Parliament Streetcar

[Jonny5]

On the low Parliament bus ridership, they have now increased the frequency, with the extension to Queens Quay. It would be interesting to see where ridership lands.

It's just so slow. Every stop is a slog of people getting on and off very slowly (so many granny-carts being wheeled on and off). It hits every red light; whether nearside or farside stop it will get the red light. The traffic is terrible. It even gets stuck behind diverting streetcars a lot too.

On the rare occasion I am coming from the east on the subway toward downtown, I actually prefer not to get off at Castle Frank to go south to home at Parliamentish and Queenish, but instead I ride on to Yonge, then take the subway south to King or Queen, and then backtrack east to Parliament. 50/50 it's faster that way. You can't even rely on nextbus, as you will see "2 minutes to arrival at Castle Frank" and decide to take the chance and get off the subway there, but then surprise, while the bus shows up as expected the driver immediately gets out and doesn't return for 10 minutes. By the time the bus would leave Castle Frank, I'm already at College on the subway.

 

[Admiral Beez]

It hits every red light; whether nearside or farside stop it will get the red light. The traffic is terrible. It even gets stuck behind diverting streetcars a lot too.

Northbound Parliament from Lakeshore to my turnoff at Winchester is a red light disaster. There are ten traffic lights from top to bottom and all seem designed to prevent any through traffic.

Mill St.
Front St.
King St.
Adelaide St.
Richmond St.
Queen St.
Shuter St.
Dundas St.
Gerrard St.
Carlton St.

It must be even more maddening to be on a bus stuck in these ten stages of hell. I avoid northbound Parliament almost entirely and instead go through Regent Park.

 

[T3G]

You can't even rely on nextbus, as you will see "2 minutes to arrival at Castle Frank" and decide to take the chance and get off the subway there, but then surprise, while the bus shows up as expected the driver immediately gets out and doesn't return for 10 minutes.

In my experience, I have found the most reliable results to be at the first stop past the terminus. Half of the time, when you choose the first stop from the list, it detects the arrival time for the vehicle rather than its departure time. I have very rarely had issues if I make sure to choose a stop out on the route.

 

[drum118]

Northbound Parliament from Lakeshore to my turnoff at Winchester is a red light disaster. There are ten traffic lights from top to bottom and all seem designed to prevent any through traffic.

Mill St.
Front St.
King St.
Adelaide St.
Richmond St.
Queen St.
Shuter St.
Dundas St.
Gerrard St.
Carlton St.

It must be even more maddening to be on a bus stuck in these ten stages of hell. I avoid northbound Parliament almost entirely and instead go through Regent Park.

No different than Jarvis, Sherburne or Yonge

 

[nfitz]

It's just so slow. Every stop is a slog of people getting on and off very slowly (so many granny-carts being wheeled on and off). It hits every red light; whether nearside or farside stop it will get the red light. The traffic is terrible. It even gets stuck behind diverting streetcars a lot too.

On the rare occasion I am coming from the east on the subway toward downtown, I actually prefer not to get off at Castle Frank to go south to home at Parliamentish and Queenish, but instead I ride on to Yonge, then take the subway south to King or Queen, and then backtrack east to Parliament. 50/50 it's faster that way. You can't even rely on nextbus, as you will see "2 minutes to arrival at Castle Frank" and decide to take the chance and get off the subway there, but then surprise, while the bus shows up as expected the driver immediately gets out and doesn't return for 10 minutes. By the time the bus would leave Castle Frank, I'm already at College on the subway.

I'm a bit surprised, though I haven't really tried it southbound from Castle Frank. But when I'm doing something like that, I've found the 75 Sherbourne faster than staying on the subway - perhaps a bit more predictable, as the route starts further north, and only briefly stops at the station.

Oddly though, the 75 Sherbourne seems very unpredictable leaving Queens Quay, but 65 Parliament much more so (at least before it moved to Queens Quay).

In my experience, I have found the most reliable results to be at the first stop past the terminus. Half of the time, when you choose the first stop from the list, it detects the arrival time for the vehicle rather than its departure time. I have very rarely had issues if I make sure to choose a stop out on the route.

Yeah, that's what I always do too. That way, if there is a scheduled 10-minute break at the station (or the bus was running early), I don't get tricked!

 

[Jonny5]

Northbound Parliament from Lakeshore to my turnoff at Winchester is a red light disaster. There are ten traffic lights from top to bottom and all seem designed to prevent any through traffic.

Mill St.
Front St.
King St.
Adelaide St.
Richmond St.
Queen St.
Shuter St.
Dundas St.
Gerrard St.
Carlton St.

It must be even more maddening to be on a bus stuck in these ten stages of hell. I avoid northbound Parliament almost entirely and instead go through Regent Park.

Don't forget the crosswalk at Regent Street! There's always somebody crossing at the exact moment you try to drive past there.

 

[Jonny5]

No different than Jarvis, Sherburne or Yonge

I've been in a few taxis where the driver insists Church is the fastest way to/from King/Bloor on the east side of Yonge, which is counter-intuitive given all the activity along the street compared to Jarvis, but when I let them try it sometimes it does go faster. I have no recorded travel time evidence, though perhaps people generally avoid Church because they think it will be so bad and it isn't. It definitely moves faster than Parliament. I guess the Carlton/Gerrard jog causes a lot of the problems on Parliament, and Church doesn't have that.

 

[Admiral Beez]

No different than Jarvis, Sherburne or Yonge

Sherburne [sic] from Lakeshore to Carlton and beyond is faster than Parliament. It’s not just the number of signalled intersections, but also how they’re sequenced.

Here's my usual drive home to avoid the mess of Parliament. https://goo.gl/maps/6kb7RUuKDDikQ7Pq5 or https://goo.gl/maps/a13GtT49NMGwZrcP6