Who are The Fords' victims thus far?

[Thanos]

what I meant was, cars and buses can turn back and pick up new passengers, while streetcars are just stuck there occupying the entire block.

Do you really think a bus can do a 3point turn on Queen or King and just turn back? I'd love to see that happen. And if we did have a bus on King instead of streetcars i sure do hope they are articulated buses. Now let's see those things do 3point turns.
I don't want to sound like i'm insulting you but..............seriously.

 

[Thanos]

Yes, I said Streetcars don't work not because I hate public transit (I have not driven a car since 2005), but because streetcars in Toronto mostly do not work well. I take 505 and 501 mostly, and boy, sometimes they are disasters. This is especially true for 501. If all streetcars have their own lanes like the one on Spadina and St Clair, I am all for it.

Remember during G20 last year, when the entire downtown core from Yonge to Spadina are blocked, 10 streets cars lined up on the corner of Queen/Spadina, simply because those 501s are unable to turn back.

I'd love to see streetcars have their own lane on King and Queen but that would involve taking lanes away from cars.

 

[Danielinthecity]

what I meant was, cars and buses can turn back and pick up new passengers, while streetcars are just stuck there occupying the entire block.

Soooo, what's your point exactly when you say that streetcars don't work 'well'? What do you mean exactly when you say they don't work 'well'? Is it due to the fact that sometimes a streetcar with 50-75 people is blocked (usually by cars)? Are you ignoring the fact the most of the time the streetcar is relieving congestion by NOT having those same 50-75 people blocking traffic ALL THE TIME EVERY DAY?

 

[js97]

It's really unfortunate that the street car is being used as a political wedge for good, efficient public transportation.

Anyone that's ever taken the queen/king to get anywhere can tell you how unrealiable, slow, and capacity limiting it is. Downtown needs a DRL, this will alliviate and maybe eliminate the queen/king lines if built under richmond/adelaide.

FYI, street cars are actually less environmentally friendly if you factor in the loss of effiency (street cars are heavy, and electric engines are much less efficient in moving weight then the combustable engine) and the source of energy production - but that's a seperate discussion.

 

[doug]

electric engines are much less efficient in moving weight then the combustable engine)

I disagree, electric motors are much more efficient then internal combustion engines.

 

[Red October]

FYI, street cars are actually less environmentally friendly if you factor in the loss of effiency (street cars are heavy, and electric engines are much less efficient in moving weight then the combustable engine)

Um, what?

 

[Hipster Duck]

Not to mention that we can't assume that all LGBT are politically left leaning or supporters of big tax&spend government. Once someone buys a house and earns a good income they quickly want to get the government out of their lives and pockets, regardless of sexual orientation.

While this is probably an anecdotal observation of yours, I wouldn't necessarily say you're incorrect, because these aren't the kinds of things people ask in more formal, empirical questionnaires or surveys so we can only refute this with somebody else's equally anecdotal observation.

However, conservatism should not be directly translated into supporting the Conservative party; conservatism - as a political philosophy - is not represented at all by any major political party, least of all the Progressive Conservatives. The Harper government and the Bush administration presided over some of the largest government spending increases in history. I would not be surprised if the Ford government will do the same, since pet-projects like the Sheppard subway and the infrastructure needed for the alternative Waterfront development does not come cheap. If we were to simplify, we could say that we have an alternative between tax and spend (left of centre) and cut tax, but still spend (right of centre). To a person who really values conservatism as a core philosophy, the platform of right-of-centre parties and politicians should be even more worrisome than that of left-of-centre parties and politicians. At least left wing politicians preach something that resembles fiscal responsibility: to spend more, but also to raise taxes to pay for it.

This is my beef with right-of-centre politics currently. If there were conservative politicians who stayed true to their core beliefs and did not just sacrifice their principles to keep tethered to a political party, I would probably vote for them every time.