King Street (Streetcar Transit Priority)

[Steve X]

Except that Ubers will have to follow the very same rules as regular cars. Taxis would be exempt after 10 PM and before 5 AM.

BUT a car is likely going to follow the taxi and go straight! People can't read signs these days, especially at night.

From The Star, at this link:



The vote went (from this link):

Note that the four who voted against were all suburban Councillors. Normal situation.

Note, the 4 are the usually suburban idiots.

 

[MetroMan]

Except that Ubers will have to follow the very same rules as regular cars. Taxis would be exempt after 10 PM and before 5 AM.

An exemption on King St. isn't going to save the taxi industry.

 

[Admiral Beez]

Except that Ubers will have to follow the very same rules as regular cars. Taxis would be exempt after 10 PM and before 5 AM.

For now. The Uber lobby will demand to be included in the next round.

 

[Admiral Beez]

I always thought the better solution for King was to change the tracks to ROW, ban all left turns and eliminate on street parking where necessary. Throw in a bike lane if it'll fit.

 

[Steve X]

They should disallow taxis from blocking the streetcar lane at intersections but I doubt that would make a different since they load on the far side. My worries is taxis would love to speed in front of streetcars slowing them down. They said this is a pilot so if it isn't working out, they;ll have to remove the taxis.

 

[smuncky]

So how is enforcement going to work outside of the 10pm-5am hours?

 

[rbt]

Ok it was less than perfect to begin with and it's even more timid now, but given the way this Council works it's a miracle any kind of transit priority on King was approved. By Toronto standards this is a huge win.

Agreed. This is very similar to a plan that Miller was unable to even bring to vote because council (rather friendly to him at the time) was very much against it.

Getting a trial out of the gate is a pretty big deal.

 

[ADRM]

For now. The Uber lobby will demand to be included in the next round.

It will also of course not be adequately enforced by the police.

 

[Rainforest]

Sounds pretty reasonable; both the plan and the taxi excemption.

We have to start somewhere.

 

[ADRM]

Sounds pretty reasonable; both the plan and the taxi excemption.

We have to start somewhere.

I don't think "reasonable" is the right word; it's profoundly dumb that we're even having this debate, given the modal splits on King.

Perhaps, in the frame of how poorly Council functions and how incomprehensibly dim most suburban councillors are, we can classify it as "acceptable." But I absolutely don't want to normalize Council's warped and antiquated view of reality.

 

[amnesiajune]

The Uber lobby will demand to be included in the next round.

No they won't. They'll break the laws while they're still in place, hire a bunch of people who used to work for the mayor to do "consulting", and start a "grassroots" social media campaign to pressure city council to bring them into the exception.

 

[steveintoronto]

I always thought the better solution for King was to change the tracks to ROW, ban all left turns and eliminate on street parking where necessary. Throw in a bike lane if it'll fit.

As an avid cyclist who hasn't had a drivers licence in this jurisdiction for decades (I used to drive cab, truck, motorbike, etc) I can't see cycle lanes working on King, there just isn't the space to do it properly and safely. But since I'm willing to grant that, so should taxis and those demanding parking space. This is a *Transit Mall*, and secondary to that, but next in line are pedestrians, albeit there must be some form of separation from streetcars that allows the streetcars to attain the speed necessary to achieve the objective of the exercise. And giving taxis "extra stalls" certainly isn't the way to do this. *Some* 'stopping' lay-bys will be necessary, but not parking. Do that on the side streets. And the lay-bys can and must be off the single lane for vehicles so it doesn't block the flow. Allowing vehicles onto the tracks is going to prove still highly problematic, as The Admiral states. But alas, this is Toronto, a generation behind world cities.

 

[crs1026]

Remember, it's a pilot, with a scorecard. If TTC returns to Council with data showing that the post-10 PM velocity is terrible, that will be compelling. This is the taxi industry's to lose, and they will. Better to have given them the rope than to have denied it to them and have them complaining from a position that is no data and all hypothesis.

- Paul

 

[steveintoronto]

Remember, it's a pilot, with a scorecard. If TTC returns to Council with data showing that the post-10 PM velocity is terrible, that will be compelling.

Ah....but you presume a sense of rationale and clear thinking on behalf of Council, perhaps gracious and well-meaning on your part, but this is the Council that can't even get bike lanes on Bloor right, let alone a transit mall. This council will just state "It didn't work, put it back the way it was".

 

[jcam]

I was annoyed/not surprised in the last TTC Board meeting that more than one Councillor board member was probing the head of Transportation about accomodating taxis, as in "we should be doing more for taxis". When you're in a TTC Board meeting, you should be wearing your 'advocate for transit' hat, and save non-transit advocacy for council meetings.