Recent content by Rainforest

I will not attempt to predict the future; thing are changing too quickly these days, and events that would be deemed impossible just recently, actually take place. However, I think you underestimate the similarities. At the beginning of the Civil War, the U.S. population was about 32 million...

Should the residents / voters always sacrifice their convenience for the sake of "city building"? Creating something that looks like a paradise for urbanists, but does not really make life better for the majority of residents.

It is true that he is a symptom of deep underlying problems, that will not disappear magically when his term ends. That said, his choice to engage in a loud public quarrel with Canada is a reflection of his personality, rather than a part of any long-term strategy. Hard to predict the future...

The drop in the US travel is temporary. The orange haired nuisance will be gone long before any airport plans are implemented. My instinct is to keep the airport as is, operating on a limited scale, but not to proceed with the expansion plans. A small, functional airport actually makes the...

Good transit priority will help in any scenario, but there is one restriction. An absolute priority for the LRT at major intersections would not only mess up the general cross traffic, it would mess up busy bus routes like Jane, Islington, Kipling. LRT riders benefit, bus riders suffer from...

Regarding the stop spacing, we don't really know what the majority of local riders prefer. A rapid line with a wide stop spacing, and a long walk to a stop for many residents. Or, a line with closer stop spacing, shorter walks, but running slower because of that. Maybe, a poll amongst the...

Well let's what the improved TSP can achieve. And once the TSP-driven improvements reach the practical limit, I guess the next issue to look at is the Alstrom car design and their acceleration profile. If they are considerably worse than the cars purchaced for Line 5, then maybe the Alstrom...

TTC strikes are not that frequent to design the transit operations around avoiding the strikes. But even looking from that angle: it is likely that the people who operate the control centre will be in the same union as the drivers. If the union goes on strike, then the control centre will be on...

The rich can be replaced, too. Once sophisticated robots win their person and property rights, they will outsmart human investors in their business decisions. "Old money" will repeat the fate of medieval landowners .. family history etc, but not much relevance. Edit: Actually, not even sure...

I wouldn't be so sure. They still have a control centre with personnel, right?

It is true that automated lines incur lower labour costs. And, perhaps we should pay a bit more attention to that component when designing the future lines. That said, the saving in labour cost will be relatively small in comparison with the total Line 5 operating cost, and even smaller...

I agree that rebuilding the line is a bad idea, and should not happen. However, artificially splitting the line is another bad idea. The new "transfer" station, initially not designed as a transfer station, will become a bottleneck. If you only have one platform for each of the two half-lines...

The planners and the politicians do not talk to each other directly. Responsibility for that coordination rests with the high-level managers at Metrolinx, TTC, or the City's Transportation Department. The planners have to perform the modeling and produce the best results based on their...

The track connection between the Yonge line and Sheppard is for non-revenue moves only. It was never meant to enable any kind of service interlining. With Sheppard being a short stubway and having no yard on its own, that track connection lets the Sheppard trains enter the service in the...

Still not a great design overall. With the amount of money spent, should have added 20% more and build a high-capacity subway line. Not needing that capacity today, or even 15 years from now? True, but what about 50 or 70 years from now. It will be quite hard to boost the capacity even then...