TTC New Year's Eve Free Service

[taal]

To add to that, on Sunday, pre 9am trying to get on the 97 is at times an impossible feat, and this is around Finch.

One postive for the TTC though are our 24 hours bus routes, which I do not think are matched it to many other places in NA.

 

[299 bloor call control.]

Here's a question: would you rather have the subway start at 9am on Sundays or have the entire or parts of the subway shut down completely a la DVP and Gardiner once or twice a year for a whole day or weekend? If you look at subway maintenance and construction schedules, most cities have full-line or partial-line shut downs for full weekends throughout the year, mainly because that is the only time they can do large-scale maintenance that the TTC fits in throughout the year during the extra 3 hours the subway is closed on Sunday mornings.

That being said, as the State of Good Repair program finally catches up over the next few years, really major maintenance probably won't be required as much, and maybe they could look at starting Sunday service an hour or two earlier, but they do need that time.

 

[ShonTron]

The SRT keeps going out-of-line Sundays and late evenings. Seems every 6 months something happens there.

I agree that the 9:00-9:30 Sunday start time is really a pain in the arse (it feels like one of the last legacies of the Protestant Toronto the Good, along with the pointless Sunday stops) - if they could even set it back one hour, to 8:00-8:30, that would make a world of difference. The trade off you mention, 299, is a good question though.

The subway end time isn't that bad, though I would love to see Friday and Saturday last trains leave Union 45 minutes later, at 2:15 AM, all trains leaving the transfer points at 2:30.

 

[gei]

OUR CITY IS A FUCKING JOKE NOT HAVING A SUBWAY SYSTEM RUNNING AFTER LAST CALL. YOU STRAND EVERY WAITER, BARTENDER, BUS BOY, DRINKER AND PARTIER WHO DOESN'T WORK OR LIVE ALONG A 24-HOUR BUS ROUTE. BUT I HAVE A CAR NOW AND SCREW THE LOT OF YOU. YOU HAD YOUR CHANCE TO GIVE A SHIT!

QFT. I agree that this is a complete disgrace, and downright moronic.

 

[junctionist]

Here's a question: would you rather have the subway start at 9am on Sundays or have the entire or parts of the subway shut down completely a la DVP and Gardiner once or twice a year for a whole day or weekend? If you look at subway maintenance and construction schedules, most cities have full-line or partial-line shut downs for full weekends throughout the year, mainly because that is the only time they can do large-scale maintenance that the TTC fits in throughout the year during the extra 3 hours the subway is closed on Sunday mornings.

That being said, as the State of Good Repair program finally catches up over the next few years, really major maintenance probably won't be required as much, and maybe they could look at starting Sunday service an hour or two earlier, but they do need that time.

Line shut downs on weekends would inconvenience a lot more people than opening the subway three hours earlier. Though a comparison of shutdown strategies as Northern Light did with the start times on Sundays would be convenient for the sake of discussion.

 

[299 bloor call control.]

sean - the SRT is a whole other beast we should stop lumping together with the subway. they've been replacing the third rail there for how long now?

 

[299 bloor call control.]

Rather pointless article from the Star but here it is anyway:

Drinkers don't pass GO

Transit service offers free rides to celebrants; TTC follows suit thanks to $85,000 donation
Jan 01, 2008 04:30 AM
SARAH BOESVELD
JOANNA SMITH
STAFF REPORTERS
In keeping with last year, GO Transit offered free rides last night, safely shuttling partygoers to and from their destinations – and the crowds lapped up the free rides.

GO offered free service after 7 p.m. for its GTA customers until service ended for the night.

"We're pleased to offer a safe travel option to people ringing in the new year," said GO chairman Peter Smith.

He encouraged everyone to take public transit rather than drinking and driving.

"Let GO be your designated driver," he said.

That's exactly what Alicia McTaggart, 22, and Fraser Drummond, 22, of Burlington decided to do.

"I think it's a great idea," said McTaggart, as the pair waited in Burlington GO station for their free train to depart.

"We wouldn't be going in if it weren't free," Drummond said.

"It's a great way of encouraging people to take alternative transportation instead of driving home intoxicated," McTaggart added.

While some passengers were pleased with the free transportation, others wished they weren't limited to GO's schedule.

Amy Pivatto, 23, and Sausha Foebel, 28, both believed GO should have extended its hours along with offering a free ride.

