TTC: Flexity Streetcars Testing & Delivery (Bombardier)

[AnarchoSocialist]

Prometheus: Anything can be done, for a price of course. Many transit and rail agencies order custom designed vehicles in varying degrees. How much more than off the shelf models depends of course on whether it is just body work that is needed or if more elaborate changes need too take place. The only reason I can really think of for the TTC not to order a unique fleet would be if the public didn't want them to spend the extra money and instead was happy with off the shelf models. But the TTC doesn't really listen to the public anyways so I don't see that being a problem.

 

[Jdot]

I was in Budapest last month and thought that they were in desperate need of getting new streetcars. The "older looking" cars are not attractive, nor do they do much for adding nostalgia.

I think that modern streetcars are best for Toronto, especially as it trys to brand itself as a Transit City.

 

[Prometheus The Supremo]

it will be sad to loose the old style but isolation caused by inaccessibility is even more sad.

that being said, i hope they preserve a whole bunch of the old cars.

 

[Admiral Beez]

The only reason I can really think of for the TTC not to order a unique fleet would be if the public didn't want them to spend the extra money and instead was happy with off the shelf models.

But weren't the L2 and L3 streetcars we use today custom designed for the TTC? See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toronto_streetcar_system

I don't believe any other markets used these streetcar types. Thus, whatever we buy will be custom made, so we might as well make it a marketable design.

 

[wyliepoon]

I think the design that followed the Rocket was an attempt to forget the past and to present some sort of embrace the future look - a mistake IMO.

While I really like the PCC streetcars (even though I've only been on it once or twice ever), I think that the current CLRV streetcars are just as well-designed and just as symbolic of Toronto as the PCC cars. The CLRVs have aged very well, perhaps better than any other model of TTC vehicles, and they have been better maintained than most of the subway cars or buses in the city. For those of us who are of the younger generation or immigrants to the city in the last 20 years, the CLRVs are pretty much the only streetcars we've ever been on, and I think most of us have more attachment to the CLRVs than to the PCCs.

 

[ShonTron]

The only other city to use UTDC cars was San Jose California (since retired), which were basically double-ended ALRVs. There was an attempt to get Boston to buy CLRVs, but that fell through.

 

[EnviroTO]

The Type 7 KinkiSharyo streetcars in Boston look alot like the ALRV except the positioning of the front lights. The "K Car" streetcars in Philadelphia look a lot like the CLRV except they have a flat front end. I think that whoever wins the big TTC streetcar contract would have a solution that would be easily sold in many North American cities after slapping a standard guage bogey on them. The TTC's requirement for low floor, tight turning radius, ability to handle one track switches, and vertical grade requirements will allow whatever is selected to be fairly versatile.

 

[yin_yang]

the streetcars we have now are really ugly, get some new ones.

 

[Hipster Duck]

The streetcars we have now are loud, wheelchair inaccessible, unairconditioned, heavy and smell weird but one thing they have been able to do is age really gracefully.

 

[ganjavih]

I'm gonna miss 'em. They scream 'Toronto'. I'm gonna miss the old subway too.

 

[wyliepoon]

I went to the "public event" at Scarborough Centre station on the new streetcars. The public consultation here follows the same format as the website... they put out a couple of panels showing streetcar exterior and interior views from around the world, and then you are asked in a questionnaire which features you like. There is a flatscreen TV looping the new streetcar video clip, and there is a single panel showing historic TTC streetcars.

The bad thing about the event is that it is held outside the fare-paid zone, right in front of the entrance to Scarborough Town Centre and the regional bus terminal (in fact it was blocking the entrance to the terminal). That pretty much prevented most regular TTC passengers in Scarborough from taking part in the event. Some of the people who saw the panels went up to have a closer look, but they were probably more interested in going to Town Centre for some shopping than stopping to take the questionnaire.

There was a pile of "Transit City" buttons for people to take home from the event. Some of the buttons simply said "Transit City" on them, while the rest said "Scarborough Malvern LRT". I guess if you go to all the public events you will be able to collect a button for each of the LRT lines proposed in Transit City!

 

[junctionist]

The old ones where great, and we can custom order some new iconic streetcars. I propose the obvious TTC colour scheme, along with big LED headlights, ample use of aluminum inside, and rear "lounge" seat.

 

[Admiral Beez]

For those of us who are of the younger generation or immigrants to the city in the last 20 years, the CLRVs are pretty much the only streetcars we've ever been on, and I think most of us have more attachment to the CLRVs than to the PCCs.

A good point certainly. Perhaps they should have kept the original PCC look for the CLRV design. I always enjoy my visits to Hong Kong with its classic double-decker streetcars and vintage Star Ferries. I remember well my last visit there in 2005 as part of a Team Canada trade mission, when I took a streetcar or tram for a ride throughout the old city, stopping to buy something to eat from a street vendor, before finally taking a red cab back to my hotel. Hong Kong will always be one of my fav cities, and its classic looking transit vehicles are part of that charm.

 

[syn]

Just my two pennies, but I always thought the TTC should have kept the old look to its streetcar fleet, much like London, UK has mandated that its new modern taxis must look like the old taxis. Toronto is one of the few urban cities with streetcars remaining, and we should use that as a tourist item. Those of us who lived in Toronto in the 1970s or earlier well remember the Red Rocket cars. I think the design that followed the Rocket was an attempt to forget the past and to present some sort of embrace the future look - a mistake IMO.

I recommend everyone check out the Radial Railway Museum in Milton to see the old TTC streetcars still in use.

I totally agree. The new streetcars are too generic. They could be in any city...I was really hoping we'd get a customized model.

 

[EnviroTO]

I really don't think our streetcars are that unique. PCCs were used in many places and various models of streetcars look very similar to the CLRV/ALRVs. The most unique aspect of them is the colour.