TTC: Other Items (catch all)

[nfitz]

Noooo; Danforth GO, hop the GO Train to the Ex; only way to get there from our neck of the woods.,

That's the train I was referring to. Technically Danforth station ... which is on Main Street and not on Danforth.

Normally, 8M to Union, 3M hold at Union; M to Ex Station, total 18M travel time.

Today, for reasons??? (Ontario Line/4th track construction?) they are allowing 17M from Danforth to Union which is absolutely nuts.

I do that trip very frequently. There's no travel time issues from Ontario Line/4th track ... yet. But the dwell at Union has always been greater than 3 minutes. It used to be 5 minutes a decade or two ago, and they dropped it to 2 minutes without any other schedule changes, simply to improve their on-time data.

So today they're saying 28M trip time (they're also budgeting extra for Union to the Ex.

Looking at the September schedules, it's 26 minutes eastbound and 22 minutes westbound. Eastbound should be a bit slower because of the hill from the Don to Danforth - but that seems excessive.

Back in 2015 it was 23 minutes both eastbound and westbound.

18 or 19 minutes would be reasonable if there was no extra dwell at Union.

 

[Northern Light]

That's the train I was referring to. Technically Danforth station ... which is on Main Street and not on Danforth.

I do that trip very frequently. There's no travel time issues from Ontario Line/4th track ... yet. But the dwell at Union has always been greater than 3 minutes. It used to be 5 minutes a decade or two ago, and they dropped it to 2 minutes without any other schedule changes, simply to improve their on-time data.

Looking at the September schedules, it's 26 minutes eastbound and 22 minutes westbound. Eastbound should be a bit slower because of the hill from the Don to Danforth - but that seems excessive.

Back in 2015 it was 23 minutes both eastbound and westbound.

18 or 19 minutes would be reasonable if there was no extra dwell at Union.

I took GO from Union to Danforth just last month, made the trip in 8M flat going uphill.

There's a lot of bloat in those schedules.

Plus, the trains really do crawl between the Ex and Union. I get that there is signal and track work needed to move things along.....but yikes is that a yawningly slow trip.

* Side Tangent * @nfitz is in charge of Coxwell south of Danforth for UT.....so I need to ask......when are you going to get the crews to finish Raindrop plaza? (Dundas/Coxwell) boy are they dragging!

They're almost as slow as the crew renovating the LCBO at Coxwell/Queen (who I gather, until recently, were only working on Mondays when the store was closed.)

 

[nfitz]

I took GO from Union to Danforth just last month, made the trip in 8M flat going uphill.

There'd be a minute of dwell at Danforth on that (schedule is departures from Danforth, rather than arrivals). They used to schedule 10 minutes, back in 2015 (and that schedule had barely changed since the 1960s). They schedule 12 minutes now - so yes, some bloat; despite the faster track speeds near Union (I believe they've increased it from 15 mph to 30 mph).

* Side Tangent * @nfitz is in charge of Coxwell south of Danforth for UT.....so I need to ask......when are you going to get the crews to finish Raindrop plaza? (Dundas/Coxwell) boy are they dragging!

LOL! I've no idea why, but it has been lingering. I'm just glad they are finally doing it; it was so bleak before. The one at Fairford and Coxwell took forever ... but first the contractor went under, and then they found out there were issues with what they'd built. But it looks great now, especially as the trees are maturing!

 

[Monarch Butterfly]

Sometimes a longer or shorter dwell time is created at stations to adjust the trains to the schedule. Better than crawling at the terminal stations.

 

[Steve X]

Now now Admiral be realistic. This is Metrolinx we are talking about after all.

It will open in 2048.

By that time, the crosstown would have shut down a couple of times due to operating cost disagreement between the TTC and Metrolinx.

The OL could have opened in 2044 but there was no budget to open the line and operate safely. An enhanced safety plan would also have delayed 2 years due to the significant amount of shenanigans happening within the system and new equipments is needed to monitor and keep kids from running through the tunnels.

 

[Northern Light]

So I have a question that I have wondered for a while now. At Dufferin and Finch there is an abandoned bus loop and I can't figure out what bus would have looped there. I thought it would have something to do with either the Dufferin North or Finch West buses but looking through there histories on TransitToronto shows neither used it at least in an official capacity. According to Goolge Streetview it was still connected to the road up till 2007.

View attachment 454964View attachment 454965

I saw something at Bid Award...............and remembered we had discussed this corner.

