TTC: Other Items (catch all)

[Richard White]

Map image showing all the slow orders on the subway system: (red)

View attachment 540129

Source/Credit:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1756425238319898696

Steve Munro is also a little cheesed about this.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1757027806343487684

You can likely add the stretch of Line 2 from around Ossington to Jane as well. They seem to have slow orders there every morning recently.

As Steve so eloquently put it, this only cropped up after Line 3 derailed and people did a deeper inspection of the existing track. It makes you wonder how much SOGR funding was cut to make the budget more palatable.

It is pretty sad that it takes a major incident for things to actually be fixed. Can you imagine what would happen if Line 1 train had an incident as St George or Union during rush hour?

 

[dowlingm]

Map image showing all the slow orders on the subway system: (red)

View attachment 540129

Source/Credit:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1756425238319898696

As of Friday this was not accurate for Bloor-Rosedale NB, at least from passenger perspective. Once past Rosedale things sped up until the approach to St Clair. Will be interesting to see how it looks today.

 

[chrisw]

The TTC said it is also shutting down Line 1 early at 11 p.m. nightly on multiple days this week and next to perform track work related to these reduced speed zones.

From CTV.

 

[DSC]

From CTV.

Yes, this was discussed above somewhere, by Steve Munro https://stevemunro.ca/2024/02/06/subway-and-streetcar-major-works-and-closures-2024/#more-59195 and on TTC website. https://www.ttc.ca/service-advisories/subway-service#e=0 It is a mixture of things including trackwork and station finishes.

 

[leslievillecyclist]

Despite the change in listed RSZs in the last week, I've noticed no actual change in where Line 1 or 2 have slowed. Despite not being listed anymore, the subway still crawls at just above walking speed from Bloor-Yonge to Rosedale. North of that it is much faster, especially north of Eglinton despite that now being listed as a RSZ.

 

[chrisw]

Improving the journey, reducing subway speed restrictions

www.ttc.ca

The TTC today advised customers of progress in lifting speed restrictions along sections of track on Line 1 Yonge-University and Line 2 Bloor-Danforth. Overnight, crews made significant progress by returning more than 2,700 metres of track to normal speeds, including a section of track between Spadina and Museum station, improving customer experience and reducing travel time.

Over the coming week, normal train speeds will resume along various portions of Line 1 and Line 2. On Line 1, normal speeds will be restored between:

• Vaughan Metropolitan Centre and Highway 407 stations,
• College to Wellesley,
• York Mills to Sheppard, and
• North York Centre to Finch stations.

On Line 2, normal speeds will resume between:

• Royal York and Jane stations, and
• Victoria Park to Warden Stations.

Customers can expect to see a return to normal speeds from Bloor to Rosedale stations, St Clair to Davisville, and all remaining portions of Line 1 in the downtown U by the first week of March.

At reduced speeds, trains are moving at between 15 and 25 km/h, compared to normal speeds of 40 to 50 km/h. With the completion of the track replacement work, commuters can expect a significant improvement in train speeds, resulting in faster and more reliable trip times.

In January, following a comprehensive geometry survey, the TTC identified several state-of-good-repair needs along sections of track approaching their expected end of life. The track replacement work currently underway aims to address these needs and ensure the continued safety and reliability of the subway system.

Tues., Feb. 20, through Fri., Feb. 23, subway service on the portion of Line 1 Yonge-University between St Clair West and King Stations will end nightly at 11 p.m., in order to facilitate the necessary track work.

 

[Northern Light]

The TTC agenda is up.........

On said agenda, one will find a report requested by Council looking at options for the TTC to provide free access to schools on field trips, as well as free presto cards to groups who could distribute these to low-income high school students.

The Report examines these options, generally unfavourably, and also looks at the cost implications of making service free to all High School aged students in the off-peak.

****

I don't support free service for this age cohort as I don't think its where the greatest needs lie, and its also another cumbersome exception to normative fare policy. ......... but I digress.

What caught my attention was actually a graphic showing how many routes are over 100% capacity at mid-day now........

Yes, you're running at 95% of pre-pandemic capacity with materially fewer riders........... ... uhhh, above says different.

Oh, and the implications of free service for HS aged youth is below:

***

While I agree w/the 'subtle' hint from the TTC that this is a bad idea.................

Reading the report gives me indigestion all the same, as it reads as "Change is hard, more riders are a hassle, do we really have to earn our pay"

This may not be the right change, but more riders are desirable and until the TTC stops seeing riders as a burden, its problems will never abate.

 

[Northern Light]

A report on the Dundas renaming business is also up on the next agenda of the TTC. This is because the City doesn't actually have the direct authority to change the names of TTC property and must 'request' such from the Commission.

Of course, the City as the primary funder of the TTC has some pretty large heft when it makes requests.

