Transit City Plan

[nfitz]

If Toronto gets the Pam Am Games for 2015, a lot of Transit City will be put on the fast track for completion by 2015.

I've heard whisperings that money might appear for the Morningside line ... but Sheppard East, Finch, and the SRT extension are already scheduled for completion by 2015. I don't see how Eglinton has much benefit given the location of the venues ...

 

[Eug]

I've heard whisperings that money might appear for the Morningside line ... but Sheppard East, Finch, and the SRT extension are already scheduled for completion by 2015. I don't see how Eglinton has much benefit given the location of the venues ...

Where are the proposed venues?

 

[nfitz]

Where are the proposed venues?

Well, there's a bad figure at: http://www.toronto2015.org/wp-content/themes/default/documents/VenueFlyer_E.pdf

But in Toronto: Rogers Centre, Ontario Place, Exhibition Place, Roy Thomson Hall, Nathan Phillip Square, Royal Canadian Yacht Club, Varsity Stadium, Ryerson, York U, U T Scarborough, Centennial Park (Eglinton LRT would be useful for that), Sunnybrook Park (again, Eglinton LRT would be useful ... but how much of an audience does archery get?).

 

[W. K. Lis]

From Seattle Transit Blog:

Here’s an excellent video presentation of the Paris Tramway line T3 from concept to reality. From the computer renderings, stages of construction, before and after construction scenes, delivery of the trams, to the finished product, it ends with a time-lapse cab view test ride on the line.

Direct ink to the 13m 21s video.

The 7.9 km, 17 station line runs along a peripheral boulevard on the southern edge of Paris proper. The line began construction in 2003 and opened in 2006 at a cost of 311 million euros ($400 million US at 2006 rates). It took away 2 traffic lanes from the boulevard and replaced one of the busiest bus routes in Paris. It currently carries 100,000 riders every weekday at an average speed of 18 km/h (target 20 km/h) with trains running every 4 minutes during peak hours. Trains get signal priority. The RATP expects to reduce traffic on the boulevard by 25%. Parks, cycle tracks, public art, and a grassed trackway help the tram integrate well into the urban fabric.

They use grass on Paris' LRT, unlike Toronto because of NIMBY objections, who rather have concrete for the fire trucks and left turn lanes instead of sidewalks.

 

[lead82]

Ah if we only had the ROW widths that Paris's boulevards have. Most of the main roads in Europe are a lot wider than our arterials, mainly due to generous setbacks of buildings and wide sidewalks and space for trees. Our arterials feel very cramped with everything being squished together.

Look at the width of those LRT platforms, will Transit City have such wide platforms? I think not, 3m width for platforms is what is being proposed. IMO it should be at least 5m, but there isn't room for that unfortunately.

I noticed that the Paris LRT sometimes turns away from the road and enters a ROW next to the road, this is something that could be done along Eglinton, but the TTC seems to not want to do this for the stretches that could allow for it.

Also, if we could only get the true signal priority of Paris, our TC network may be quite good.

I'm excited about getting the shovels in the ground next year.

 

[waterloowarrior]

Looks like Paris built segregated bikeways when they were redoing the street. Too bad Toronto is just putting painted bike lines on the road, they're missing a big opportunity, especially on roads like Eglinton.

The configuration of the segregated bike lanes is kind of interesting... near some of the station the bike lanes go onto the road, probably because there isn't enough room in the ROW. The lanes are clearly marked, and even seems to have special signals (maybe they get to the end of the lane, press the button, and use it like a bike box to get into position for the short on-road stretch) , Once they are past the station they get back onto the segregated path. It doesn't happen at every station, maybe just ones where there wasn't enough ROW.

I also like the shared bike/pedestrian crossings symbols they use on the pavement.

 

[W. K. Lis]

I like how Paris used prefabbed tracks for the intersections. The tracks, ties, supports, and concrete are assembled off-site. The intersection is dug up and the prefabbed tracks are dropped into place. The rest of the right-of-way built almost the same as how the TTC would do it, except for the grass and sprinklers.

 

[EnviroTO]

I like their construction methods. It looks like they have even more ribbon cutting in Paris than they do here. First shovel, last weld, first tree, and grand opening!! Would be nice if Transit City went for grass medians as well. It wouldn't necessarily mean no emergency vehicles as I have seen grass used on busways as well.

