Roads: Ontario/GTA Highways Discussion

[Woodbridge_Heights]

I forgot the TTC doesn't have daily security incidents /s
Yes people drive like shit in this region! It's a huge decline from 10 years ago and that wasn't great either.

But I don't care about the "overall" statistics when my personal experience is all that matters to ME, but I know several people who share my frustrations. I can deal with "abuse" if service is at least consistent.
The 501 Queen has been closed for most of the last decade, the replacement bus DOES NOT SHOW ON TRANSEE/GOOGLE MAPS. I have a suspension or delay every other trip.

Drivers are insane but someone not signaling doesn't have a material effect on me. How many times can I give the "TTC Delays" excuse for being late to work?
I think you all need to understand these frustrations if you expect people to WILLINGLY get out of their cars.

How often has the 401 been not under construction in the GTA? How often has there not been a lane closure due to an accident.

You are downplaying the dangers of driving while over stating the dangers of transit.

 

[innsertnamehere]

Driving is the single most dangerous thing a person does in their day to day life. People are completely oblivious to how relatively dangerous it is, particularly at high speeds.

Driving within the GTA however puts you at a much higher risk of a crash, but much lower risk of a major injury or fatality as speeds are so much slower than average. There is a massive number of fender benders in the GTA, but the number of fatal collisions is a fraction of those in rural areas in terms of per-kilometre-travelled.

 

[turbanplanner]

How often has the 401 been not under construction in the GTA? How often has there not been a lane closure due to an accident.

You are downplaying the dangers of driving while over stating the dangers of transit.

The 401 isn't totally closed for years on end. Personally I find the traffic very predictable, the 501L bus on the other hand hasn't came for an hour at times, and there is no way to track it.

I haven't crashed once, I haven't had a fender bender, I haven't had someone assault me. If there's a crash I'm in an air conditioned car that's comfortable.
If the TTC has a suspension I'm packed like a sardine as well as an hour+ late, I've also been followed by strange people etc. Can't say the same about driving.

Is sympathy an undesirable trait for urban planners?

 

[Woodbridge_Heights]

Driving is the single most dangerous thing a person does in their day to day life. People are completely oblivious to how relatively dangerous it is, particularly at high speeds.

Driving within the GTA however puts you at a much higher risk of a crash, but much lower risk of a major injury or fatality as speeds are so much slower than average. There is a massive number of fender benders in the GTA, but the number of fatal collisions is a fraction of those in rural areas in terms of per-kilometre-travelled.

Not to mention the fact that even a minor fender bender comes with financial burdens that they don't think about in the same way that they do with the potential for bodily harm on transit. There's costs to repair the vehicle, increased insurance costs, time lost dealing with the consequences of the accident, and possible physical/psychological injuries.

And accidents happen FAR more often than attacks on transit do.

 

[Woodbridge_Heights]

The 401 isn't totally closed for years on end. Personally I find the traffic very predictable, the 501L bus on the other hand hasn't came for an hour at times, and there is no way to track it.

I haven't crashed once, I haven't had a fender bender, I haven't had someone assault me. If there's a crash I'm in an air conditioned car that's comfortable.
If the TTC has a suspension I'm packed like a sardine as well as an hour+ late, I've also been followed by strange people etc. Can't say the same about driving.

Is sympathy an undesirable trait for urban planners?

I took transit for 20+ years. Never been assaulted, yelled at. Never felt un safe, never been approached by weirdos. I sat down minded my own business and got off at my station.

Just because you don't feel safe, does not mean it is not safe.

 

[innsertnamehere]

The 401 isn't totally closed for years on end. Personally I find the traffic very predictable, the 501L bus on the other hand hasn't came for an hour at times, and there is no way to track it.

I haven't crashed once, I haven't had a fender bender, I haven't had someone assault me. If there's a crash I'm in an air conditioned car that's comfortable.
If the TTC has a suspension I'm packed like a sardine as well as an hour+ late, I've also been followed by strange people etc. Can't say the same about driving.

Is sympathy an undesirable trait for urban planners?

yes - my experience with GTA traffic is that it's actually surprisingly consistent, generally speaking. Definitely more consistent than the TTC. There's the odd bad day, but generally your drive's travel time is within 10 minutes of the average every single day. Maybe once every 2 months you get a "bad" day - far less than the TTC which is like every week, if not more often.

 

[turbanplanner]

I took transit for 20+ years. Never been assaulted, yelled at. Never felt un safe, never been approached by weirdos. I sat down minded my own business and got off at my station.

Just because you don't feel safe, does not mean it is not safe.

44 per cent of Toronto residents feel unsafe riding transit alone

‘A Toronto issue’: Ipsos poll shows some TTC riders changing habits after violent incidents | Globalnews.ca

Among several findings, the poll suggests that 44 per cent of residents here feel unsafe riding transit alone, compared to 27 per cent of riders across the country.

globalnews.ca

What percent does it have to be before you'll admit there is a problem?

yes - my experience with GTA traffic is that it's actually surprisingly consistent, generally speaking. Definitely more consistent than the TTC. There's the odd bad day, but generally your drive's travel time is within 10 minutes of the average every single day. Maybe once every 2 months you get a "bad" day - far less than the TTC which is like every week, if not more often.

Even on a bad day you're still in an air conditioned space, and not standing against someone.

