[nightstreak]

I was expecting delays but to shut it down completely is so ridiculous. Billions spent on a line that is not much faster than a bus and shuts down during inclement weather. Get it together Line 6.

Holy shit, was Rob Ford right after all?

 

[TRONto]

Cross-Posting with all the discussion of stop removals here: https://worksinprogress.co/issue/the-united-states-needs-fewer-bus-stops/

 

[futurebound]

Edmonton doesn’t get as much snow as Toronto.

That's just not true. They're about the same. (123.9cm/yr for Edmonton, 121.5cm/yr for Toronto) Edmonton is also a lot colder. No reason why what works in Edmonton can't work here.

Also Line 5 test trains ran today, along with streetcar service. It's not an inherent problem with LRT.

 

[nfitz]

According to your map, Ottawa should be affected by the same weather system and snow fall as Toronto today. But i cannot seem to find any reports or news of service disruptions on the Confederation line due to weather. I did find this link & page (below)

The forecast and what happens are different things.
Environment Canada that by 5 pm, even though Ottawa often gets bigger snow falls than Toronto, that they Ottawa only got 18 cm - the lowest in southern Ontario. Compare to the Toronto area which is the highest in southern Ontario (at 32 cm to 53 cm). See https://weather.gc.ca/warnings/weathersummaries_e.html#ON

Snowfall amounts in centimetres as of 5:00 P.M. EST January 15th
unless otherwise noted:

Scarborough North 48-53 (3:00 P.M.) *
Markham 45 (2:30 P.M.) *
Brampton 43 (11:00 A.M.)*
Pickering 40 (4:00 P.M.) *
Brampton 38 *
Toronto North York 35-38 (2:30 P.M.) *
Toronto Downsview 37.4
Guelph 35 (1.00 P.M.) *
Whitby 32-35 (12:00 P.M.) *
Scarborough Southeast 32 *
University of Waterloo 29 *
Kitchener Stanley Park 27 *
Saint Catharines 27 (1 P.M.) *
Ajax 26 *
Courtice 25 (3:00 P.M.) *
Kingston 25 ^
Oak Ridges 23-25 (3:00 P.M.) *
Scarborough South 25 (12:00 P.M.) *
London 15-25 *
Bowmanville 24 (12:45 P.M.) *
Elora 24 ^
Toronto Beaches 24 (3:00 P.M.) *
Toronto Midtown 23 *
Egbert 22 ^
Peterborough 22 ^
Toronto Pearson Airport 22
London 21 ^
Oakville 21 (2:30 P.M.) *
Toronto Downtown 21 (3:30 P.M.) *
Trenton 21
Uxbridge West 21 ^
Kemptville 21 ^
Mount Forest 19 ^
Hamilton 18 *
Ottawa 18

(TTC thinks its "too risky" or just has no clue how to clear snow off ROW)

Metrolinx/Mosaic contracted TTC to operate the streetcars. They have contracted others to do maintenance, like clearing snow, switches, etc.

As TTC was operating (at least some) of the Line 5 trains today, this doesn't see to be anything to do with TTC risk adversity.

 

[Steve X]

The forecast and what happens are different things.
Environment Canada that by 5 pm, even though Ottawa often gets bigger snow falls than Toronto, that they Ottawa only got 18 cm - the lowest in southern Ontario. Compare to the Toronto area which is the highest in southern Ontario (at 32 cm to 53 cm). See https://weather.gc.ca/warnings/weathersummaries_e.html#ON

Snowfall amounts in centimetres as of 5:00 P.M. EST January 15th
unless otherwise noted:

Scarborough North 48-53 (3:00 P.M.) *
Markham 45 (2:30 P.M.) *
Brampton 43 (11:00 A.M.)*
Pickering 40 (4:00 P.M.) *
Brampton 38 *
Toronto North York 35-38 (2:30 P.M.) *
Toronto Downsview 37.4
Guelph 35 (1.00 P.M.) *
Whitby 32-35 (12:00 P.M.) *
Scarborough Southeast 32 *
University of Waterloo 29 *
Kitchener Stanley Park 27 *
Saint Catharines 27 (1 P.M.) *
Ajax 26 *
Courtice 25 (3:00 P.M.) *
Kingston 25 ^
Oak Ridges 23-25 (3:00 P.M.) *
Scarborough South 25 (12:00 P.M.) *
London 15-25 *
Bowmanville 24 (12:45 P.M.) *
Elora 24 ^
Toronto Beaches 24 (3:00 P.M.) *
Toronto Midtown 23 *
Egbert 22 ^
Peterborough 22 ^
Toronto Pearson Airport 22
London 21 ^
Oakville 21 (2:30 P.M.) *
Toronto Downtown 21 (3:30 P.M.) *
Trenton 21
Uxbridge West 21 ^
Kemptville 21 ^
Mount Forest 19 ^
Hamilton 18 *
Ottawa 18

Metrolinx/Mosaic contracted TTC to operate the streetcars. They have contracted others to do maintenance, like clearing snow, switches, etc.

As TTC was operating (at least some) of the Line 5 trains today, this doesn't see to be anything to do with TTC risk adversity.

Well Ottawa was still affected by the snowstorm at 5pm as the system moves east so 18cm is not likely their total

 

[nfitz]

Well Ottawa was still affected by the snowstorm at 5pm as the system moves east so 18cm is not likely their total

This is true. But the way it rotated near Toronto for hours is unlikely to have been replicated in Ottawa.

