Crosstown LRT | ?m | ?s

[Voltz]

I'm surprised that there is no fences. I worry that the grass will look like a safe place to cross for pedestrians. Hopefully they put something visually obvious that this is not a safe median to set up a picnic. Who would have thought so many cars would drive into Union Station via the streetcar tunnel but it happened. There are clearly people who need seriously crazy visual cues that something is a bad idea.

My mom worked in an office along this stretch, was already complaining how the line will divide the road, kill business, stop people from crossing the street for lunch, etc, and a bunch of other nonsense that objectors to the St. Clair ROW were spewing. I'm sure fences will really set a bunch of people off.

 

[Amare]

The thing is there really should be fences, not your typical ones but specially designed ones that look aesthetically pleasing.

Last thing we need is for the TTC to start restricting speed to 25 km/hr throughout the entire length of the ROW because they are scared the LRVs will hit people.

 

[W. K. Lis]

The thing is there really should be fences, not your typical ones but specially designed ones that look aesthetically pleasing.

Last thing we need is for the TTC to start restricting speed to 25 km/hr throughout the entire length of the ROW because they are scared the LRVs will hit people.

Except that the anti-public transit powers-that-be will do their best worst to sabotage this and every rapid transit line

 

[Steve X]

The thing is there really should be fences, not your typical ones but specially designed ones that look aesthetically pleasing.

Last thing we need is for the TTC to start restricting speed to 25 km/hr throughout the entire length of the ROW because they are scared the LRVs will hit people.

Yes they need more barriers. Not just for LRT/streetcar corridors but all over the city in trouble spots.

I don't anticipate jaywalking to be a major problem in the near future as Eglinton is a fast traffic street making it difficult to cross. The only people jaywalking are mostly from bus stops as they are left on the other side. The Crosstown would eliminate this problem. By not placing Presto machines at the no exit end and introduce a mandatory tap off would get people to cross at the right places.

Once the Golden Miles develop into an urban neighbourhood, jaywalking would increase. They'll need a lot more barriers to stop people then.

 

[turini2]

From my experience - another reason why grass(ed) tracks work well is that it provides a visual barrier for pedestrians, encouraging them to use crossings. The grass tracks are clearly not the road, nor is it the sidewalk. However you could still dash across if you really wanted to.

Putting up pedestrian barriers in the name of safety has been shown do to have the opposite effect - drivers feel "segregated" from other road users and then speed more, increasing crashes! Consequently, many cities across the world have been removing them...

 

[W. K. Lis]

Meanwhile, the geese will mow the grass, and deposit people repentant on the grassy right-o-way.

From link.

And the occasional coyote, raccoon, and bad dog may deposit their own version of people repellent.

 

[Allandale25]

 

[nfitz]

Once the Golden Miles develop into an urban neighbourhood, jaywalking would increase. They'll need a lot more barriers to stop people then.

How? Jaywalking is crossing the road, at an intersection, against the lights. If there's an intersection, then there can't be a barrier, for the cars.

Safer to let people cross mid-block if there's no traffic. Doesn't work well in rush-hour - but I've had no problems crossing even 6-lane roads like Don Mills at 2 in the morning mid-block.

 

[ARG1]

How? Jaywalking is crossing the road, at an intersection, against the lights. If there's an intersection, then there can't be a barrier, for the cars.

Safer to let people cross mid-block if there's no traffic. Doesn't work well in rush-hour - but I've had no problems crossing even 6-lane roads like Don Mills at 2 in the morning mid-block.

Maybe less to stop people from crossing, but more to guarantee stronger priority so that it could remain as "rapid transit", and not the 510 2.0. Getting people to stop crossing would require fencing between the tracks or between the tracks and the road.

 

[W. K. Lis]

How? Jaywalking is crossing the road, at an intersection, against the lights. If there's an intersection, then there can't be a barrier, for the cars.

Safer to let people cross mid-block if there's no traffic. Doesn't work well in rush-hour - but I've had no problems crossing even 6-lane roads like Don Mills at 2 in the morning mid-block.

 

[nfitz]

Maybe less to stop people from crossing, but more to guarantee stronger priority so that it could remain as "rapid transit", and not the 510 2.0. Getting people to stop crossing would require fencing between the tracks or between the tracks and the road.

Why though?

They'd save more lives by putting walls along the streets, so cars don't kill any more people on sidewalks and inside buildings.

Offhand, can't even recall hearing about any pedestrian deaths along Spadina, where people cross frequently (and legally), in the quarter-century of operation of streetcars.

 

[ARG1]

Why though?

They'd save more lives by putting walls along the streets, so cars don't kill any more people on sidewalks and inside buildings.

Offhand, can't even recall hearing about any pedestrian deaths along Spadina, where people cross frequently (and legally), in the quarter-century of operation of streetcars.

The issue isn't pedestrian deaths, the issue is that as a way to mitigate incidents, rail lines where the train runs on the street often have to operate significantly slower in the off chance that some guy jwalks. The reason I bring up the 510 is even ignoring the tight stop spacing, streetcars often travel far slower between blocks even if it can visibly speed up simply because of the concern that someone runs for it. The TTC in general has really strong history of slowing down vehicles as a safety measure to address some safety concern. This has happened on the 512, and especially on the 509.

 

[nfitz]

The issue isn't pedestrian deaths, the issue is that as a way to mitigate incidents, rail lines where the train runs on the street often have to operate significantly slower in the off chance that some guy jwalks. The reason I bring up the 510 is even ignoring the tight stop spacing, streetcars often travel far slower between blocks even if it can visibly speed up simply because of the concern that someone runs for it. The TTC in general has really strong history of slowing down vehicles as a safety measure to address some safety concern. This has happened on the 512, and especially on the 509.

I haven't really noticed the cars running slowly - except when cars are ahead of schedule, or to keep a distance when they can see the car in front.

TTC has got a lot better at that, and increased scheduled times to make service more regular.

But I've seen no sign of behind-scheduled streetcars going slower on regular streets - which I thought would have been even more dangerous - and certainly have had deaths, when Spadina hasn't.

 

[Transportfan]

They'd save more lives by putting walls along the streets, so cars don't kill any more people on sidewalks and inside buildings.

Oh yeah, lets spend billions on freak accident prevention.

Human life is precious, but seriously, we can't go around trying to deathproof everything.

 

[nfitz]

Human life is precious, but seriously, we can't go around trying to deathproof everything.

That was my point.