TTC: Other Items (catch all)

[W. K. Lis]

There was a number of them. Since this has turned to conjecture, I'll provide what I said I wouldn't:
http://transit.toronto.on.ca/subway/5002.shtml

Museum was not created that way, I distinctly remember, the bars were added, albeit that was always (back then) a collecting point for the garbage train.

Later built center platform stations like Finch, Yorkdale, etc. have glass enclosed waiting areas.

 

[TransitBart]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...r-stops-you-need-to-stop-too/article33532864/

This is Marcus Gee's (from the Globe and Mail) take on the proposal to add cameras to streetcars for the purpose of catching bike and cars who do not yield to boarding and disembarking passengers.

 

[steveintoronto]

This is Marcus Gee's...take on the proposal to add cameras to streetcars for the purpose of catching bike and cars who do not yield to boarding and disembarking passengers.

As an avid cyclist who stops for streetcars, it never ceases to amaze me how the majority of cyclists don't. And yet raise that point in the cycling forums at this site and others, and there's howls of outrage as to my being 'pious' about it.

As to when safety and good protocol became 'pious' is a curious question. It also means extra time must be taken when exiting a streetcar as you never know what idiot might be about to ram into you, bike or car. It's a very real problem, and I'm all for cameras.

 

[TransitBart]

As an avid cyclist who stops for streetcars, it never ceases to amaze me how the majority of cyclists don't. And yet raise that point in the cycling forums at this site and others, and there's howls of outrage as to my being 'pious' about it.

As to when safety and good protocol became 'pious' is a curious question. It also means extra time must be taken when exiting a streetcar as you never know what idiot might be about to ram into you, bike or car. It's a very real problem, and I'm all for cameras.

I have been door-ed as a cyclist, and this summer I was almost bike-d disembarking from the 506. I looked for cars and didn't see anything 'big' in my field of view. I totally misjudged the situation and almost got my (small) dog creamed and my foot run over. We were no more than 6 inches from a serious collision. While I was surprised, the cyclist slowed slightly and turned and said something akin to "watch where I was going."

 

[steveintoronto]

I have been door-ed as a cyclist, and this summer I was almost bike-d disembarking from the 506. [...], the cyclist slowed slightly and turned and said something akin to "watch where I was going."

Similar happens on crosswalks. Many motorists don't know the law has changed such that a pedestrian must reach the curb, even on the opposing side, before the motorist can proceed. Very few cyclists stop for crosswalks, period. I've watched this time and again, and seen young toddlers with their mothers get brushed past by cyclists. Many cyclists are conscientious and careful. Many aren't.

 

[TransitBart]

https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2017/01/05/ttc-store-a-hit-over-the-holidays.html

And another feel-good. Let's build the brand.

I want one of these.

 

[TransitBart]

https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/20...f-being-top-in-north-america-byford-says.html

And one more. Before the broadswords and battleaxes come out, remember that the politicians fund this, not Mr. Byford or TTC managment. The italicized paragraph here is lifted from the article above. If you don't care for my characterization, go for Steve Munro's.

“There are also cases where there simply isn’t enough service on the street,” said Steve Munro, a local transit expert. He argued that TTC management needs to be more vocal in pushing the agency’s political masters to provide funding for improved bus and streetcar service.

A leader is responsible for believing and creating her or his organization can overcome the obstacles. Kudos to Mr. Byford for saying the right things. Imagine for a moment if you were an employee of the TTC. You'd like to know that you'd not be public enemy number one for the rest of your career or that the management had a plan to deal with the issues in your workplace. As much as money is an issue, the "team" has to believe that they can execute the mission too and there is a huge contribution each day from thousands of TTC employees.

Anyway - my take - I hope he stays. I think he can get ECLRT and FWLRT up and running smoothly within the TTC framework and make it a success. The ten years of his tenure would mark more expansion than in the preceding thirty.

 

[W. K. Lis]

Surprise! There is an Ontario’s Guide to Safe Cycling PDF at this link.