New Park incoming here:

Agenda Item History 2023.BA44.6

Agenda Item History 2023.BA44.6

secure.toronto.ca

 

[DSCToronto]

Work on 2nd exit at KING STATION moving along:

https://ttc-cdn.azureedge.net/-/media/Project/TTC/DevProto/Documents/Home/About-the-TTC/Projects-Landing-Page/King-Station/King-Station-Easier-AccessMelinda-Exit-closure-to-facilitate-constructionstarting-as-early-as-Septem.pdf?rev=0a59333e60334c039d4930a7912da709&hash=9D53B8719FBB1FB0A4337DA3BFEA4A78

As part of this construction, crews will be closing the northbound Melinda Exit at King Station (northbound platform level, to and from the concourse) for approximately four weeks starting as early as September 15, 2023. By implementing the exit closure, the stair and elevator construction can be done concurrently which expedites elevator installation work.

 

[Coolstar]

Article on the new TTC Chair. It’s definitely great that we finally have someone in charge who actually rides the TTC daily compared to the last chair.

A TTC board chair who takes the TTC? Why Jamaal Myers says that makes him a ‘radical choice’

The councillor for Scarborough North says restoring service and restoring trust on Toronto’s public transit are key jobs.

www.thestar.com

Interesting scenario that occurred a few weekends ago with some Rick Leary shade.

 

[Amare]

Article on the new TTC Chair. It’s definitely great that we finally have someone in charge who actually rides the TTC daily compared to the last chair.

A TTC board chair who takes the TTC? Why Jamaal Myers says that makes him a ‘radical choice’

The councillor for Scarborough North says restoring service and restoring trust on Toronto’s public transit are key jobs.

www.thestar.com

Interesting scenario that occurred a few weekends ago with some Rick Leary shade.

View attachment 504668

Rick Leary cant even get basic operations and line management properly managed on the TTC, so I wouldnt expect him to know the minute details of running any kind of replacement service properly. Let alone even know which stations are/arent accessible and the type of replacement service needed to take care of that.

 

[Bordercollie]

Rick Leary cant even get basic operations and line management properly managed on the TTC, so I wouldnt expect him to know the minute details of running any kind of replacement service properly. Let alone even know which stations are/arent accessible and the type of replacement service needed to take care of that.

I don't think the chair of the transit system makes these types of operation decisions. I'm sure there is someone who is specifically responsible for shuttle services which would oversee something like this.

Who ever the supervisor is for that task would be responsible for signing off on it, and I'm sure they have a checklist to follow.

 

[Bordercollie]

Does anyone know how long this slow zone will be in place at the Finch cross over? It's causing havock resulting in a huge backup northbound from York Mills and then gaps southbound up to 7-10 min during off peak.

Some operators taking their time switching direction, not adhering to the schedule.

They did have spare crews posted to move the trains along, but only during peak periods.

Also ATC is disabled causing gaps since some operators take their time between stations.

What a disaster.

 

[DSCToronto]

Rick Leary cant even get basic operations and line management properly managed on the TTC, so I wouldnt expect him to know the minute details of running any kind of replacement service properly. Let alone even know which stations are/arent accessible and the type of replacement service needed to take care of that.

I doubt the CEO could, or should, know details of every station but he should have staff who do. By all accounts, Leary is not popular with staff and there is high turnover - this is where local knowledge is lost and where nobody tries to think.

 

[evandyk]

I think the elevator issue at the TTC is major enough that the CEO probably should know the status of every station relating to elevators.

I know Jamaal pretty well, and he's a really smart guy who cares deeply about the TTC. Those two things alone make him a pretty rare bird on the TTC board, never mind its chair.

 

[Amare]

I doubt the CEO could, or should, know details of every station but he should have staff who do. By all accounts, Leary is not popular with staff and there is high turnover - this is where local knowledge is lost and where nobody tries to think.

Heck if I know which stations are/arent accessible by hand, there's no excuse for the CEO of the company to not know which of the system's stations are accessible or not. But you're correct, Rick Leary is universally disliked by staff, operators, a lot of management, and customers.

I don't think the chair of the transit system makes these types of operation decisions. I'm sure there is someone who is specifically responsible for shuttle services which would oversee something like this.

Who ever the supervisor is for that task would be responsible for signing off on it, and I'm sure they have a checklist to follow.

He wouldnt make those kind of operational decisions you're right, but he should be aware of major disruptions and service replacements at minimum.

 

[nfitz]

Every station might be pushing it. But Warden has been very much a big issue, as make it accessible requires pretty much a complete rebuild of the station, due to how the bus bays work. Like Islington.

And I'm sure he does know - but probably didn't put two and two together.

But what were staff thinking?