[nfitz]

I live for the day when the TTC announces that on some route, buses are being replaced by streetcars.

Isn't that exactly what happened to 503 replacing 22 during evenings and weekends? For the first time in over 55 years?

And then there's the upcoming switch from buses to streetcars on 312.

 

[DSCToronto]

And then there's the upcoming switch from buses to streetcars on 312.

I think this is because of the work at Russell Yard and the fact they have not made much (any?) progress on expanding streetcar parking at Hillcrest which means they are short of overnight parking places for streetcars so decided to keep them in service overnight.

 

[RapidTransit]

So based on a comment I saw on Steve Munro regarding Josh Colle. Rumor is, Rick Leary is working on an exit strategy. Which will have him leave earlier than the planned 2026 when is contract expires.

I would assume Jamaal and Chow is fully aware of this, and is already looking for a replacement. And/or Rick Leary is looking for someone to replace him internally within TTC.

Now a plot twist , Josh Colle becomes the next CEO.

 

[drum118]

So based on a comment I saw on Steve Munro regarding Josh Colle. Rumor is, Rick Leary is working on an exit strategy. Which will have him leave earlier than the planned 2026 when is contract expires.

I would assume Jamaal and Chow is fully aware of this, and is already looking for a replacement. And/or Rick Leary is looking for someone to replace him internally within TTC.

Now a plot twist , Josh Colle becomes the next CEO.

Assuming TTC board and City personal think he should be. There is thinking as who will be the new CEO now and Josh Colie not on the list.

 

[nfitz]

I think this is because of the work at Russell Yard and the fact they have not made much (any?) progress on expanding streetcar parking at Hillcrest which means they are short of overnight parking places for streetcars so decided to keep them in service overnight.

Yes, and also why the other 4 night streetcars are going to every 20 or maybe even 15 minutes.

 

[drum118]

I think this is because of the work at Russell Yard and the fact they have not made much (any?) progress on expanding streetcar parking at Hillcrest which means they are short of overnight parking places for streetcars so decided to keep them in service overnight.

Even if Hillcrest yard exist and Russell is complete, need to run more nighttime car as there is no storage space. Even if you use the Exhibition loop as storage area, you will still be tight for space., This is after all 60 new cars are here as well the 2 missing ones.

 

[nfitz]

Even if Hillcrest yard exist and Russell is complete, need to run more nighttime car as there is no storage space. Even if you use the Exhibition loop as storage area, you will still be tight for space., This is after all 60 new cars are here as well the 2 missing ones.

They must be really desperate for space! There's a couple of 306s already out right now at 6:40 pm!

 

[RapidTransit]

Assuming TTC board and City personal think he should be. There is thinking as who will be the new CEO now and Josh Colie not on the list.

So who's on the list, if Josh Colle is not on it.

And me saying Josh Colle will be the next CEO, I was just kidding.

 

[generalcanada]

The State of Disrepair (III)

In a previous article, I wrote about problems with the TTC’s subway work car fleet that were revealed by a day-long shutdown of Line 2. See The State of Disrepair (II). A series of quest…

stevemunro.ca

biiiig yikes.

 

[T3G]

This is a really tiresome thing to keep hearing about. Everywhere you look these days it seems there's some infrastructure that is wildly behind on maintenance. Transit, roads, bridges, it seems to be the same story everywhere. At this point I would be more surprised to hear about some country where neoliberal rot hasn't extended to critical infrastructure.

 

[crs1026]

This is a really tiresome thing to keep hearing about. Everywhere you look these days it seems there's some infrastructure that is wildly behind on maintenance. Transit, roads, bridges, it seems to be the same story everywhere. At this point I would be more surprised to hear about some country where neoliberal rot hasn't extended to critical infrastructure.

"Neoliberal rot"?......

Pretty low bar for debate when you reduce to that level..

For every neoliberal government ignoring infrastructure upkeep (while spending excessively on other things) there is a neoconservative government ignoring infrastructure upkeep (usually in the name of lower taxation).

The problem is nothing to do with anyone's political philosophy. It's about not wanting to allocate money to unsexy necessities when there are other things that may generate more glory.

- Paul

 

[T3G]

?

I am not aware of the phrase "neoliberal" being in any way partisan. I think it is well established by my posting history here that I'm a pretty left-leaning guy. Reducing infrastructure upkeep and generally promoting austerity is one of the hallmarks of neoliberalism.

A prominent factor in the rise of conservative and right-libertarian organizations, political parties, and think tanks, and predominantly advocated by them,[24][25] neoliberalism is often associated with policies of economic liberalization, including privatization, deregulation, globalization, free trade, monetarism, austerity, and reductions in government spending in order to increase the role of the private sector in the economy and society.[26][27][28][29][30] The neoliberal project is also focused on designing institutions and is political in character rather than only economic.[31][32][33][34]

Neoliberalism - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Don't blame me, I didn't coin the term...

 

[Jonny5]

This is a really tiresome thing to keep hearing about. Everywhere you look these days it seems there's some infrastructure that is wildly behind on maintenance. Transit, roads, bridges, it seems to be the same story everywhere. At this point I would be more surprised to hear about some country where neoliberal rot hasn't extended to critical infrastructure.

Laughing at "these days". Infrastructure gets old and media produce panic stories about it. This is a 1990's Global News special. Children watch and declare it's the fault of The Rich. Old people watch and declare "nothing was ever broken in my day." Both are wrong.

Also, Steve is getting much more histrionic in his golden years.

 

[T3G]

Laughing at "these days". Infrastructure gets old and media produce panic stories about it. This is a 1990's Global News special. Children watch and declare it's the fault of The Rich. Old people watch and declare "nothing was ever broken in my day." Both are wrong.

Also, Steve is getting much more histrionic in his golden years.

Yes, of course infrastructure gets old and wears out. But what is being done about it? Considering what shut down the SRT, and the litany of slow orders that were "discovered" on the subway in the wake of that incident, why should we believe that those in charge have got it all under control? If they had things under control, I would think the SRT would not have shut down in the spectacular way that it did (derailments not being standard practice), and all the slow orders on the subway would have been taken care of long before it got to the point where trains had to run at reduced speeds in the first place.

You say it's not the fault of the Rich (of course, I never laid this result at the feet of the rich generally, but specifically at neoliberal politics that promote austerity). Who's fault is it, then? Please explain at length your theory. What I see is that public institutions like the TTC are routinely, and chronically, underfunded. Did we think nothing was going to happen as a consequence? That without the proper funding we'd be able to keep up proper maintenance standards? What are they supposed to deliver with resources being cut back?

 

[allengeorge]

You say it's not the fault of the Rich (of course, I never laid this result at the feet of the rich generally, but specifically at neoliberal politics that promote austerity). Who's fault is it, then? Please explain at length your theory. What I see is that public institutions like the TTC are routinely, and chronically, underfunded. Did we think nothing was going to happen as a consequence? That without the proper funding we'd be able to keep up proper maintenance standards? What are they supposed to deliver with resources being cut back?

The public routinely votes against taxes, or policies that would increase taxes. We are at fault, both for not critically thinking, and rewarding politicians who cater to that.

FWIW, I think that our path is unsunstainable: we want to have American-level/style taxation with European-level services in a low-growth, uninnovative economy. That’s…not going to work, and clearly hasn’t been working for a while. I think that later generations (Millenials onwards - and I say this as the oldest part of that cohort) are going to have to take massive service and benefit cuts along with increased taxes to pay off our current mistakes.