[nfitz]

I ride the 504 daily and it's quite civilized 99.9% of the time.

506 is pretty fine these days when I'm it - even on the spot where some say it's about 60% or so druggies. Sometimes there is someone asleep at the back. Normally well-behaved - more homeless than addicts.

Of course this isn't new. It's been that way for decades - but with TTC stopping enforcement, it's gotten worse.

It's too pricey to ramp up staffing city wide, but I'd like to see a 6-12 month campaign to greatly increase fare enforcement on all four streetcar routes inside this box between University and Sherbourne. Make it almost guaranteed that you will be caught for non-payment and we'll keep the disruptive folks off the TTC.

At best they ask them politely to get off. They don't fine homeless people. And if they are violent, all they can do is call the police. But if non-violent they don't even call it in.

 

[Richard White]

I was in Prague in October 2023, and I rode plenty of trams outside the city centre. They ran trams on temporary track in road/watermain work areas, something we haven’t done since the 1970s.

If I had to fathom a guess that is because of lawyer playing it safe.

Chances are they don't want to assume liability for a temporary track.

 

[DSCToronto]

In early November I wrote to TTC asking them to look again at the stops on the 501 diversion. I just received this reply. Still no stops between Queen/Church and Yonge but ..


"This email is further to your online report dated November 9, 2024.

Management has responded by saying:

Please thank the customer for their feedback. The initial placement of stops along the new Queen Street Diversion (QSD) routing was designed to balance considerations of service coverage while also allowing our vehicles to operate safely and reliably through the diversion area.

Note, based off raised customers concerns and additional review, work is now underway to install a new stop at Richmond Street West and York Street (nearside) and at York Street and Adelaide Street West (nearside), which will be served by westbound 501 Queen and eastbound 501 Queen streetcars, respectively. Such stops will be formally activated by the end of this month (December 2024). These additions address any outstanding issues with the placement of stops as part of the Queen diversion and increase service coverage through the larger gaps between the existing stops. Existing driveways will provide any accessible connection between our streetcars and the boulevard similar to elsewhere on the system.

Requests for additional stops within the vicinity of Bay street (while considered) were ruled out given the close distance (~100m) to the nearest stops at Yonge Street, making them likely to exacerbate existing reliability concerns for our streetcars travelling through this section of the diversion.

With the addition of these new stops, the stop spacing between the following directions of the diversion are as follows:

Westbound movement

Church/Yonge (~330m) Yonge/York (~400m) York/University (~170m)

Eastbound movement

University/York (~320m) York/Yonge (~550m), Yonge/Church (~520m)

Please thank the customer again for reaching out with their concerns."

 

[Monarch Butterfly]

I was in Prague in October 2023, and I rode plenty of trams outside the city centre. They ran trams on temporary track in road/watermain work areas, something we haven’t done since the 1970s.

They also have double-ended trams. They can put in temporary crossover tracks if needed. Could also run the trams alternating on one set of tracks while working on the other set. In Toronto, we switch to buses to "improve" service, which it doesn't.

 

[T3G]

It's not a zero sum game - even a city like Prague will have bustitutions, if that's what the service design calls for.

Running alternating service on one set of tracks only works to some degree, on less busy routes. If you have a super busy corridor with many routes running through it, you're better off switching to buses.

 

[Monarch Butterfly]

It's not a zero sum game - even a city like Prague will have bustitutions, if that's what the service design calls for.

Running alternating service on one set of tracks only works to some degree, on less busy routes. If you have a super busy corridor with many routes running through it, you're better off switching to buses.

Would help if we had a congestion fee or ban non-residential automobiles in the downtown.

 

[generalcanada]

I know we have beat the e-bike thing to death here, but this is a great interview with the Toronto fire chief about that ebike fire on NYE last year

 

[T3G]

Would help if we had a congestion fee or ban non-residential automobiles in the downtown.

In general, sure.

I fail to see how it would help in this particular scenario, though.

 

[Northern Light]

I know we have beat the e-bike thing to death here, but this is a great interview with the Toronto fire chief about that ebike fire on NYE last year

For those who don't take the time to view.

The interview first off shows video of the explosion from within the subway car and you get a very clear sense of the suddenness and substantial toxic smoke, which appears with great speed.