"You can take the train there but you can't take it back," Pivatto said, while revelling with friends on the platform.

Heading inside to find a seat for their ride into the city, Foebel said they would each have to pay $30 for a taxi home, while Toronto residents would be able to ride the TTC into the small hours for free.

"It's not fair," she said. "Everyone in Toronto, they can walk everywhere or take a taxi for $5."

TTC passengers' free service last night was courtesy of an $85,000 donation from the Capital One credit card company.

It was the first time in 30 years the TTC had offered free service on New Year's Eve.

So to sum up this article:
Suburban twenty-somethings are a bunch of whiners who say they don't want to live in the city because it's too expensive, but then complain when it costs them money to get home after partying in the city despite a free ride in.. and then whine that city-dwellers get to get home for cheaper or free.

Uhh... yeah.. what?

 

[Chuck]

"It's not fair," she said. "Everyone in Toronto, they can walk everywhere or take a taxi for $5."

Ya seriously, stop complaining. No one is forcing you to live with mommy and daddy all the way out in Burlington. If it bothers you so much, get an apartment in the city. Oh wait, you're too cheap for that!

 

[RedRocket191]

Rather pointless article from the Star but here it is anyway:



So to sum up this article:
Suburban twenty-somethings are a bunch of whiners who say they don't want to live in the city because it's too expensive, but then complain when it costs them money to get home after partying in the city despite a free ride in.. and then whine that city-dwellers get to get home for cheaper or free.

Uhh... yeah.. what?

Ya seriously, stop complaining. No one is forcing you to live with mommy and daddy all the way out in Burlington. If it bothers you so much, get an apartment in the city. Oh wait, you're too cheap for that!

Some people don't have a choice in living in the suburbs. It is a very expensive city to live in, and not everyone can take time off of their studies to work (as is my case).

BUT

If you are a twenty-something suburban winer who lives with their mommy and daddy in burlington, and you are going to complain, at least do some research and make an informed complaint... Or pull a nuit blanche and party until the first train of the day.

 

[Northern Light]

Subway Closure policies

I reviewed what I could, as most major transit systems don't have a 'closure policy' link on their website.

I googled 'subway' and 'metro' closures for New York and Chicago to see what they seemed to do.

I can confirm that Chicago does close whole lines or pieces of lines more precisely on weekends from late night Friday to Mon morning rushhour.

New York though doesn't seem to.

Instead it closes lines earlier on weeknights.

Most commonly from 12:00am (midnight) to 5:00am

If this were 1am to 6am you would have something very close to the TTC's existing nightly closure.

I did make note that some closures began at 11pm.

Only 1 was more serious, beginning at 8:30pm nightly.

Though some stations were closed while lines were open (trains expressed through the station) presumably for station related works.

Overall, based on the NYC experience it would not seem necessary to close whole lines on weekends, but rather we might have to see midnight closures for a week at a time on various lines.

I actually think that would be preferable to the existing arrangement, as I know many shift workers who get off work at 8am Sunday, but very few who begin their shifts after midnight!

 

[299 bloor call control.]

Well New York is not a strong example since the majority of their lines are 4-tracked, which is why they could run 24hr service in the first place. This allows them to route in-service trains around work zones.
Even London closes massive sections of the Tube on weekends... I remember when I was there in April, the DLR was closed and there was quite a bit of havoc...

 

[ShonTron]

The first time I got to New York, it was a Saturday, and the inbound 7 train was running in the express track for track maintenance on the local - passengers wanting on or off could either take a bus shuttle or double-back. It was also closed between Times Square and Long Island City.

Weekend service disruptions could technically work on the Y-U-S, though it would be a pain. Instead of relying on those awful shuttle buses, there are alternatives. Below Bloor, it'd be simple merely to close one of the two legs, north of Bloor, could provide additional service on the routes connecting the stations on each leg - for example, if the Yonge section was closed, could extend the 39 and 85A to Downsview, the 95 to Wilson, the 124 to Lawrence West and the 58 to Lawrence, so it would work better than shuttle buses. Make the extended routes run as expresses between the two subways, and it would add 10-20 minutes to the round trip.

The biggest problem is the 9:00-9:30 start on Sundays, man (and maybe even an extra 45-60 minutes on Friday and Saturday nights). One extra hour couldn't mess things up too much, could it?

The B-D line would be tougher, though.