Streetcars
By law, you must pass streetcars on the right. When they stop to pick up or let
off passengers, you must stop two metres behind the rear door until all passengers
have boarded and disembarked on the sidewalk.

School buses
When the upper red lights of a stopped school bus are flashing and the flashing stop arm is extended, traffic in both directions must stop. If you are coming from behind the bus, stop at least 20 metres away, and a safe distance when approaching from the opposite direction.

The only exception is if you are on a road divided by a median strip. In this case, only vehicles approaching a school bus from behind must stop.

You may not proceed until the bus resumes motion or the red signal lights have stopped flashing and the stop arms retracted. Failing to stop for a school bus is against the law, and if charged, you could be subject to a fine of $400 to $2,000. This law applies on all roads and to all drivers, including bicyclists.


​

 

[TransitBart]

In the Fare Gate Thread another comment came up about whether a bus without functioning PRESTO card readers would/should be put in service. There have been some curious posts in various threads about buses and bus surpluses in the TTC fleet. The link I am about to provide and the excerpt from Steve Munro's blog are the clearest explanation of the availability of surface vehicles for TTC.

Let me summarize this.

1. We are short street-cars. I was geefully thinking that we had acquired 30 new Flexities and we have. +30. But if you check the Canadian Public Transit Wiki Database, you will see that we have scrapped an equivalent number (~30) of CLRVs and ALRVs. Ignore the capacity difference. There are no more than approx. 200 serviceable streetcars in the fleet.

2. We are short buses. I'll put Steve Munro's full post below.

As of January (today) , the following routes or portions of routes are operating with buses:

• 502 Downtowner and 503 Kingston Road
• 501 Queen (bus operation west of Sunnyside Loop to Long Branch)
• 504 King (bus trippers)
• 511 Bathurst

Here is the link from Steve Munro's blog.

https://stevemunro.ca/2016/12/11/ttc-service-changes-effective-sunday-january-8-2017/

 

[Megaton327]

Surprise! There is an Ontario’s Guide to Safe Cycling PDF at this link.

Streetcars
By law, you must pass streetcars on the right. When they stop to pick up or let
off passengers, you must stop two metres behind the rear door until all passengers
have boarded and disembarked on the sidewalk.

School buses
When the upper red lights of a stopped school bus are flashing and the flashing stop arm is extended, traffic in both directions must stop. If you are coming from behind the bus, stop at least 20 metres away, and a safe distance when approaching from the opposite direction.

The only exception is if you are on a road divided by a median strip. In this case, only vehicles approaching a school bus from behind must stop.

You may not proceed until the bus resumes motion or the red signal lights have stopped flashing and the stop arms retracted. Failing to stop for a school bus is against the law, and if charged, you could be subject to a fine of $400 to $2,000. This law applies on all roads and to all drivers, including bicyclists.


​

Disclaimer that I usually put into any conversation like this that I have: while living downtown, I mostly rode transit and walked, biked frequently both for commuting and for pleasure, and drove (rentals) rarely.

While this is absolutely anecdotal, I'd estimate that in my 5 years living downtown and using multiple mixed-traffic streetcars daily in bike-heavy areas (College, Bathurst south of Queen, Queen) less than 1% of cyclists would stop for the open doors of the streetcar. It was absolutely absurd--especially on College, with the bike lanes, I scarcely ever saw a cyclist stop.

Now, to be fair, at Bathurst and Fort York I usually saw at least one car do this per day when I was commuting--not sure what it was about that intersection, I recall a record of 4 cars in a row speeding by well after the doors had opened on one occasion! And, of course, cars hitting pedestrians are generally far more dangerous than bikes hitting them, but a cyclist travelling at a decent speed can also cause a pedestrian serious injuries or death, and the number+percentage of cyclists I saw doing this was overwhelmingly greater than with cars.

