[DSCToronto]

No doubt entirely necessary; but this sheer volume of 'emergency' work on both streetcar and subway routes is not a positive reflection on the TTC or the City/its contractors. This on top of the issue of badly delayed major projects both from the City and Metrolinx.

This is not 'emergency work' but 'regular SOGR and the 504 will operate as usual in daytime,

King Street East between Jarvis and Sherbourne streets - essential rail repairs​

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Effective March 5, 2024 to March 7, 2024



What we are doing and why
From Tuesday, March 5 to Thursday, March 7, TTC track crews will be conducting two essential rail repairs at King Street East and George Street and King Street East and Frederick Street. This work is part of TTC’s preventative maintenance program to ensure safe and reliable streetcar operations.

Work activities, hours, and timeline

• Work activities will begin at 7 a.m. on Tuesday, March 5 and include concrete saw-cutting, concrete breaking/removal, rail replacement, and placement of new concrete.
• Concrete breaking/removal work will be completed during the daytime between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m.
• Some around-the-clock work is required to ensure the quality installation of new rail and concrete. These expected activities include rail placement, welding, and grinding.
• New concrete will be poured into the track area and set to cure.

Motorist, cyclist, and pedestrian impacts

• All work will take place within the streetcar right-of-way (centre lanes) on King Street East between the two work areas.
• To maintain traffic in the curb lanes and to create a safe work zone, street parking will be temporarily restricted in the vicinity of the work zones.
• The location of the work zones may inhibit left turns.
• Paid duty officers or flag persons will be on-site to assist traffic movements.
• Pedestrian access will be maintained.

TTC service – 11 p.m. to 4 a.m. March 5 to 7

• 504 King and 503 Kingston Rd streetcar service will continue to operate through the area during the day.
• After 11 p.m., 504/304 King streetcars will not operate through the area. 504/304 King replacement buses will operate on King Street between Bay and River streets.
• After 11 p.m., 503 Kingston Rd streetcars will divert both ways via Church and Queen streets.

 

[allengeorge]

TTC data shows violence has eased. So why do riders feel uneasy?

As the TTC gets a grip on violence, it’s struggling with an issue out of its control that’s changed the face of the transit system: housing.

www.thestar.com

An article in The Star writing about riders’ continuing unease in riding the TTC, and how it’s (now) driven by visible homelessness in the system - a factor that’s completely out of the TTC’s control. Goes into some stats, as well as some strategies the TTC is pursuing.

That said, everyone is aware that unless more affordable housing is available city-wide, and people’s economic well-being is improved, this problem will persist.

 

[Northern Light]

TTC data shows violence has eased. So why do riders feel uneasy?

As the TTC gets a grip on violence, it’s struggling with an issue out of its control that’s changed the face of the transit system: housing.

www.thestar.com

An article in The Star writing about riders’ continuing unease in riding the TTC, and how it’s (now) driven by visible homelessness in the system - a factor that’s completely out of the TTC’s control. Goes into some stats, as well as some strategies the TTC is pursuing.

That said, everyone is aware that unless more affordable housing is available city-wide, and people’s economic well-being is improved, this problem will persist.

I essentially agree, and certainly support the broad solutions you note above.

But I would say this.......I don't know what the TTC's numbers show, but I think, when I do the math on my own encounters and factor for the total hours the system operates and scale, there are probably less than 200 individuals who are visibly homeless, regularly sheltering on TTC. ( a small part of a much larger social problem)

I would just note how few affordable housing, mental health or long term care beds are needed to address that. That we have not managed even that is really rather disgraceful.

 

[crs1026]

I would just note how few affordable housing, mental health or long term care beds are needed to address that. That we have not managed even that is really rather disgraceful.

I totally agree with the disgrace bit, but I worry that a laissez-faire attitude towards homelessness on the TTC is actually enabling the inaction.

On my last ride on the 501, a homeless person had pretty much barricaded themselves into the back end of the car, shopping cart and all. In full view of riders, they proceeded to urinate on the floor. Riders just moved away, clearly no one wanted to directly intervene, and alerting the operator would only have delayed service and possibly been pointless.

I don't know how many TTC buses will be retired this year, but I do wonder if they ought to be donated as temporary shelters. Better a clapped out bus over one's head than a tent or cardboard on a sewer grate. They would have to be parked somewhere, creating a blight, and maybe that's the extreme we need to go to before the powers that be will act. If we are going to house the homeless in transit vehicles, let's not do it in regular service, where the problem is invisible to the powers that be.

- Paul

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

I totally agree with the disgrace bit, but I worry that a laissez-faire attitude towards homelessness on the TTC is actually enabling the inaction.

On my last ride on the 501, a homeless person had pretty much barricaded themselves into the back end of the car, shopping cart and all. In full view of riders, they proceeded to urinate on the floor. Riders just moved away, clearly no one wanted to directly intervene, and alerting the operator would only have delayed service and possibly been pointless.

I don't know how many TTC buses will be retired this year, but I do wonder if they ought to be donated as temporary shelters. Better a clapped out bus over one's head than a tent or cardboard on a sewer grate. They would have to be parked somewhere, creating a blight, and maybe that's the extreme we need to go to before the powers that be will act. If we are going to house the homeless in transit vehicles, let's not do it in regular service, where the problem is invisible to the powers that be.

- Paul

Community centres on a temporary basis - if there is a will to deal with the issue, we can use them. There is hygiene facilities available there as well. You'd also need to stream - how you deal with someone who is just plain homeless is going to be dramatically different than someone with substance/mental health issues.

