Automation Gallery
Superstar
With this new fleet of Buses, Subways, and LRTs, it would be nice to see the TTC modernise their image with a total overhaul of their colours and logo.
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With this new fleet of Buses, Subways, and LRTs, it would be nice to see the TTC modernise their image with a total overhaul of their colours and logo.
EnviroTO
Senior Member
I have looked at all the different LRT colour schemes shown on the Bombardier website and other than Milan's non-commercial looking scheme I don't think I would prefer any of them over the current TTC scheme. The new subway car shown in renderings looks... grey.
AlvinofDiaspar
Moderator
Grey makes it look cleaner in winter.
AoD
AoD
EnviroTO
Senior Member
Because it matches dirt. Ride the dirt rocket.
adma
Superstar
Unless it's a retroish return to the red and cream, Don't. Overhaul. The. Logo.
kettal
Banned
allabootmatt
Senior Member
Per the Globe, provincial officials are already pouring cold water on this. Whether that reflects reality or is a tactic to make them seem super-generous when they do come through, I dunno, but emailing our MPPs wouldn't be a bad idea. I have.
Automation Gallery
Superstar
Giving Toronto the money that they promised?
Automation Gallery
Superstar
How about they use green instead of red, and instead of TTC, an M?
The TTC is not associated with Metrolinx.
299 bloor call control.
Senior Member
The windows won't typically be open because they will have air conditioning.
Also, this is a staff recommendation. So City Staff have approved it. It is the Commission that needs to approve the staff's recommendations, and it's very unlikely they won't.
It's all down to funding now.
And there may be a possibility that Metrolinx branding will be placed onto the streetcars in some way - as it is the regional authority and is in charge of financing transit projects from now on. I can see as a condition that they slap a couple Metrolinx logos on by the doorways.
khris
Senior Member
Haha! How many times do I see windows on buses wide open even with the air conditioning on? Of course they will be open, people are idiots.
W. K. Lis
Superstar
I hope that if there are windows that open, that the latches are magnetic. That way, when the air-conditioning (or heating) is on, the magnetics will kick in an keep the windows closed.
I just that they don't follow the city's bylaw requiring heat between September 15th and June 1st, even if it is like today (April 25th: high 25), and use the temperature, weather forecasts, and thermostats.
DSC
Superstar
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Many public transit vehicles in other places (and the subway here) have windows which cannot be opened. What makes you think the new streetcar windows will be able to be opened?
wyliepoon
Senior Member
^ The new Rocket subway trains will have operable windows... but only for use in emergencies.
wyliepoon
Senior Member
http://www.thestar.com/GTA/Columnist/article/624342
Sleek streetcar fleet will drive us into the future
Apr 25, 2009 04:30 AM
Comments on this story (4)
Christopher Hume
It comes a decade late, but Toronto transit users will finally be able to ride into the 21st century without leaving town to do so.
The TTC's long-awaited decision to replace its aging streetcars with a fleet of Bombardier LRVs (Light Rail Vehicles) will transform transit, and with it Toronto.
The current cars, which have lumbered up and down the streets of the city for 30-odd years, might as well have been made in the 1800s. Visitors, especially Americans, love them, but for regulars, they have long outlived their welcome.
Sleek, modern, efficient and user-friendly – words that haven't been associated with the TTC for decades – will soon apply. The new vehicles, variations of which are in use around the world, will possess all those virtues.
Most obviously, Bombardier's cars will hum their way through the city just centimetres above ground. This may not sound like much, but eliminating those four steps will make all the difference to the aged, the infirm and anyone schlepping grocery carts or baby strollers.
The current rolling stock presents an unintentional obstacle course. In addition to their height, these vehicles have only two doors, front and back, both invariably blocked. The entrance, which also serves as an exit, is particularly problematic.
By contrast, the replacement carriages will be longer, lower and accessible from multiple doors.
Because entry will be computerized, riders will no longer need to pay their cash fare or flash their Metropass to the long-suffering operators up front. Drivers will sit in their own enclosed compartments, free to concentrate on the task at hand, not on the passengers counting out $2.75 in nickels and dimes.
Inside, the vehicles will be clean and simple. The fact there's more than one entrance will eliminate the inevitable crush of passengers standing and blocking the rear of the car.
Typically, those who do manage to fight their way through the crowd at the front often find empty seats at the back. But the struggle to get there isn't for the faint of heart.
As in the existing vehicles, seating on the new LRVs is perpendicular to the sides, not parallel. This means passengers can see where they're going, and, if inclined, enjoy the view.
Experts will tell you that to succeed in North America, public transit service must be better than driving; in other words, it must be more convenient. The car isn't viewed as the preferred alternative; here it's the enemy of transit. The Bombardier LRV will change these perceptions by presenting a more up-to-date image, as well as improved service. Both are critical. The idea of the "Red Rocket," as romantic and charming as it may be, doesn't quite jive with a contemporary urban transportation system used by grown-ups.
