EnviroTO
Senior Member
I wouldn't be surprised if 50% of the cars blocking the streetcar are Ubers. Ubers make taxi drivers look like saints.
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SubHuman
Active Member
Maybe there should be a transit corridor (a real one, with bus-only lanes) for express buses going through to downtown that would act as a temporary surface downtown relief line, at least during rush hours, for the next 10+ years until the Ontario Line is finished.
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TTCdinosaur
Active Member
Really? I wonder. Living on King (at least on the east side), it seem it is mostly:
- pick-up trunks (who don't care about anything)
- service trucks
- couples/carpoolers with mouths agape trying to get to the mall
- cabbies
I'm sure some Ubers too.
King hasn't run consistently for most of this year. A portion has always been closed or replaced by buses for a while - it's taught people a few behaviours: i) it is unreliable and ii) it is not a priority corridor because keeping it running consistently hasn't been a priority.
Mount Dennis Resident
Active Member
Mount Dennis Resident
Active Member
Make Streetcars King Again!
afransen
Senior Member
On the cul de sac idea, I'm not sure all of those side streets are wide enough for a cul de sac radius. Typical diameter is a minimum of 40ft in a 50 ft ROW.
CapitalSeven
Senior Member
The Toronto Star story on the King Car - it took 79 minutes from Bathurst to Jarvis - is sad. Olivia Chow's next project has to be getting downtown back under control. The TTC management needs firing last year, and she should appoint a streetcar czar from outside to shake things up.
nfitz
Superstar
That was an interesting read. Though the time for the streetcar passenger is perhaps a bit longer than reality, given that if the driver was warning they were going to be stuck in the line of streetcars for half-an-hour, all the passengers left, and some would have gotten on a much earlier streetcar ahead.
Clearly something needs to be done. It will be interesting to see what happens the week after next when they fully close Adelaide for the week.
Northern Light
Superstar
Agreed.
We already have one of those...........now whether her job performance is satisfactory....
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I don't think we need to make this complicated. Simply close 2 sections of ~2 blocks of King to cars entirely, making it a completely impractical cross-town route for the
car.
Simcoe-Widmer can be closed to cars; (with Forma under construction, we might want to make it Duncan to Widmer initially.
This works really well as its adjacent to David Pecault square, to a future public square at John, and in front of the Royal Alex, The Princess of Wales and TIFF.
Its also in front of the King st. Restaurant row west of John which would then have significant new patio space and streetscaping.
Then do the short block from Yonge to Victoria.
The beauty here is that this plan blocks no access to parking garages but should make King unpalatable for most motorists.
Elsewise, just enforce the damned rules, with automatic cameras where possible.
Admiral Beez
Superstar
The challenge is that this city believes that signs, paint, cameras and fines are sufficient to control driver behaviour. If we want to keep cars off King, we need to make it not possible to use King. This means retractable bollards.
Northern Light
Superstar
As I've discussed elsewhere, retractable bollards in a high road salt environment is highly dubious.
The utilities under large chunks of King, not to mention 2 subway station structures also complicate matters.
Thing is, its not illegal to drive on King now; its generally illegal to go from the nearside of an intersection to the far side.
You're suppose to travel for no more than a couple of blocks (local access) then exit right.
Bollards don't work for this framework.
I do agree with the keeping cars off King, where feasible. That's why I suggested as much for the 2 sections above. Other sections may have more challenges.
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Also, we don't do any camera enforcement of the rules on King so far as I'm aware.
Repeated fines; I expect, would be a deterrent.
Where a ticket once every other year is not.
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nfitz
Superstar
Lots that can be done before expensive and complicated issues like bollards. Like much clearer signage, impediments to vehicles staying on the tracks, where there's no vehicles. Concrete curbs that deflect traffic in the curb lane to turn.
However, the biggest problem currently seems to be that north-south vehicles are blocking east-west vehicles. Bollards will not solve this.
evandyk
Senior Member
The streetcar isn't working very well from Peter to Yonge, but it normally wouldn't take 79 minutes even in rush hour. More like 30 would be normal, which still makes it slower than walking.
I don't think it would normally take an hour to drive either. But I'd never be dumb enough to try!
I don't think it would normally take an hour to drive either. But I'd never be dumb enough to try!
Mount Dennis Resident
Active Member
Return to using cobblestones between the streetcar tracks. Tells motorists that they do not belong on the streetcar tracks.