sixrings
Senior Member
Try your best to remember that great BRT system you have in Ottawa..
Thanks! And yeah, it'll be nice to get a feel for different transit systems. I think Berlin is a really good example of what can be done around transit, because entire districts of the city have been rebuilt from scratch with transit as the focus of the district.
Thanks! And yeah, it'll be nice to get a feel for different transit systems. I think Berlin is a really good example of what can be done around transit, because entire districts of the city have been rebuilt from scratch with transit as the focus of the district.
Such a simple concept, isn't it?! You think this'd be a no-brainer for a city like Toronto with the kind of consistent population growth it experiences and is expected to continue to get. The city is expanding and growing, east and west, but it is doing so without the framework of mass transit. Dumb.
Well but not quite... in many stretches where we are seeing development in Toronto, and fairly central ones too, there was neither neighbourhood nor transit existing... carte blanche in other words! I see little defense for Toronto's lack of infrastructure growth except for politics.
Indeed. It seems impossible to get transit built before it's an emergency. Queens Quay East was supposed to have a local LRT before the condos started going up. Instead, it's been delayed and the prospects for it under Ford are very grim.
Waterfront West LRT was a Lastman plan to provide transit to Liberty Village. Instead, Liberty Village got built out without transit, overwhelming the King streetcar. Waterfront West is now "scheduled" for 2030.
The only parts of Toronto that seem to be getting it right are the greenfield developments in Markham Centre (and presumably Vaughan Centre), where BRT is being put in now. Hmm.
I guess the main question that must be raised when considering that dilemma is "will the infrastructure that we're building now be useful in a future configuration?". For BRT being upgraded to LRT, the answer is usually yes. For LRT being upgraded to HRT, the answer is usually no. I think that's where that distinction comes into play.
Bus's have they're place and in neighbourhoods where running track is mess and waste of time. When Henry ford and his board of cronies bought 30%+ of all public transit in north america back in the 30's and kaiboshed it we were bsically all screwed, when toronto failed to sign contracts for 1+kilometers of subway to be built everyyear from start till oblivion like London, Paris, New York and ahalf dozen other city's did we were screwed. were going to be constantly screwed for all time unless one generation of citizen says K F it were doing it the pricey way startin this off rite so the next buggers have the oppurtunity to continue doing it right.
During peak periods, the 95 (articulated bus) runs every 3 minutes. In addition, that section of Woodroffe carries the 174, and 172 regular buses (average rush hour frequency of about 15 mins), the 157, 186, 188, and 195 peak period buses (average rush hour frequency of about 30 mins), and the 70, 71, 73, 76, and 77 express buses (average rush hour frequency of about 15 mins).
So one transitway bus every 3 minutes, one regular route bus every 7.5 mins, one peak period bus every 7.5 minutes, and one express bus every 3 minutes. I'd say that about gives you the right frequency for a bus every 1 to 1.5 minutes. And like I said before, I've seen this section of roadway in operation, and the buses don't really slow eachother down. The biggest slowdown is waiting to turn left into Baseline station, which is restricted because of the advanced left arrow.
THE CITY: Mayor must convince council to kill Transit City
Rob Ford is not a mayor of many words. He keeps it pretty close to his vest, rarely speaking on issues before committee and council, and doling out interviews and scrums in the tiniest of portions.
When pressed on matters, he points to the mandate, given him by Toronto voters, to cut the vehicle registration tax and clean up waste at city hall and various other things.
And when these matters come before council, with few exceptions Ford gets his way because for councillors, that mandate is persuasive. Ford won votes on everything from the vehicle registration tax to contracting out garbage collection.
Public transit, now, is a notable exception.
During the 2010 campaign, Ford put forward a transportation plan that included scrapping former mayor David Miller's Transit City light rail plan and replacing it with a subway along Sheppard Avenue. Immediately after taking office, Ford told reporters Transit City was "dead."
There was a great deal of talk about the implications of this over the coming months, among transit officials and councillors and between the mayor and the premier.
A memorandum of understanding was even signed, in which the province agreed to stop funding the just-started Sheppard light rail line and pour all its money into an underground Eglinton line. The TTC even established a special company to look into public-private partnerships and hired former councillor Gordon Chong to run it.
So in many ways, there has been a great deal of talk. In one important way - maybe the most important way - there has been none.
As several councillors pointed out Monday at the city's executive committee, it has been eight months since Ford declared Transit City dead, but really, he has not yet taken the steps necessary to kill it.
Those steps are simple. Just as he took the cancellation of the vehicle registration tax and his 2011 tax-freeze budget to council, Ford must ask council to approve his plans to stop Transit City. Ford must present his argument, remind councillors of the public support his plan enjoys, and corral his support.
When questioned about this after the meeting, Ford seemed unaware of the necessity of formalities such as debates and duly recorded votes and so forth.
"It was clear," the mayor explained. "I campaigned for close to a year. I was crystal clear that I wanted to build subways and I was going to kill Transit City, Streetcar City, whatever you wanted to call it. The people spoke loud and clear."
They may well have. But the people are as powerless as the mayor is to make law on their own. In order for that to happen, the mayor has to speak to council.
Ford may say that Transit City is dead. But until council weighs in and agrees, the only thing to say is, "Long Live Transit City."
This route seems to have a good balance of on and off street tracks and stations.