Then the discussion veers to Toronto Fire's investigation.

While they were unable to discern a definitive cause of the device failure........they noted.

1) The manufacturer advised that this device was not to be used in winter (it was)

2) The manufacturer advised this device was not to be used for commercial purposes (it was) (food delivery)

3) The Battery was not certified.

4) The Battery contained a courtesy charger (that you could use through USB to charge your phone). This was deemed to be a high risk point of entry to the battery for water and/or road salt, and very high risk.

***

TFS Deputy chief comes away w/the strong view that all batteries should be subject to mandatory certification for sale in North America (or at least Canada) and clearly is not enthused by courtesy USB charging ports as a design feature.

The fact that bike/battery was used contrary to manufacturer instructions, one of which was 'No winter use' is why the TTC ban for now is winter, as this was deemed a higher-risk period.

 

[Steve X]

It's not a zero sum game - even a city like Prague will have bustitutions, if that's what the service design calls for.

Running alternating service on one set of tracks only works to some degree, on less busy routes. If you have a super busy corridor with many routes running through it, you're better off switching to buses.

I also think those temporary tracks will wear too quickly with the weight of those super heavy Flexity's.

2) The manufacturer advised this device was not to be used for commercial purposes (it was) (food delivery)

The problem with the use for commercial purposes is the daily wear and tear that would occur on the device with barely any maintenance. The device is bound to break in a shorter lifespan than for leisure time purposes. The device being unregulated clearly doesn't help.

 

[Coolibop]

For those who don't take the time to view.

The interview first off shows video of the explosion from within the subway car and you get a very clear sense of the suddenness and substantial toxic smoke, which appears with great speed.

Then the discussion veers to Toronto Fire's investigation.

While they were unable to discern a definitive cause of the device failure........they noted.

1) The manufacturer advised that this device was not to be used in winter (it was)

2) The manufacturer advised this device was not to be used for commercial purposes (it was) (food delivery)

3) The Battery was not certified.

4) The Battery contained a courtesy charger (that you could use through USB to charge your phone). This was deemed to be a high risk point of entry to the battery for water and/or road salt, and very high risk.

***

TFS Deputy chief comes away w/the strong view that all batteries should be subject to mandatory certification for sale in North America (or at least Canada) and clearly is not enthused by courtesy USB charging ports as a design feature.

The fact that bike/battery was used contrary to manufacturer instructions, one of which was 'No winter use' is why the TTC ban for now is winter, as this was deemed a higher-risk period.

Again (hopefully our discussion won't be deleted without notice this time), while the risk for water/salt ingress in winter is indeed greater, this does not eliminate the possibility of battery failure at other times of the year (As Councillor Saxe highlighted in a board meeting last year)... Corrosion can take months to manifest to a point of failure, hence, strict market controls should be implemented as soon as possible.

The issue lies in the construction of the batteries. There are numerous certified batteries on the market without a 'no winter' clause and featuring additional external charge ports, which are sometimes fully exposed to the elements (e.g., e-motorcycles, mobility scooters). I have not seen evidence suggesting these certified products (designed to withstand the elements) pose significant concerns.

As an additional challenge, I take it those using e-bikes the most on transit are delivery couriers who tend to be price sensitive and are at a higher risk of opting for cheaper (and potentially more dangerous) products.

 

[Coolibop]

The problem with the use for commercial purposes is the daily wear and tear that would occur on the device with barely any maintenance. The device is bound to break in a shorter lifespan than for leisure time purposes.

We should not be allowing battery packs from manufacturers (on transit) with such liability clauses: how someone uses it should be irrelevant when it comes to safety.

By default, batteries should be built with rigorous standards so how it is used (e.g. varying weather, amount of use) is a non-issue.

 

[TTCdinosaur]

Do you think the TTC will get more or less funding after we become the 51st state?

 

[T3G]

I think if we become the 51st state, we are going to have far more pressing issues at hand than transit funding!

 

[ARG1]

Would help if we had a congestion fee or ban non-residential automobiles in the downtown.

Would help if we had a decent enough transit network that didn't suffer from slow zones, or a regional rail network that still didn't run hourly headways on routes not called Lakeshore. Sure we're on our way to get there, but any discussion on congestion charges like the one in NYC should be dismissed until at least all of our current ongoing projects are completed.