Transit Fantasy Maps

[socialwoe]

Yes there are several TTC routes that have too many stops in one area while others have them spaced too far apart. 510 Spadina is okay as is I think because no one takes it as a through trip. Those stops you want gone are a necessity if you think about it.

Sussex- alot of people at Spadina/Bloor need it to avoid walking into the station for entrance and alternatively to speed their commute south. Willcocks is frequently used by U of T students, Nassau and Sullivan by Chinatowners. The Richmond stop's only northbound, soundbound is combined with Queen as a single stop, unless they reconstruct the nb similarly a number a club-goers and artisians wouldn't be pleased. Lastly all the harbourfront stops are important (new condos at Front, Rees alternative to Skywalk to reach CN Tower and Skydome and York right at Harbour Square, Queens Quay Terminal and York Quay).

I like the desgin of 510 as a major-minor stoppage route otherwise if it only stop at major intersections the 510 becomes useless to the local users and evry1 may as well ride Wellesley, College, Dundas, Queen or King routes to Spadina.

 

[unimaginative2]

510 Spadina is okay as is I think because no one takes it as a through trip.

Speak for yourself, but I regularly take it from Front right up to U of T and Bloor. The stop frequency and the endless waits at the lights are a huge hassle. Some of the lights are completely unneccessary, like that U-turn only light when people can clearly just U-turn up at College. Two stops are not at all necessary between Dundas and College, either.

 

[EnviroTO]

In getting rid of Rees and Nassau I removed two stops I use regularly. The reality is however that it is little effort to walk from Dundas to Nassau or from Rees to Spadina. Every stop in this city is probably used but the fact is that most people would walk 300 to 400m for transit rather than bail out on transit and probably more people have more problems with service quality and travel time than they have about stop locations. The subway stops at Dundas and College but not Gerrard but I doubt there are any people out there complaining about the walk to Gerrard, not riding transit because of that walk, petitioning for better bus service on Yonge St downtown, or hitching a cab from Dundas to Gerrard.

 

[roch5220]

Yes, but putting all the streetcar lines in tunnels will cost billions for lines that are a couple of blocks from each other. People are willing to walk the distance from, say, King or Dundas to Queen in order to take a subway. The other problem with putting the streetcar lines in tunnels is that they will get caught in congestion as soon as they move up to the surface.

Actually, the point would be to more downtown service vs for cannibolizing those who take the subway (ie. east west commutters wouldn't take the north south subway). Obviously the routes would have to be reworked, but the purpose would be to have better quick downtown coverage. When they come above ground to more suburban areas, they would come into their own ROWs.

 

[scarberiankhatru]

"Local bus routes should have stops no further than 600m apart."

Although there's lots of barely used stops around, some of which could be axed, most suburban bus routes already have stops spaced at or over 300m. On some routes skipping half the stops will shave literally one or two minutes off the trip...more often than not, I'd say introducing a Rocket express option will net more benefit overall. It's working on Sheppard East.

 

[spmarshall]

I agree with this idea. All-day rocket routes would work great on those longer suburban routes - Sheppard East works well enough (needs more service). I would add them to Finch East and West, Wilson and York Mills, Lawrence West and East, Eglinton East and West, and north-south, Kipling, Jane, Dufferin, Don Mills, Victoria Park. Other areas like Malvern should get higher-speed routes into the rail system.

Mississauga should make routes 201, 202 and 206 all day as well, the same basic idea.

Adding these Rocket routes would probably bring more bang for the buck then general service increases on the local routes if service is already every 5-8 minutes anyway.

Then start implementing the Queue-jumps, exclusive lanes on the highest frequency routes.

 

[EnviroTO]

I agree with more express busses. If the express busses are getting slowed down in traffic throw out some diamond lanes. If the intersections are backed up then throw in transit only underpasses. If things are still slow implement BRT. If BRT can't handle the ridership then go LRT. If LRT can't handle the ridership roll out the subway. Each incremental step is affordable. What is expensive is skipping all the steps and going straight to the end and building a subway to a field in Vaughan.

 

[spmarshall]

Though I think LRT makes the same, if not more sense than a BRT, the only difference that BRT (real BRT) is easier to incrementally roll out in phases where there are no streetcars, than a brand new LRT. If ridership on a route like Eglinton is already very high, skip a few of your steps and start an LRT that can be upgraded to a subway now.

I think there's a market already for some subways, like the DRL Phase 1/Phase 2.

 

[roch5220]

I think there's a market already for some subways, like the DRL Phase 1/Phase 2.

I beleive also there would be ridership, but a lot of it would be a result of cannibulizing some of the yonge line.

 

[spmarshall]

That's the whole idea of a Downtown Relief Line - relieve overcrowding of the Yonge Line.

 

[Mark Dowling]

enviroto

as well as diamond lanes we need to persuade Chief Blair to vigorously police them. If Pitfield wants to try out her diamond lane for streetcars she can start with King by the way.

 

[EnviroTO]

Isn't there already a diamond lane on a segment of one of the streetcar routes?

 

[Darkstar416]

Just on the central part of the 504 King, although it hasn't been enforced since the 1990s.

 

[roch5220]

That's the whole idea of a Downtown Relief Line - relieve overcrowding of the Yonge Line.

The yonge line isn't overcrowded yet. The only way I think that it will, is if they further extend the Yonge line North.

 

[cdl42]

Isn't overcrowded? Have you tried to ride it in rush hours? Board a northbound train at College at 5:15pm?