 

[GTS]

Great pictures of the Paris tramway, I was hoping to see a shot of how the tram and the Metro interface. That is something that I hope Toronto continues to do well with the different Transit City lines. Union station has good interchanges with two streetcar lines and so does Spadina station.

This is one thing that I have noticed about the TTC since moving here 4 yrs ago is the design of the bus/subway stations. They really make transferring easy for me who used to be a newcomer. Vancouver's bus/skytrain station aren't nearly as convenient to transfer from bus to train as a lot of TO stations are.

I like the grass as well on the Paris line. Hope to see it in person one day.

 

[k10ery]

Would be nice if Transit City went for grass medians as well. It wouldn't necessarily mean no emergency vehicles as I have seen grass used on busways as well.

Not TC perhaps, but is grass not still part of the plan for Queen's Quay revitalization? It's in the West 8 rendering that was still being used in news stories last week.

 

[Whoaccio]

They use grass on Paris' LRT, unlike Toronto because of NIMBY objections, who rather have concrete for the fire trucks and left turn lanes instead of sidewalks.

Is that really NIMBYism? I mean, presumably people oppose grass tracks because they want emergency vehicles in their back yard.

 

[waterloowarrior]

Great pictures of the Paris tramway, I was hoping to see a shot of how the tram and the Metro interface. That is something that I hope Toronto continues to do well with the different Transit City lines. Union station has good interchanges with two streetcar lines and so does Spadina station.

This is one thing that I have noticed about the TTC since moving here 4 yrs ago is the design of the bus/subway stations. They really make transferring easy for me who used to be a newcomer. Vancouver's bus/skytrain station aren't nearly as convenient to transfer from bus to train as a lot of TO stations are.

I like the grass as well on the Paris line. Hope to see it in person one day.

Here's a couple of examples
http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=q&sour...id=r-PAjDy_bqJ3imOzMS4Tkg&cbp=12,0.41,,0,2.37

http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=q&sour...d=vE2Tf_341ourcW3BqBlMSA&cbp=12,101.12,,0,2.3

 

[villager]

etobicke street car

I would appreciate any info regarding a proposed replacement of street car line to Park Lawn/Lakeshore with a new train. There are some nice condos being built there and there was mention of the province awarding a contract to Bombardier awhile ago but I have not heard anymore about it.

 

[Northern Light]

Lakeshore LRT

The Bombardier Contract is unrelated to Lakeshore, it was awarded by the City of Toronto for replacement streetcars, some of which will ultimately show up on Lakeshore I'm sure, but that's not related to the route or track.

In terms of timing, the new Streetcars begin production delivery in 2013 and arrive at about 30'some per year till 2018, so you will see new streetcars somewhere in there.

In terms of the longer term move to convert Lakeshore to full LRT, the current proposals say 2016, but its likely to be a bit later.

There was a proposal to work on the just the section from Humber to Parklawn, in conjunction with a new Park Lawn Loop.

This was originally planned for this year. It has been deferred due to cost; and may or may not happen before the whole route is upgraded in 2016 or later.

 

[W. K. Lis]

From page iii of the Scarborough Malvern LRT EA report's Executive Summary, from the website:

Typical 36.0 m cross-sections along the Scarborough-Malvern corridor were developed for both mid-block sections and at intersections. Typically, the LRT alignment is located in the middle of the corridor with a 150 mm high median to separate LRT traffic and general traffic between traffic signals. At intersections, the track will be at the same elevation as the crossing road. Light rail vehicles (LRVs) will be operating on standard
TTC gauge embedded track. The proposed system will be double-tracked throughout, providing a separate track for each direction. Generally, a cross-section of at-grade double track for an LRT alignment requires 7.4 m. The minimum vertical clearance is approximately 4.0 m from top of rail. Crossovers will be provided at designated locations for special LRT operations to allow trains to cross to the opposite track.

And again, from page 31 of Part 3:

Light rail vehicles (LRVs) will be operating on TTC rail gauge embedded track. The proposed system will be double-tracked throughout, providing a separate track for each direction. Generally, a cross-section of at grade double tracks for the LRT alignment requires a 7.4 m right-of-way. The minimum vertical clearance is approximately 4.0 m from top of rail. Crossovers to allow trains to cross from the opposite tracks will be provided at strategic locations for LRT operations at specific locations.

Looks like TTC track gauge for Transit City.