TTC: Other Items (catch all)

[amnesiajune]

My guess, budget restraints. If the TTC and police were given the money they need, they would equip them with snow tires.

There is no room in the TTC (and police) budget for snow tires. Something has to be cut, so it's safety, no snow tires for TTC buses.

There's no such thing as snow tires for buses in North America. Buses don't use the same kind of tires as the everyday car. Their regular tires have tread patterns that are designed to work with snow (which is only possible on the much larger and stronger bus tires), and when there's ice the only thing that can help is tire chains.

 

[DSC]

We are not quite at this point!

Why Chicago train tracks are being set on fire
The weather in Chicago is so cold that rail crews are using fire to heat up railroad tracks to ensure trains can run smoothly.
Source: CNN
https://www.cnn.com/videos/weather/2019/01/30/chicago-train-tracks-fire-newsource-orig.cnn

 

[lenaitch]

We are not quite at this point!

Why Chicago train tracks are being set on fire
The weather in Chicago is so cold that rail crews are using fire to heat up railroad tracks to ensure trains can run smoothly.
Source: CNN
https://www.cnn.com/videos/weather/2019/01/30/chicago-train-tracks-fire-newsource-orig.cnn

Torching switches has been done for over a century. Given Chicago's environment, I'm surprised they don't have integrated switch heaters at their key points.

Well it took me 4 hours to get home yesterday EB via 939, counted 10 cars, a van and a bus that got stuck on the hill between Leslie & Don Mills and turned Finch into a literal parking lot ??

The buses could have all wheel drive and chains but it won't help much if the line of numpties in front of them are running on summer tires. I saw a news clip two nights ago about the run on tire shops to install winter tires. Seriously? It's the end of January.

 

[Richard White]

Torching switches has been done for over a century. Given Chicago's environment, I'm surprised they don't have integrated switch heaters at their key points.




The buses could have all wheel drive and chains but it won't help much if the line of numpties in front of them are running on summer tires. I saw a news clip two nights ago about the run on tire shops to install winter tires. Seriously? It's the end of January.

I find it is a ethnic and household thing. So many people from warmer countries like India, Pakistan, China etc do not have experience with winter driving as much as someone who has lived in Canada all their life. They may not know the difference between dedicated winter tires and multi-seasonal tires. It is also an issue of storing an extra set of tires.

For some people tires are tires and as long as you have them the car will go.

In other cases condo dwellers do not have a place to store or change tires so they get good multi-season tires and hope for the best.

 

[nfitz]

In other cases condo dwellers do not have a place to store or change tires so they get good multi-season tires and hope for the best.

If I didn't drive to Quebec every winter, I'd certainly stick to all-seasons if I was just driving in the city. Entire years pass when they don't add much. And easy enough to stick to transit and taxis on the odd occasion they are necessary. To tell the truth, I have winter tires on, and no one has bothered to dig the car out completely yet, because it's not worth the trouble, given how difficult parking is currently. (though the tires were very useful on Monday, coming home from a quick run to Loblaws to stock up before the snow - and the snow started earlier than expected)!

But even then - is it really worth the extra trouble to drive a few blocks? I have winter tires, because of things like the challenge of driving up icy hills in rural Quebec.

 

[lenaitch]

I find it is a ethnic and household thing. So many people from warmer countries like India, Pakistan, China etc do not have experience with winter driving as much as someone who has lived in Canada all their life. They may not know the difference between dedicated winter tires and multi-seasonal tires. It is also an issue of storing an extra set of tires.

For some people tires are tires and as long as you have them the car will go.

In other cases condo dwellers do not have a place to store or change tires so they get good multi-season tires and hope for the best.

There may be some truth in that but I know many 'born and bred' Canuks who fall into that category. I think you second paragraph is closer to the truth - most people don't give a second thought to their tires beyond the fact that they are black and round. I don't know what it's like in the deep city but many places around here offer free tire storage with a purchase.

It may be only a few days a year, and maybe not every year in Toronto, but if you're not equipped to operate a tonne+ of machinery in public, either because of lack of skill or equipment, best to figure out a Plan B. The trouble is that if your Plan B is transit instead of driving, you're still at the mercy of others who failed to make the same call.

 

[drum118]

Add this
Amtrak cancels Chicago services due to extreme weather

 

[Amare]

Most transit properties don't buy tires - they "lease" them. The carcass of the tire is durable enough that they can get retreaded several times.

As for tire type, the TTC spec's a slightly higher-end tire than the basic model transit bus tire, which is usually equipped with some sort of sidewall abrasion resistance. YRT does not, and to the best of my knowledge neither does OC.

Dan

That's interesting to note, I wasn't aware of the sidewall abrasion resistance but it would make sense that they would go for that. I know for fact that GO Transit uses tires with deeper treads which are much better equipped for winter, but they operate coach and double-deck buses so it makes sense.

OC Transpo also uses different tires compared to the TTC (I dont know what the specs/type of tires are). As for YRT their policy may have changed since i've last heard, so it's posssible they've changed to some other type in the last couple years.

 

[Richard White]

I’m sure its been mentioned but Warden isn’t the only slippery place, using Queens Park today (I’m sure every downtown station has a bad entrance) on the NW corner the stairs were incredibly dangerous and I saw multiple people fall. The polished flooring in the station also does not help, gotta wonder if they could do something better . . . .

