King Street (Streetcar Transit Priority)

[steveintoronto]

They don't need to spend millions on an operations center for a quick fix. Just 6 people working diligently. Ideally with a smart city (lights, etc) eventually it becomes more high-tech but we need something now.

A control system would certainly not be a "quick fix". It will take years to install, but I see no sign of the present capability of the extended green traffic light for streetcars at intersections being in operation in the meantime.

A slew of inspectors might help, but can't do anything like a CBTC and integrated vehicular traffic control system would. A sophisticated control system would buffer speed up or down to arrive at lights at a predetermined and optimal time. To do otherwise is to invite bunching, which is exactly what is happening now. Adding more streetcars actually promotes that unless that added capacity is flow controlled.

There is a marked lack of 'overseers' along the line, doubtless, and to blame the TTC alone is misplaced. City Transportation is as much or more to blame on this as the TTC. And the ones who really have to shoulder the blame sit in Council.

Toronto is at its level of incompetence in many ways. And the King Street Pilot is one of the most glaring examples. Right concept implemented by troglodytes. Just the budget alone is indicative of how out-to-lunch Council is. $1.5M.

 

[steveintoronto]

They should allow egress from the new streetcars at the near side because of a red light, IF they press the button to open the doors on the inside of the streetcars. Don't know if they can override the outside buttons, to prevent boarding. Probably not.

I actually think that can easily be done. If it's not a function available now, it can be programmed into the CPU for that operation.

Perhaps a poster availed with the programming parameters for the Flexity could answer that? The more I think about it, the more it would be remiss if that option isn't already available for going out of service, or emergencies, let alone flow management.

The concern would be detraining passengers into a right turn lane though, and aggressive motorists failing to stop.

 

[W. K. Lis]

Failing that, the far side stops should allow two Flexities to board/exit. This kind of bunching shouldn't happen, but until some intelligent line sensing system is installed, bunching is unavoidable.

Addendum: Just walking past Dundas West station, and I'm reminded that bunching is not only causing major issues in the core, it is at the terminals. Dundas West can only stack one CLRV and one Flexity before the next Flexity has to wait on Dundas south of Bloor, or worse, north of Bloor, either way blocking traffic at a very stressed intersection.

Steve Munro and others have pointed out similar for Broadview Station, and elsewhere along the line.

Bottom line is the need for a control system to set headway and dispatch departure and arrival time, and control the traffic lights and establishing priority when needed. This has been proven time and again in other progressive cities. It's needed here, probably even more than the King clearway itself.

I'd say the success or not of the King Pilot depends on it.

They should have a unique transit traffic signal at Dundas Street West & Bloor Street West, and at any other streetcar routes where there could be streetcar backups. Give the streetcar the go ahead to move (even independently of any other traffic signal) or tell the streetcar to hold until the way is clear.

From link.

 

[steveintoronto]

^ All possible under the Pilot section of the HTA and the City/TTC having an intelligent traffic management/dispatch/control system.

 

[A Torontonian Now]

When the pilot was introduced, I promised to keep taking some shots of the King/University stop from my vantage point, and then neglected to do so. Hopefully these ones from today help to make it up.

Over the course of about 10 minutes, I managed to capture the trifecta: a CLRV, ALRV and a Flexity:

 

[steveintoronto]

Steve Munro's latest installment on his highly detailed examination of the King Street Pilot is now up:

APRIL 11, 2018 BY STEVE
King Street Update: March 2018 Data (Part II)

The King Street Pilot project is well regarded for the improvement in travel times it brought to transit riders, and for the large jump in ridership on the route. In past articles, I have reviewed the statistics for travel times, but another important aspect is the reliability of headways – the intervals between streetcars. Early results showed a distinct improvement, but this has not been sustained. Moreover, headway reliability outside of the pilot area remains quite erratic, especially near the terminals.

