Street Cleaners

[jaborandi]

Every time I see them it's like they target some specific piece of litter and then ignore everything else around it. It's bizarre.

guys with big hoses tend to act that way

 

[casaguy]

Wow! Yet another good one!

 

[Hydrogen]

Maybe they can get a team of guys with leaf blowers to push the litter towards it. Then nothing would be missed.

 

[junctionist]

To be fair, there are workers who use brooms and bags. They then leave their light blue plastic bags on the sidewalk near the curb. These eventually vanish.

 

[urbandreamer]

Does Toyota make a hybrid street cleaner?

Btw, sweeping on a hot summer day or cold winter day simply isn't that appealing. Would you do that for $14/hour (could be less?)

The object of the vacuum is to pick up larger items; the smaller bits are "swept" and ground and pushed into the sewer via that wet sweeper. Just like on a construction site the water keeps the dust down. Junctionist is correct (see below) those dust microns are extremely dangerous to your health. (There's a reason it takes ages to build skyscrapers--silica dust can kill!) Even riding around one of those machines can't be much fun--think about the job from the worker's perspective (is the guy deaf for example from the constant noise?) Annoying yes==but just another day in downtown urban living.

The ultimate solution: rid the city of the lazy idiot that can't dispose of his garbage correctly!

 

[junctionist]

The complex machinery is needed to remove more than just the common Tim Hortons flattened cup. The system is meant to minimize the tiny particles that accumulate on streets, which are swept into the air by cars and breathed by pedestrians and motorists. Long term exposure can lead to lung diseases.

 

[junctionist]

On a side note, I can't stand the people who will take the time to pick up litter on their front lawns, and always proceed to throw it on the street. Especially since those machines don't drive around daily in many parts of the city, making the neighbourhoods dirtier.

 

[Prometheus The Supremo]

The complex machinery is needed to remove more than just the common Tim Hortons flattened cup. The system is meant to minimize the tiny particles that accumulate on streets, which are swept into the air by cars and breathed by pedestrians and motorists. Long term exposure can lead to lung diseases.

sometimes when i'm rolling along the sidewalk, when the sun hits just the right angle, it almost looks like the ground is covered with clear grains or beads of something (on the sidewalk and asphalt, more pronounced on sand). what the heck is this stuff?

 

[casaguy]

Sweeping on a hot summer day or cold winter day simply isn't that appealing. Would you do that for $14/hour (could be less?)

Oh please. Life's tough sometimes.

If the city just got rid of those silly small riding vacuums I bet they could hire a whole whack of people desperate for work (downtown homeless etc) and pay them cash without needing an address, social insurance number etc.

It could be a great help to get some people back on their feet.

I'm sure this isn't a new idea, but I don't know why we're not seeing something along these lines.

 

[lordmandeep]

they do that in NEW york and its been a huge hit with the homeless.

 

[unimaginative2]

Assuming they follow the City's own fair wage policy, and a street cleaner is considered a Landscaping Labourer (this is a lower pay grade than anyone who operates a machine, like those sweeper drivers), it would be $22.05 an hour.

casaguy, Lord Mandeep's right. They have a program just like that in New York for the homeless, that provides housing, counselling, and a job in city beautification.

 

[scarberiankhatru]

On a side note, I can't stand the people who will take the time to pick up litter on their front lawns, and always proceed to throw it on the street. Especially since those machines don't drive around daily in many parts of the city, making the neighbourhoods dirtier.

Daily? Many suburban areas are lucky to see their streets swept on a biennial basis, accumulating absurd amounts of decomposing leaves, winter sand, etc.

 

[adma]

I like old-school street cleaners. Y'know, the ones that follow horses around

 

[Hydrogen]

The complex machinery is needed to remove more than just the common Tim Hortons flattened cup. The system is meant to minimize the tiny particles that accumulate on streets, which are swept into the air by cars and breathed by pedestrians and motorists. Long term exposure can lead to lung diseases.

I don't think these things clean the air. If you want to breathe in the stuff that's on the ground, you're gonna have to bend right over to get at it.

People tend to cough out the larger "particles."

 

[junctionist]

You're right, the most dangerous particles come from car emissions. I remember reading something awhile back about ground level particles also posing a risk because wind, or the breeze from traffic is enough to blow the light particles up. But definitely, vehicle exhaust is a more serious concern.