Dundas is the worst. The entrance to Dundas Square is so steep that it is unsafe in the winter. I am surprised nobody has closed it to rework it in the intervening decade since it has been open.

 

[WillTo]

Dundas is the worst. The entrance to Dundas Square is so steep that it is unsafe in the winter. I am surprised nobody has closed it to rework it in the intervening decade since it has been open.

I actually thought it had a lot of traction.

 

[drum118]

Dundas is the worst. The entrance to Dundas Square is so steep that it is unsafe in the winter. I am surprised nobody has closed it to rework it in the intervening decade since it has been open.

It was rebuilt about 5 years or so ago after construction started on it. It was over 50% built when it was rebuilt.

Its the stair material thats is the issue today. Its also not a well used stair in the first place.

 

[thettctransitfanatic]

If you thought the ALRVs have already died off far enough, according to the TTC's February Service Summary, there are only 10 ALRVs left, and 107 CLRVs.

Is it safe to say? - RIP Articulated Light Rail Vehicles- 1987-2019

 

[steveintoronto]

The polished concrete flooring is unnecessarily slippery. There are compounds that can be added to the polish to leave a grip. And *many* subway and platform floors are like ice...lubricated ice. The TTC needs their head shaken. Short of time to detail, but regardez: (Even Big Black Lab was sliding along on the floor at Bathurst and every other station we went through the last few days. This is a breed well suited to ice traction)

SEPTA's slippery subway floors - Philly.com

www.philly.com/philly/blogs/in-transit/SEPTAs-slippery-subway-floors.html
Feb 18, 2016 - If you used the subway over the weekend or early part of this week you may have noticed wet floors at SEPTA's subway stations ... Tiles having the sheen of a newly polishedbowling ball doesn't bode well for pedestrians.
Beware of slippery stairs at TTC subway entrances : toronto - Reddit

https://www.reddit.com/r/.../beware_of_slippery_stairs_at_ttc_subway_entrances/
Jan 12, 2018 - 23 posts - ‎21 authors
Many other areas in Toronto may be slippery as well but why aren't TTC staff doing ... TTC stationshave some of the slipperiest floors I've ever ... Put some grippy strips down ffs or use a tile that is not like polished marble.
[PDF]Station flooring guidance - Network Rail

https://cdn.networkrail.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/.../S6-Station-flooring-guidance.pdf
Guidance on the planning and management of station flooring to public areas .... Generally, the higher the slip resistance value, the more difficult the ... Passenger Train Interface- platform copers, tactile paving, yellow and white lines. ..... achieve the best results there is a requirement to grind andpolish the installed floor.

Readers' TTC complaints: Dirt | The Star

https://www.thestar.com › News › GTA
Mar 8, 2008 - Re: Warden Station Filthy staircases, dirty floors and on stairwells, grime on walls,slippery floors after snowfall, closed lavatory at times (one broken ... 25 years ago, all the subway stations were washed and polished routinely.
The Right Finish for Lifestyle & Maintenance - Part 1: Polished, Honed ...

https://www.msisurfaces.com/.../the-right-finish-for-lifestyle-maintenance-part-1-polishe...
Aug 14, 2013 - To keep that high sheen on a marble floor, maintenance polishing will be ... as in the bathroom where a smooth tile or slab is slippery when wet.
Tiles Pose Slippery Problem In New York Subway - Floor Daily

https://www.floordaily.net/flooring.../tiles-pose-slippery-problem-in-new-york-subwa...
Home; News; Tiles Pose Slippery Problem In New York Subway ... slipping and falling on importedfloor tiles that transit officials are installing in stations citywide, ...
Missing: polished ‎| ‎Must include: ‎polished
Takoma tiles a success for Metro – Greater Greater Washington

https://ggwash.org/view/1970/takoma-tiles-a-success-for-metro
Jun 2, 2009 - These tiles will be installed soon at other Metro stations where ... a very poor choice of material because they are so damn slippery when wet.
Popular Science
- Aug. 1924 - Page 57 - Google Books Result
https://books.google.ca/books?id=tikDAAAAMBAJ
Vol. 105, No. 2 - ‎Magazine
The new product is intended specially for use in subway and railway stations, ... eliminate the hazard of slipping where smooth, highly polished tiles are used for ...
Polished Concrete Floors Don't Have To Be Slippery | The Floor ...

www.thefloorcompany.ca/...floors.../polished-concrete-floors-dont-have-to-be-slipper...
Feb 27, 2015 - A common misconception with shiny concrete floor surfaces is that they are slippery. Something important to understand right away is that just ...
Missing: subway ‎stations

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[AlvinofDiaspar]

Dundas is the worst. The entrance to Dundas Square is so steep that it is unsafe in the winter. I am surprised nobody has closed it to rework it in the intervening decade since it has been open.

It isn't nearly as bad as the NW street entrance - everyone held onto the grab rails for dear life the last few days.

AoD

 

[drum118]

It isn't nearly as bad as the NW street entrance - everyone held onto the grab rails for dear life the last few days.

AoD

Its days are number once the new entrance for it is open. Very few of that style exist today.