The clunky streetcars we have today are the steam locomotives of urban transit. They speak of an earlier time when people weren't so rushed. They look slow, sound heavy and are hard to take seriously. The LRV reverses that; it will make cars, freeways, elevated highways, gridlock, exhaust, smog and, indeed, the very notion of city driving seem as old-fashioned, and as quaint, as top hats and spats.
Bombardier's LRVs won't appear on the streets of Toronto until at least 2011, but their arrival can be counted on to unleash an emotional debate about the traditional dominance of the single-occupancy vehicle. The new LRVs will make it clear our roads are simply too valuable to be left to cars.
If the current streetcars brought us to where we are today, the new ones will take us where we need to be tomorrow.
*****
Don't be so quick to criticize the existing CLRVs now that we are getting new streetcars, Mr. Hume. I'd say if it wasn't for the CLRVs Toronto might not have a streetcar network today, and you won't have a new streetcar design to drool over.
The CLRV streetcar is unique to Toronto. It's the number one transportation icon of modern Toronto, and shows up in quite a number of postcard shots of the city. I'd like to see it retired honourably, and some should be preserved in a heritage fleet.
Sleek streetcar fleet will drive us into the future
Apr 25, 2009 04:30 AM
Comments on this story (4)
Christopher Hume
It comes a decade late, but Toronto transit users will finally be able to ride into the 21st century without leaving town to do so.
The TTC's long-awaited decision to replace its aging streetcars with a fleet of Bombardier LRVs (Light Rail Vehicles) will transform transit, and with it Toronto.
The current cars, which have lumbered up and down the streets of the city for 30-odd years, might as well have been made in the 1800s. Visitors, especially Americans, love them, but for regulars, they have long outlived their welcome.
Sleek, modern, efficient and user-friendly – words that haven't been associated with the TTC for decades – will soon apply. The new vehicles, variations of which are in use around the world, will possess all those virtues.
Most obviously, Bombardier's cars will hum their way through the city just centimetres above ground. This may not sound like much, but eliminating those four steps will make all the difference to the aged, the infirm and anyone schlepping grocery carts or baby strollers.
The current rolling stock presents an unintentional obstacle course. In addition to their height, these vehicles have only two doors, front and back, both invariably blocked. The entrance, which also serves as an exit, is particularly problematic.
By contrast, the replacement carriages will be longer, lower and accessible from multiple doors.
Because entry will be computerized, riders will no longer need to pay their cash fare or flash their Metropass to the long-suffering operators up front. Drivers will sit in their own enclosed compartments, free to concentrate on the task at hand, not on the passengers counting out $2.75 in nickels and dimes.
Inside, the vehicles will be clean and simple. The fact there's more than one entrance will eliminate the inevitable crush of passengers standing and blocking the rear of the car.
Typically, those who do manage to fight their way through the crowd at the front often find empty seats at the back. But the struggle to get there isn't for the faint of heart.
As in the existing vehicles, seating on the new LRVs is perpendicular to the sides, not parallel. This means passengers can see where they're going, and, if inclined, enjoy the view.
Experts will tell you that to succeed in North America, public transit service must be better than driving; in other words, it must be more convenient. The car isn't viewed as the preferred alternative; here it's the enemy of transit. The Bombardier LRV will change these perceptions by presenting a more up-to-date image, as well as improved service. Both are critical. The idea of the "Red Rocket," as romantic and charming as it may be, doesn't quite jive with a contemporary urban transportation system used by grown-ups.
The clunky streetcars we have today are the steam locomotives of urban transit. They speak of an earlier time when people weren't so rushed. They look slow, sound heavy and are hard to take seriously. The LRV reverses that; it will make cars, freeways, elevated highways, gridlock, exhaust, smog and, indeed, the very notion of city driving seem as old-fashioned, and as quaint, as top hats and spats.
Bombardier's LRVs won't appear on the streets of Toronto until at least 2011, but their arrival can be counted on to unleash an emotional debate about the traditional dominance of the single-occupancy vehicle. The new LRVs will make it clear our roads are simply too valuable to be left to cars.
If the current streetcars brought us to where we are today, the new ones will take us where we need to be tomorrow.
*****
Don't be so quick to criticize the existing CLRVs now that we are getting new streetcars, Mr. Hume. I'd say if it wasn't for the CLRVs Toronto might not have a streetcar network today, and you won't have a new streetcar design to drool over.
The CLRV streetcar is unique to Toronto. It's the number one transportation icon of modern Toronto, and shows up in quite a number of postcard shots of the city. I'd like to see it retired honourably, and some should be preserved in a heritage fleet.