Whatever happens, the transit system is meant for transportation, not housing people - and policies must be driven to focus on the former group.

AoD

 

[smallspy]

I don't know how many TTC buses will be retired this year, but I do wonder if they ought to be donated as temporary shelters. Better a clapped out bus over one's head than a tent or cardboard on a sewer grate. They would have to be parked somewhere, creating a blight, and maybe that's the extreme we need to go to before the powers that be will act. If we are going to house the homeless in transit vehicles, let's not do it in regular service, where the problem is invisible to the powers that be.

- Paul

At least on a temporary basis, the TTC (and the City) are already doing this.

There are about a dozen buses that have been modified and are brought downtown every night from outlying garages to provide shelter and safe areas for the homeless.

Dan

 

[T3G]

Pictures:

 

[evandyk]

There's a Star article from a few weeks ago about the shelter buses.

From an overnight bus to a 5 a.m. streetcar: how Toronto’s transit system has turned into a stopgap shelter

TTC buses meant to shuttle people to shelters or warming centres are instead being used for overnight stays as the city shelter system buckles.

www.thestar.com

It is very apparent over the last few months that the TTC is operating as the stopgap shelter for the city. I ride the subway in the evening regularly and in pretty much every trip, somebody is clearly in the car for that purpose, often sleeping across benches, carrying a life's worth of goods. The smell is often intolerable, and you will be approached by a panhandler on most trips.

I live in St. Lawrence, so I am used to interacting with people experiencing poverty and homelessness. I don't feel unsafe and (at least when it gets very cold) the subway is a better place for people than sleeping outside, but I get that it's creating a very unpleasant experience for your average transit rider. If we had any real cold weather this year it probably would have been even more prevalent.

 

[christiesplits]

There's a Star article from a few weeks ago about the shelter buses.

From an overnight bus to a 5 a.m. streetcar: how Toronto’s transit system has turned into a stopgap shelter

TTC buses meant to shuttle people to shelters or warming centres are instead being used for overnight stays as the city shelter system buckles.

www.thestar.com

It is very apparent over the last few months that the TTC is operating as the stopgap shelter for the city. I ride the subway in the evening regularly and in pretty much every trip, somebody is clearly in the car for that purpose, often sleeping across benches, carrying a life's worth of good

Anecdotally, it appears more common on Line 1, particularly in the downtown 'loop'. I take Line 2 several times a week from Keele to Broadview and it's quite rare to see someone sleeping on the line.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

There's a Star article from a few weeks ago about the shelter buses.

From an overnight bus to a 5 a.m. streetcar: how Toronto’s transit system has turned into a stopgap shelter

TTC buses meant to shuttle people to shelters or warming centres are instead being used for overnight stays as the city shelter system buckles.

www.thestar.com

It is very apparent over the last few months that the TTC is operating as the stopgap shelter for the city. I ride the subway in the evening regularly and in pretty much every trip, somebody is clearly in the car for that purpose, often sleeping across benches, carrying a life's worth of goods. The smell is often intolerable, and you will be approached by a panhandler on most trips.

I live in St. Lawrence, so I am used to interacting with people experiencing poverty and homelessness. I don't feel unsafe and (at least when it gets very cold) the subway is a better place for people than sleeping outside, but I get that it's creating a very unpleasant experience for your average transit rider. If we had any real cold weather this year it probably would have been even more prevalent.

Even the GO is getting some of the spillover - and the Union Station concourse also have a transient population as well.

As to the TTC, it doesn't appear to be particularly time restricted on Line 1; and streetcars have a particularly bad hit-rate.

AoD

 

[Cabral]

https://toronto.citynews.ca/2024/03...tic-commuter-frustration-along-504-ttc-route/

How is this possible? I have lived in the area for a few years and half the time I have tried taking the streetcars I have had to Uber to the core instead. Often times walking (60 minutes) would have been faster than the streetcar. People outside the neighborhood keep mentioning we have GO access but that isn't helpful when you want to travel locally and within the city. Are people in this neighbourhood doomed with access to transit for the foreseeable future? I feel so close yet so far away from downtown and the rest of Old Toronto.

 

[evandyk]

I hear about all of these problems on the western end of the 504 lines. I ride the 504 and 503 multiple times daily east of University and it is highly reliable and unless something specific has happened, faster than walking for any trip that's longer than about a 10 minute walk (3 stops or so). And the app is pretty much dead on most of the time.

But I will live out west soon, so will be able to see for myself.

 

[innsertnamehere]

Homeless sleeping in suburban GO stations has also become very prevalent in the last 2 years - something which absolutely was not pre-covid.

 

[turbanplanner]

Homeless sleeping in suburban GO stations has also become very prevalent in the last 2 years - something which absolutely was not pre-covid.

I've had the police show up a lot of times the last 2 years while riding the go, even have a photo of the police escorting out a lady who threatened to shoot me and the other passengers

 

[allengeorge]

On my last ride on the 501, a homeless person had pretty much barricaded themselves into the back end of the car, shopping cart and all. In full view of riders, they proceeded to urinate on the floor. Riders just moved away, clearly no one wanted to directly intervene, and alerting the operator would only have delayed service and possibly been pointless.

That’s truly upsetting. It only takes a few stories like this to accelerate a doom loop, where people think that the TTC is uncomfortable - if not flat-out unsafe - to ride.

FWIW, in situations like this someone should push the strip and force the vehicle to be taken out of service. Maybe more instances of doing so would force the TTC and the city to get more serious about enforcing some decency on their vehicles.

I’m all for supporting the homeless, and I know I come off as cold here: but transit vehicles are not homeless shelters.