unimaginative2
Senior Member
Streetcars to lose meddlesome middle pole
JEFF GRAY
November 3, 2007
It is the bane of many streetcar riders, especially those brave ones trying to get a stroller and a child up the steps: the maddening pole bolted right in the middle of the vehicle's entrance.
Now, it is on its way out.
Turns out the pole and obstructive gate-like structure at the top of the stairs - originally meant to force riders to board single-file so everyone paid their fare - is no longer needed.
A test vehicle has been operating without the pole or the gate for the past month without any negative effects, so the transit agency now plans to alter the rest of the fleet.
"It's like a stone in your shoe ... and it just bugs you and you can't get it out," said Toronto Transit Commission vice-chairman Joe Mihevc, who originally introduced a motion in July asking agency staff to look into removing the nuisance. "And now we're getting it out."
While it will be at least a decade before a new fleet of modern light-rail vehicles make the streetcar system truly accessible to everyone, removing this pole - called a stanchion - will make boarding the current streetcars less of a bother.
"Anyone who rides a streetcar knows how crazy-making these stanchions are," Mr. Mihevc said in an interview. "They are people-unfriendly, and certainly anybody with a baby carriage or a stroller finds them impossible."
Mr. Mihevc said concerns about fare evasion have decreased as the sale of Metropasses has dramatically increased, with 250,000 of the monthly passes in circulation.
JEFF GRAY
November 3, 2007
It is the bane of many streetcar riders, especially those brave ones trying to get a stroller and a child up the steps: the maddening pole bolted right in the middle of the vehicle's entrance.
Now, it is on its way out.
Turns out the pole and obstructive gate-like structure at the top of the stairs - originally meant to force riders to board single-file so everyone paid their fare - is no longer needed.
A test vehicle has been operating without the pole or the gate for the past month without any negative effects, so the transit agency now plans to alter the rest of the fleet.
"It's like a stone in your shoe ... and it just bugs you and you can't get it out," said Toronto Transit Commission vice-chairman Joe Mihevc, who originally introduced a motion in July asking agency staff to look into removing the nuisance. "And now we're getting it out."
While it will be at least a decade before a new fleet of modern light-rail vehicles make the streetcar system truly accessible to everyone, removing this pole - called a stanchion - will make boarding the current streetcars less of a bother.
"Anyone who rides a streetcar knows how crazy-making these stanchions are," Mr. Mihevc said in an interview. "They are people-unfriendly, and certainly anybody with a baby carriage or a stroller finds them impossible."
Mr. Mihevc said concerns about fare evasion have decreased as the sale of Metropasses has dramatically increased, with 250,000 of the monthly passes in circulation.