At the same time, hasn't Ottawa already replaced those crap switches they installed with much better ones? Wouldn't we expect more minimal impacts in Ottawa now, even in similar conditions?

 

[6ixGod]

Per a recent poll by Liaison Strategies, 70% of respondents said the new Finch West LRT line has been unsuccessful including 62% who said it was very unsuccessful.

Some reviews of Line 6 from online

The line had service disruptions (as in part or all of the line was offline) in 14 of its first 29 days.

Bravo….oh right this is just a “sOfT” Tac…..I mean “sOfT OPeNinG”.

This "soft launch" excuse is utter nonsense. There was no plan to improve service until massive public backlash forced the mayor to get involved. No city on the planet does a "soft launch" where they intentionally run their trains without TSP and at half the suggested operational speed.

For people that don’t use it it’s an eye sore as it’s a reminder of the tax dollars wasted. For the people that do use it, they wish it would function as intended, then move on to take other more time efficient ways of transportation

The terminus station at Humber College is terrible. Open air platform?!? That's going to get flooded during a severe thunderstorm, or a massive melt after a huge snowfall.

…and it’s closed now.

Yeah it's a downgrade, unfortunately. As a Humber student, it's actually faster for me to go further south, and take the 96/996. Still optimistic that the city will fix it, but only time will tell.

And probably the best comment I’ve read and the most prevalent one I see repeated again and again on YouTube, Reddit and Discord and media outlet comments sections. Torontonians are so done with LRTs…..and all it took was 3 weeks of a soft taco to do it.

Good. This needs to happen to shut down any future LRT or other exotic technology talk. I don't care if they work in other cities. Other cities aren't Toronto. Want a city to compare to? Try Chengdu which had nothing in 2005, yet 20 years later has the 4th-largest subway system in the world. Unfair comparison due to various reasons? Fine. That's how I feel about LRT comparisons. I also have no confidence about Line 6's potential "transit signal priority" when the TTC touted "automatic train control" on Line 1 for ages, which ended up taking years to fully install and actually slowed it down. Line 6 can't even stay functional at the moment, as seen earlier this week. A little snow or rain shuts it down.

This isn’t “teething issues” or “first LRT problems.” It’s a technology–role mismatch baked into the design from day one. Calling it a success because it technically opened just lowers the bar for what transit riders should expect.

 

[SJD_Toronto]

Holy shit, was Rob Ford right after all?

I was never a fan of Rob Ford, but Josh Matlow’s relentless push for LRTs makes him look pretty foolish in hindsight. Ford was right about one thing: Toronto should have been building more subways instead of LRTs. The Finch West LRT has turned into a textbook example of why - so much disruption for a deeply underwhelming result. I’d genuinely love to hear Matlow try to defend this mess.

I'm glad Line 2 is being expanded further into Scarborough instead of what Matlow wanted.

 

[Westey]

The headlines speak for themselves I don't even need to say anything anymore. The rage on discord and reddit is even better.

Fitting that my suspension at UT forum lifts the day the grey streetcar suspends all service due to....checks notes...

...snowfall.

You need to follow the (secret) 10 Commandments.
I haven't figured them all out yet, but here are the first 2.
1. You shall worship no other transit above LRT.
2. You shall not say the name LRT in vain.

 

[narduch]

Rob Ford was a joke. He didn't even know what he was talking about.

 

[TwoWheelPoli]

The new Line 6 Finch West LRT has been shut down for the second day in a row because of yesterday's snowstorm! Given all the mishaps over the new transit line and how other LRT lines like Waterloo's ION run fine in the snow, who feels it's time to call for a public inquiry?

Alternatively, I would also be open to covering both Finch West and Eglinton at the same time when the latter opens given Councillor Josh Matlow has been calling for one for a while now.

https://www.torontotoday.ca/local/transportation-infrastructure/line-6-down-again-snow-weather-conditions-11748834

 

[Allandale25]

How does the Waterloo LRT deal with cross street/intersection snow?

 

[Adjei]

I don’t see another non grade separated LRT being built in this city. Goodbye to that Eglinton East LRT, it will never be built. Any extensions of Finch LRT to the Woodbine GO station and further to the airport and also Eglinton to the airport will be grade separated.

 

[mrgrieves]

Rob Ford was a joke. He didn't even know what he was talking about.

he was hilarious and his soundbites will live on forever. but his common sense approach was bang on when it came to grade separated vs not for transit (which I think was what the subway v lrt debate from that era was about). the "downtown elites" overcomplicated transit building by incorporating a social engineering to it.

the proof is in the pudding - I agree w other posters here that Finch West LRT will kill any political will to ever build at grade transit again. a painful lesson that cost ~ $4bn, and I feel for the people who rely on Line 6 and soon to be Line 5

 

[SJD_Toronto]

he was hilarious and his soundbites will live on forever. but his common sense approach was bang on when it came to grade separated vs not for transit (which I think was what the subway v lrt debate from that era was about). the "downtown elites" overcomplicated transit building by incorporating a social engineering to it.

the proof is in the pudding - I agree w other posters here that Finch West LRT will kill any political will to ever build at grade transit again. a painful lesson that cost ~ $4bn, and I feel for the people who rely on Line 6 and soon to be Line 5

Exactly. If the Finch West LRT remains a circus and the Crosstown delivers more of the same, good luck convincing anyone to support way-down-the-road future LRT projects - particularly when they’re being sold by fools like Josh Matlow.