I strongly support cameras for door runners, but it's unfortunate that it won't be able to directly catch cyclists. One of the reasons I'd love to see licensing for bikes. At the very least, hopefully it can identify problem spots where this is a frequent issue, so that police can target enforcement to those areas--also, in the unfortunate case of a cyclist-pedestrian accident, hopefully it would lead to a much more swift trial and harsher consequences for the cyclist with clear video evidence.

 

[salsa]

https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2017/01/05/ttc-store-a-hit-over-the-holidays.html

And another feel-good. Let's build the brand.

I want one of these.

View attachment 95452

I wanted to get the streetcar flash drive for my friend, but with taxes and shipping it's almost $40 dollars. At Best Buy, a flash drive of the same capacity is 5 times cheaper. So I'm still undecided on this one.

 

[steveintoronto]

While this is absolutely anecdotal, I'd estimate that in my 5 years living downtown and using multiple mixed-traffic streetcars daily in bike-heavy areas (College, Bathurst south of Queen, Queen) less than 1% of cyclists would stop for the open doors of the streetcar. It was absolutely absurd--especially on College, with the bike lanes, I scarcely ever saw a cyclist stop.

As as a conscientious cyclist, I use the term "clear majority don't stop", as it's caused massive confrontation in the cycling forums. There's clearly a cohort who think, oblivious to common sense and law, "that doesn't apply to me". It sure as hell does.

With very few exceptions, what applies to cars applies to cyclists, including not honking your horn continually (not ringing your bell continually), safe passing, indicating turns, and stops, stopping on the wide white bar at stop lights (cycling boxes at intersections besides, albeit I think boxes are dangerous, but I digress), you wouldn't pull in front of another motorist stopped at the white bar, why do it on a bike? And crosswalks. A number of motorists don't observe crosswalks properly, the vast majority of cyclists don't.

I too favour some form of identifying the bike/cyclist in the city. It's a real imposition, but if that is what is necessary to conform with road safety, and to put other cyclists on notice that they can be identified when behaving recklessly, then so be it. How that is enacted is a good question.

I see no sign of general cyclist behaviour improving *in this jurisdiction*. It is in other nations, not least because they are taking cycling much more seriously, and so are their societies.

Agreed on the camera making a fine stick in court. What might also be a deterrent is for a sign stating "Camera working when doors open" next to the flashing lights. Something has to be done. I get hoarse from yelling at idiot cyclists (not one has ever challenged me after their being called out) and motorists who *know* they must stop as you already have. "It doesn't apply to me". That is the "entitled attitude" so many criticize cyclists for.

 

[TransitBart]

I see no sign of general cyclist behaviour improving *in this jurisdiction*. It is in other nations, not least because they are taking cycling much more seriously, and so are their societies.

Then we should spends $250,000 this coming summer and instead of Toronto Cops riding around in flocks of four (four! really - I get the buddy thing, but four!), they could be waiting on streetcar routes and pouncing on cyclists for bad riding habits the same way they are waiting for drivers to turn on forbidden lefts and roll through stops.

It will take getting a summary conviction ticket (fine) under the Highway Traffic Act to remove that sense of "does not apply to me"

this is also going to force a come-to-grips with ID in our privacy / wiki / modern world. I am going to suggest that to ride a bike you have photo ID. Whether it's a driver's license, a health card or the photo card, if you don't have ID today, you can tell a cop you are Porky Pig. Riding a bike is going to require ID (and consequences) to make the rules real.

 

[APTA-2048]

I'm reminded of a time when one woman had the audacity to scream out at a group of us getting of a 506 car, "there's a bike lane here!" as she came inches from us. That being said, cyclists and motorists are equally appalling when it comes to interacting with streetcars, and I would welcome cameras to catch them both.

 

[micheal_can]

Have it law that all cyclists over the age of 16 must have a license plate on their bike. They must also carry valid ID. Children under 16, either must ride with an adult who has a license plate, or have one themselves, and carry some for of ID.
Keep these low cost.

Now, we can identify the bike and the rider.
Now we can find the rider.
Now we can fine the rider.

Thing will change.