This brings us to the TTC’s assertion that if only the service would depart on time from the ends of its many routes, the problem of irregular service in the middle would look after itself. This is a completely bogus claim on two counts. First off, erratic service at terminals is the norm, and regularly spaced departures usually depend on hands-on service management by supervisors on the street. Second, service has a fair latitude to be considered “on time”, and even with this leeway, gaps and bunches quickly form that exceed TTC targets.

In theory, if travel times are more consistent thanks to the pilot (or any other transit-supportive changes), then it should be easier to keep service properly spaced. Reality is somewhat different from theory.

This article examines headway behaviour at Yonge Street for the 504 King car, as well as the combined service of the King and 514 Cherry cars. Although these are thought of as “blended” services, like all branching TTC routes, there is no co-ordination between the two routes and the Cherry cars fill gaps in the King service by accident, not by design. Beyond the limits of the Cherry cars (Sumach in the east, Dufferin in the west), the King service is as erratic after the pilot’s introduction as it was before.

Also included is a review of 514 Cherry service on the outer ends of the route. Only recently has the service to Distillery and Dufferin Loops become more reliable and the improvement has more to do with revised schedules than with the King Street Pilot.
[...]

King Street Update: March 2018 Data (Part II)

 

[DSC]

Nearly 5,000 tickets issued on King St. during pilot project, police say
4,559 tickets have been issued for ‘proceed contrary to signage’ since project began Nov. 12.
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/20...-king-st-during-pilot-project-police-say.html

 

[W. K. Lis]

Nearly 5,000 tickets issued on King St. during pilot project, police say
4,559 tickets have been issued for ‘proceed contrary to signage’ since project began Nov. 12.
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/20...-king-st-during-pilot-project-police-say.html

Too bad there would be no notes on how many passengers in the each vehicle caught. I would estimate "zero", not counting the driver.

 

[steveintoronto]

Don't overlook the most telling aspect:

That’s an increase of almost 1,400 total tickets since the last update on the pilot project on April 6.

So much for those posters claiming: "It's just a pilot, and compliance will increase once people get used to it".

Well guess what...it's going the other way. Huge surprise there...

 

[nfitz]

So much for those posters claiming: "It's just a pilot, and compliance will increase once people get used to it".

I'm on King every day, and there are far less private cars there than there used to be. They aren't creating the gridlock they used to.

What do you see when you are walking down King?

 

[steveintoronto]

What do you see when you are walking down King?

A litany of cars ignoring the law. And the stats buttress that impression.
What do you see? Bangles and butterflies?

 

[Leo_Chan]

A litany of cars ignoring the law. And the stats buttress that impression.
What do you see? Bangles and butterflies?

1 car ignoring the law every minute is better that 8 cars stuck in the intersection.

 

[JamesKoole]

All the King intersections were gridlocked today. No enforcement at all at Spadina for cars blocking King that enter the instersection and can’t clear before the light turns red. Streetcars were lined up eastbound and it was ten minutes to get through.

Same thing at Yonge and then again at Jarvis.

 

[felix123]

A litany of cars ignoring the law. And the stats buttress that impression.
What do you see? Bangles and butterflies?

It's always going to be difficult to appeal to the forum with a pessimistic viewpoint. Yes, legislation for traffic cameras, or better yet, turning King into a transit mall will ultimately be needed, but isn't it at least good news that the police are still handing out a significant number of tickets? I had heard that the cops had become lax with the pilot - it appears that they have not.

 

[steveintoronto]

It's always going to be difficult to appeal to the forum with a pessimistic viewpoint. Yes, legislation for traffic cameras, or better yet, turning King into a transit mall will ultimately be needed, but isn't it at least good news that the police are still handing out a significant number of tickets? I had heard that the cops had become lax with the pilot - it appears that they have not.

Number of cops doing enforcement is down by their own press release, and yet issued infractions have climbed markedly with this latest release.

Got a theory besides increasing rate of non-compliance?