TTC: Streetcar Network

[nfitz]

As the exhaustive reviews that Steve Munro prepares show, it is quite clear that the main reason most TTC service is so irregular is not traffic but their non-existant route management.

The one thing that surprised me was how much poorer 506 (and presumably 505) service is running during PM peak (for example) 42 buses every 4 minutes rather than 29 streetcars every 5.5 minutes. 506 service was always very erratic until September 2015(?) when they added run time, and increased both on-street supervision and supervision at Transit Control (presumably from the Bathurst/Davenport facility?).

TTC has been pretty cagey about the changes, but they have indicated transit control is now coming out of one of the bus divisions. And all signs of on-street supervision have vanished. And suddenly there's bunching like there is no tomorrow. This is somewhat understandable when things are running late. But what I can't fathom, is how when there is a bunch of 3, invariably the 3rd bus has started running very early, and then created a large gap behind it - and there's no one at Transit Control or on the street properly running things.

Which is is completely pathetic.

 

[steveintoronto]

... And all signs of on-street supervision have vanished. And suddenly there's bunching like there is no tomorrow. This is somewhat understandable when things are running late. But what I can't fathom, is how when there is a bunch of 3, invariably the 3rd bus has started running very early, and then created a large gap behind it - and there's no one at Transit Control or on the street properly running things.

Which is is completely pathetic.

I can second that. It's become a study in Chaos Theory, not regular service.

 

[Streety McCarface]

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Great picture. But I always wonder why they paint the same picture for the entire line. Would like to know the density of users at the outer perimeter vs closer to the subway station.

If they are all close to the station there is no need to build RT all the way to the outer edges of the route. A BRT dedicated lane near the terminus would suffice.

Likewise a short route (e.g. Kipling South or Prince Edward) don't even show up on the map even though they are almost 10-minute frequencies, at capacity and most of the users are at the end of the route.

Unfortunately, the TTC does not release ridership data per stop, as it probably would be too large of a file to share with individuals outside the TTC.
You can always look at the number of scheduled short turns along a particular route to get an idea about ridership density along a route.

 

[muller877]

Even without Presto tap-off capabilities the TTC could run some pretty interesting reports based on the information that is currently available. If you assume a tap-on is where they tapped off the last time you can create a detailed map. From every bus stop to every other bus stop. (assuming Presto has a GPS location of the tap)

Assume there are 10,000 bus stops in the city. That's 100 million distinct routes. A huge opportunity to create more efficient routes throughout the city if they can manipulate this data and understand it.

The simplest example is the DRL. Take all users of the Danforth line east of the intersection with the DRL. Take all of them who will go to an area within 500 meters of Queen or Osgoode. This is the number of people that will transfer. Then compare it to King/St Andrews & Dundas/St Patrick and you will find which which route they should have taken.

It would be really interesting to build and run some scenario's for all of this data. For the streetcar network should the the streetcar on Roncy, Queensway, Queen East and Broadview go to King or Queen? How about modelling out various fare by distance scenarios? So many questions that could be answered.

 

[Steve X]

Even without Presto tap-off capabilities the TTC could run some pretty interesting reports based on the information that is currently available. If you assume a tap-on is where they tapped off the last time you can create a detailed map. From every bus stop to every other bus stop. (assuming Presto has a GPS location of the tap)

There is a high enough percentage that the GPS location is wrong.

 

[Streety McCarface]

Even without Presto tap-off capabilities the TTC could run some pretty interesting reports based on the information that is currently available. If you assume a tap-on is where they tapped off the last time you can create a detailed map. From every bus stop to every other bus stop. (assuming Presto has a GPS location of the tap)

Assume there are 10,000 bus stops in the city. That's 100 million distinct routes. A huge opportunity to create more efficient routes throughout the city if they can manipulate this data and understand it.

The simplest example is the DRL. Take all users of the Danforth line east of the intersection with the DRL. Take all of them who will go to an area within 500 meters of Queen or Osgoode. This is the number of people that will transfer. Then compare it to King/St Andrews & Dundas/St Patrick and you will find which which route they should have taken.

It would be really interesting to build and run some scenario's for all of this data. For the streetcar network should the the streetcar on Roncy, Queensway, Queen East and Broadview go to King or Queen? How about modelling out various fare by distance scenarios? So many questions that could be answered.

That could be considered an invasion of privacy. Plus, you'd need a huge supercomputer in order to calculate efficient routes. It could take years to figure out one route.

 

[muller877]

That could be considered an invasion of privacy. Plus, you'd need a huge supercomputer in order to calculate efficient routes. It could take years to figure out one route.

If a random number is generated to each Presto card it would not be an invasion of privacy.

And I've built what I expect a similar sized database is on a 5 year old laptop. I was never thinking that a computer should be used to determine the efficient routes (agreed it would a complex problem and would require a large computer). But to build it and create the queries that a human could then use to make linear decisions would be quite interesting.

One of my good friends keeps on complaining about the 501 (west side). He has to take the temp bus (501L). Then hops on the 501. At Roncey he has to decide if (1) to stay on the slow 501 to Queen and then walk down to work or (2) hop on the 504 (which he now says is much quicker) which takes him right to the PATH.

Most often he decides the former and he says there are a large portion of the people on the 501 do so as well.

