change once the permanent infrastructure is built with wider sidewalks and street furniture and that activity is provided by people instead of cars.
 
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