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Cold and Wet… and Darkly Shiny
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King Street (Streetcar Transit Priority)

khristopher said:
The article I read said that King Street's streetcar track lanes are actually not allowed to be driven on by cars, but that it's just not enforced. I was not aware of this! Is there signage that says this?
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I heard this as well, and finally saw one of the diamond lane signs (streetcar lane for transit and taxis only during rush hours) on King near Bathurst, but I have never seen it enforced, ever.

The markings are there too, but I can't say I've seen those or the signs in the heart of the CBD.

http://goo.gl/maps/2BFsS
 
Bring back the cobble stone for the tracks or put in ruble strips.

Put a video cameras on all the cars to record the cars in the HOV and send a ticket to the owner regardless if they aren't the driver at the time.

Having a special enforcement unit will pay for itself in no time and the rest of the money to TTC pockets.

No excuse is acceptable. Need to have bigger clear signs posted with letters glowing in all type of weather.
 
M II A II R II K said:
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Check out this video on Melbourne. They went from catering to the car to a city that caters to people.

[video=vimeo;12499493]http://vimeo.com/12499493[/video]
 
the lemur said:
I heard this as well, and finally saw one of the diamond lane signs (streetcar lane for transit and taxis only during rush hours) on King near Bathurst, but I have never seen it enforced, ever.

The markings are there too, but I can't say I've seen those or the signs in the heart of the CBD.

http://goo.gl/maps/2BFsS
Click to expand...

Should they not use those arrow sign like on Jarvis (Peace Bridge)? I think those are obeyed pretty well.

The problem is it may be hard to accomodate taxis. Taxis either carry a passenger, or are empty - so they really carry half a commuter on average. Why do they get special treatment after all - I guess those taxi fees means you can pay for the privilige.

The other issue is whether some thing as drastic as no cars is needed is they have yet to try enforcing current rules.
 
the lemur said:
The markings are there too, but I can't say I've seen those or the signs in the heart of the CBD.
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IIRC the reserved lane did include the CBD at one time, but it was officially dropped many years ago, I think maybe it was way back when Lastman was mayor.
 
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Coruscanti Cognoscente said:
Honestly this video has me totally convinced.
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DO want! But you also have to realize that they don't have -20 degree winters with snow. I bet people still walk outside during the winter months in Melbourne. In Toronto not many want to venture outdoors for 6 months of the year.

Definitely think there's places where the streets can be closed off in Toronto, etc. Maybe not to the same degree or magnitude as Melbourne. Would love to see King and Queen beetween University and Yonge be a pedestrian mall with LRV access during the daytime, and limited car use in the evening. Maybae do some treatment on the sidewalks and roadway to make both seem lie a common area so that even in the car allowed times, pedestrians can still own the place and reduce the street barrier. Use Adelaide and Richmond for the traffic across this area during the daytimes. I imagine delivery trucks can still get relatively close to their destinations using one of those two streets and one of the perpendicular cross streets.
 
I watched the Melbourne video and was struck by an almost total lack of fat people despite the fact that the city is portrayed as one giant food court.
 
BMO said:
DO want! But you also have to realize that they don't have -20 degree winters with snow. I bet people still walk outside during the winter months in Melbourne. In Toronto not many want to venture outdoors for 6 months of the year.

Definitely think there's places where the streets can be closed off in Toronto, etc. Maybe not to the same degree or magnitude as Melbourne. Would love to see King and Queen beetween University and Yonge be a pedestrian mall with LRV access during the daytime, and limited car use in the evening. Maybae do some treatment on the sidewalks and roadway to make both seem lie a common area so that even in the car allowed times, pedestrians can still own the place and reduce the street barrier. Use Adelaide and Richmond for the traffic across this area during the daytimes. I imagine delivery trucks can still get relatively close to their destinations using one of those two streets and one of the perpendicular cross streets.
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Getting back to the idea of restricting King/Queen to transit and non-car traffic at certain times, I don't think winter weather would be as much of a reason not to do it as it would be for a mostly pedestrian street.

My impression is that Melbourne's winters are cold by Australian standards (mid single digits, rain) and spring is not much better, so outdoor use of the pedestrian streets is limited to some extent. I do like the idea of covering laneways.
 
the lemur said:
My impression is that Melbourne's winters are cold by Australian standards (mid single digits, rain) and spring is not much better, so outdoor use of the pedestrian streets is limited to some extent. I do like the idea of covering laneways.
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Average high for June/July/August are 14.1/13.5/15 c average overnight lows are 6.9/6/6.7....the absolute coldest temp on record is -2.8.

Never snows....last recorded "sleet" was over 25 years ago!

This may be cold by Australian standards but it is hardly weather not conducive to walking.
 
TOareaFan said:
Average high for June/July/August are 14.1/13.5/15 c average overnight lows are 6.9/6/6.7....the absolute coldest temp on record is -2.8.

Never snows....last recorded "sleet" was over 25 years ago!

This may be cold by Australian standards but it is hardly weather not conducive to walking.
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Average lows are 6-8, not specifically overnight. It gets rainy and windy, from what I've heard ... stinging cold rain/hail in spring. Point being, there's definitely a seasonal aspect to street life, like pretty much anywhere, but it's still viable most of the year.

We already have pedestrian areas (a few, small, scattered ones) in Toronto, even though they're not inviting in winter. We don't let the cold deter us from enjoying everything, do we?
 
the lemur said:
Average lows are 6-8, not specifically overnight. It gets rainy and windy, from what I've heard ... stinging cold rain/hail in spring. Point being, there's definitely a seasonal aspect to street life, like pretty much anywhere, but it's still viable most of the year.

We already have pedestrian areas (a few, small, scattered ones) in Toronto, even though they're not inviting in winter. We don't let the cold deter us from enjoying everything, do we?
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No we don't but the thing is we do live in a totally different climate than Melbourne....I love pedestrian areas but we just have to look around our own city for hints as to our own climate's influence on how we move around. This time of year people love to walk around places like the Distillery and along King West......in January and February, the busiest pedestrian areas in the city are the Path and the Eaton Centre.

Perhaps we are more suited to temporary/seasonal pedistrian areas?

P.S. are we really gonna quibble about when in the day (most often) the low temperature hits (anywhere) ?
 
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