Great work TTC! 3 surface routes on one trip to get to work. Would love to see if his anecdotal evidence matches the facts.

 

[BMO]

It's really not that difficult, you store all the information in a database, you'd need to automate certain things and ensure the data is received in a certain manner to reduce the need to clean it, but overall you'd just associate each stop with what routes service it and then cross reference a PRESTO card's tap on location in the AM and PM peak hours and then generate trends. I.e. if a card taps on an the morning on a surface route and taps on at a subway station downtown in the afternoon, you'd be able to make a pretty good estimation on what route they took.

Overall, it's not some trivial task, but given the right set of assumptions you'd be able to generate some meaningful data.

 

[TransitBart]

Cue 'Hinterland Who's Who' music. ALRV. Endangered species. I was on Queen West for 3 hours yesterday and only managed to see this one. The entire traffic was being carried on CLRVs. Notwithstanding that the CPTDB says that 39 are still in service, either only a handful are serviceable, or they are despatched as a last resort. In any event, there are not many on the streets that I can see. It's a huge loss of capacity with no plan in place to replace it. If we want to get energized about something, it should be this. The investments in track maintenance are the dumbest ever if there are no vehicles to run on them and it is getting to that stage.

 

[Streety McCarface]

Cue 'Hinterland Who's Who' music. ALRV. Endangered species. I was on Queen West for 3 hours yesterday and only managed to see this one. The entire traffic was being carried on CLRVs. Notwithstanding that the CPTDB says that 39 are still in service, either only a handful are serviceable, or they are despatched as a last resort. In any event, there are not many on the streets that I can see. It's a huge loss of capacity with no plan in place to replace it. If we want to get energized about something, it should be this. The investments in track maintenance are the dumbest ever if there are no vehicles to run on them and it is getting to that stage.

View attachment 143340

To learn more, visit CPTDB.wiki.ca for more details [Exit HWW music, Show link to TTC metro pass purchase page and Halton County Radial Railway donation page]

 

[reaperexpress]

Cue 'Hinterland Who's Who' music. ALRV. Endangered species. I was on Queen West for 3 hours yesterday and only managed to see this one. The entire traffic was being carried on CLRVs. Notwithstanding that the CPTDB says that 39 are still in service, either only a handful are serviceable, or they are despatched as a last resort. In any event, there are not many on the streets that I can see. It's a huge loss of capacity with no plan in place to replace it. If we want to get energized about something, it should be this. The investments in track maintenance are the dumbest ever if there are no vehicles to run on them and it is getting to that stage.

View attachment 143340

See also:

https://www.ttc.ca/News/2015/October/1015_streetcar_rebuild.jsp

October 15, 2015

The first streetcar in the TTC’s Articulated Light Rail Vehicle (ALRV) life-extension program entered service on the 501 Queen route today. Streetcar #4217 is the first of 30 streetcars to undergo a major life-extension overhaul that will improve reliability and ensure continued, safe operation of the streetcar fleet.

The life-extension program began in June and costs $24 million. The program is designed to improve line capacity and vehicle reliability and availability. Streetcar #4217 is the first overhauled car completed this year, one of 30 scheduled to be completed by the end of 2017.

In 1984 the TTC purchased 52 ALRVs. The TTC selected 30 to be overhauled as part of the rebuild program. The remaining will be retired as the new low-floor streetcar enters service by the end of 2019.

The ALRV life- extension program includes a complete interior and exterior overhaul of the streetcar including:

• repairing corrosion damage and repainting the exterior of body.
• replacing interior sub-flooring and refurbished door stepwells.
• refurbishing pneumatic air systems, propulsion motors and braking systems.
• cleaning of electrical systems and replacement of suspension components.

 

[TransitBart]

That

See also:

https://www.ttc.ca/News/2015/October/1015_streetcar_rebuild.jsp

@reaperexpress , thanks.

No disrespect intended here. That may be great as a historical artifact some some day. Sadly, it is three years old with no update and empirical evidence unless someone has seen a slew of ALRVS somewhere other than on the 501 is that they are scarcer than dragon's teeth.

 

[Johnny Au]

Don't forget about the ALRVs of Theseus as well!

 

[dowlingm]

Cue 'Hinterland Who's Who' music. ALRV. Endangered species. I was on Queen West for 3 hours yesterday and only managed to see this one. The entire traffic was being carried on CLRVs. Notwithstanding that the CPTDB says that 39 are still in service, either only a handful are serviceable, or they are despatched as a last resort. In any event, there are not many on the streets that I can see. It's a huge loss of capacity with no plan in place to replace it. If we want to get energized about something, it should be this. The investments in track maintenance are the dumbest ever if there are no vehicles to run on them and it is getting to that stage.

This link will show you how many ALRVs are in service at any time. At present, there are nine - almost two handfuls.
https://www.transsee.ca/fleetfind?a=ttc&q=4200-4251&Go=Go&refresh=10

There was an attempt to salvage the capacity - the refurb program. However, TTC opted to do the work with their own resources rather than send them out as the SRT cars were, and did not materially change their fundamentals because unlike the SRT vehicles, AODA has set a deadline on their lifespan for any use other than historical/charter like the PCCs.

 

[Hank]

Don't forget about the ALRVs of Theseus as well!

That's what they all are at this point. Who needs new streetcars when we already have them!