 

[nfitz]

how many injuries are real, vs trumped up for insurance? Again you have a huge amount of control over the risk that you take when you drive.

How many? No where near enough to make driving safer than transit. If you think you are magically going to be able to avoid car accidents, then you are completely misjudging the risks.

There's a difference between getting yelled at by a pedestrian while you're in a car, vs some CLEARLY mentally unstable dude who you don't know if he has a knife yelling at you. I've had no bad experiences like I do regularly on the subway ever happen in my car. I also don't have to wait for a bus that doesn't show up on tracking apps (501L)

I've literally heard of more people shot in road rage incidents, than I have heard on the TTC by vagrants. Here's one from a few weeks ago.

Road rage may have led to double shooting in downtown Toronto

Police say road rage may have played a part in a drive-by shooting in downtown Toronto that left two people with serious injuries as video of the incident’s aftermath surfaces.

toronto.ctvnews.ca

I took transit for 20+ years. Never been assaulted, yelled at. Never felt un safe, never been approached by weirdos. I sat down minded my own business and got off at my station.

Just because you don't feel safe, does not mean it is not safe.

Well I may have been yelled at - but it's because I said something first.

I'm puzzled though why anyone who is too afraid to see a homeless person, is on so many transit threads, spreading such wokeness.

 

[turbanplanner]

How many? No where near enough to make driving safer than transit. If you think you are magically going to be able to avoid car accidents, then you are completely misjudging the risks.


I've literally heard of more people shot in road rage incidents, than I have heard on the TTC by vagrants. Here's one from a few weeks ago.

Road rage may have led to double shooting in downtown Toronto

Police say road rage may have played a part in a drive-by shooting in downtown Toronto that left two people with serious injuries as video of the incident’s aftermath surfaces.

toronto.ctvnews.ca

Well I may have been yelled at - but it's because I said something first.

I'm puzzled though why anyone who is too afraid to see a homeless person, is on so many transit threads, spreading such wokeness.

Too afraid to see a homeless person? I'm an adult and I don't need to be harassed on my way to work. I'm in the core 4 times a week I'm used to seeing them lmfao.

You're just going to ignore my statistic where 44% of people feel unsafe? Not one person on this website lives in the real world.
If you don't address peoples concerns you're going to wonder why transit usage is dropping, and hand wave away every single problem I've brought up (line closures for years, routes that don't show on tracking apps, nearly half of riders feeling unsafe) etc

 

[nfitz]

You're just going to ignore my statistic where 44% of people feel unsafe?

I've been reporting that I feel unsafe in those surveys for TTC - simply because they need to improve security.

But I don't feel unsafe - I'm simply concerned that it's going to scare snowflakes away from transit, and not only make my waits for transit longer, but also slower with more people who shouldn't be driving.

 

[turbanplanner]

I've been reporting that I feel unsafe in those surveys for TTC - simply because they need to improve security.

But I don't feel unsafe - I'm simply concerned that it's going to scare snowflakes away from transit, and not only make my waits for transit longer, but also slower with more people who shouldn't be driving.

So you think everybody who feels unsafe is being a snowflake? How out of touch can you be?

 

[nfitz]

So you think everybody who feels unsafe is being a snowflake? How out of touch can you be?

I'm not the one pretending that driving is safer than taking transit.

Polls say that 45% want to vote for a racist in the USA. Or is that okay?

 

[Deadpool X]

How often has the 401 been not under construction in the GTA? How often has there not been a lane closure due to an accident.

You are downplaying the dangers of driving while over stating the dangers of transit.

I once showed the average driving time during peak hours on 401 from western edge of Toronto (Mississauga border) to the eastern edge of Toronto (Pickering border). Average speed during rush hour was better than average speed of Lakeshore West line from Clarkson to Union (this also happens to the fastest GO line). Of course the difference increases even more outside of rush hours. TTC is even slower than GO. If you have to change vehicles, that takes additional time, something that you don't have to worry about while driving.

For transit to be competitive, it needs to be faster and safer (or at least perceived to be safer).

I see people getting yelled at so frequently on TTC that I have stopped using it. I hate driving downtown but I do that now on weekends when my GO line does not run.

 

[Undead]

I'm not the one pretending that driving is safer than taking transit.

Polls say that 45% want to vote for a racist in the USA. Or is that okay?

Touch grass dude.

 

[turbanplanner]

I once showed the average driving time during peak hours on 401 from western edge of Toronto (Mississauga border) to the eastern edge of Toronto (Pickering border). Average speed during rush hour was better than average speed of Lakeshore West line from Clarkson to Union (this also happens to the fastest GO line). Of course the difference increases even more outside of rush hours. TTC is even slower than GO. If you have to change vehicles, that takes additional time, something that you don't have to worry about while driving.

For transit to be competitive, it needs to be faster and safer (or at least perceived to be safer).

I see people getting yelled at so frequently on TTC that I have stopped using it. I hate driving downtown but I do that now on weekends when my GO line does not run.

I didn't even realize this! I never really minded the speed with Go, just the frequency (especially when you tap as the train is leaving) and that if you're going 1 burb to another well you're probably going to take a bus that doesn't come that often, and have to wait in the sun/cold for it.

Go is also terrible when they have a closure or suspension, it's like figure it out on your own for a lot of the stops!