Report Link here:

https://cdn.ttc.ca/-/media/Project/TTC/DevProto/Documents/Home/Public-Meetings/Board/2024/February-22/8_City_Council_Transmittal_MM1329_Renaming_Dundas.pdf?rev=4538726d868f44a8804fc7f11d37c80b&hash=AA3839C662679EB8C44CF57639405216

Substance below:

 

[Northern Light]

From the CEO's Report on the agenda of the next meeting of the TTC, linked below:

https://cdn.ttc.ca/-/media/Project/TTC/DevProto/Documents/Home/Public-Meetings/Board/2024/February-22/1_CEO_Report_February_2024_1.pdf?rev=b9f7659e494e42e29024ae0b80765d5d&hash=DF59B0AB3F0A6F795095B6556102D212

We get this service tidbit:

 

[Amare]

The TTC agenda is up.........

On said agenda, one will find a report requested by Council looking at options for the TTC to provide free access to schools on field trips, as well as free presto cards to groups who could distribute these to low-income high school students.

The Report examines these options, generally unfavourably, and also looks at the cost implications of making service free to all High School aged students in the off-peak.

****

I don't support free service for this age cohort as I don't think its where the greatest needs lie, and its also another cumbersome exception to normative fare policy. ......... but I digress.

What caught my attention was actually a graphic showing how many routes are over 100% capacity at mid-day now........

View attachment 540932
Yes, you're running at 95% of pre-pandemic capacity with materially fewer riders........... ... uhhh, above says different.

Oh, and the implications of free service for HS aged youth is below:

View attachment 540933

***

While I agree w/the 'subtle' hint from the TTC that this is a bad idea.................

Reading the report gives me indigestion all the same, as it reads as "Change is hard, more riders are a hassle, do we really have to earn our pay"

This may not be the right change, but more riders are desirable and until the TTC stops seeing riders as a burden, its problems will never abate.

Nice find as always @Northern Light

Honestly the free field trip rides and free rides to high school students off-peak are both non-starters to me, it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. They both dont have any material benefit asides from taking up additional capacity on the system, at points of time where the system is already over-capacity (*cough such as during the mid-day period where the TTC outright admits there's a huge swath of the system is already over capacity*). So why even look into policies that would just further exasperate the problem of adding riders to the system where there are dozens of routes which are overcapacity, and jamming them onto various routes?

It's not like either policy is going to create some kind of modal change for these riders in the future. All in all, this would be a highly policy idiotic implementation and i'd be vehemently against both.

As for the heat map of mid-day overcapacity routes, the problem is definitely bad to the point where it seems like it's rush hour on certain routes, when in reality it isn't. Which makes it even all the more puzzling why the TTC has been cutting service on some of these very same corridors during the mid-day period.

 

[Northern Light]

Nice find as always @Northern Light

Thanks.

Steve Munro picked up on it too:

Overcrowding on TTC Bus Routes

An ongoing issue with TTC service levels is that TTC claims about crowding do not always appear to align with rider experiences. The TTC Board’s February 22 agenda includes a report about pro…

stevemunro.ca

I had a look at additional info he posted, and when you compare pre-pandemic regular service to today's regular service (February '24), it does not add up to 95% even if you didn't factor in the portion of those hours devoted to SRT replacement, and even if you didn't factor in that the TTC misleadingly counts 1 hour of bus service as identical to 1 hour of subway service when they produce that number.

Except one vehicle holds ~40 people and the other over ~1,000

Ummmm, ummmmm

 

[T3G]

Free rides for schools on field trips is an insane proposal. What membrane of unreality do these people come from?

As far as the overcrowding issue goes, one of the worst routes I've been on recently is the 123 on weekends. That route could easily justify artics. The route runs from Kipling to Sherway absolutely rammed on a Saturday night like it's morning rush hour, some people get off at Sherway, and then another 20-30 people try to board the sardine can to replace them. It's absolutely awful. I truly hope my travels do not take me anywhere near the 123 ever again.

 

[Richard White]

Free rides for schools on field trips is an insane proposal. What membrane of unreality do these people come from

The same unreality that thinks buses aren't crush loaded and that we can do more with less.

Does anyone here know when the TDSB stopped using school buses for field trips?

If I recall we took the TTC on field trips in 1995 however I distinctly recall taking a TDSB School bus to Charles Gordon Sr PS in 2000 from Edgewood PS.

 

[Northern Light]

The same unreality that thinks buses aren't crush loaded and that we can do more with less.

Does anyone here know when the TDSB stopped using school buses for field trips?

If I recall we took the TTC on field trips in 1995 however I distinctly recall taking a TDSB School bus to Charles Gordon Sr PS in 2000 from Edgewood PS.

Curiously, I don't remember many field trips on school buses, but I do remember them on chartered TTC buses. Something the staff reports suggests they are unable to do; yet most certainly did do in the past.

 

[johntauren]

I remember taking like one or two field trips on the bus once way back in high school. It was just tickets for everyone, long before Presto.

Chartering a TTC bus is significantly more expensive that just paying standard fares for a class of around 30 students.