dowlingm
Senior Member
Given that TTC has a tiny fraction of its streetcar track in open trackbed, what problem is this solving?
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TTC: Other Items (catch all)
- Thread starter drum118
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drum118
Superstar
I think he looking for this to be used in place of concrete for intersections and not going to happen.
There is only one location this could be used at and at the Kingsway. Could use it at Humber Loop as well, but a waste of money.
W. K. Lis
Superstar
...and at most streetcar track intersections, including the Transit City grade-level track intersections.
nfitz
Superstar
I can't imagine it's going to wear well, with cars and trucks driving over it every few seconds.
W. K. Lis
Superstar
Which is why the TTC has no money for research or experiments to test it out on a section to see if it does work or not.
DSCToronto
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There is very similar stuff around the tracks of the rail spur along Lake Shore East that are crossed by the bike track. (Apparently there are two, short, trains that go on that track every week to pick up 'sewage solids' from Ashbridges Bay.) They work well if they are in good condition and not at all well if they get damaged. Let's concentrate on more important things for the TTC to worry about - god knows there are many things on THAT list!
drum118
Superstar
TheTigerMaster
Superstar
It's a nice initiative, but we all know that these murals will be destroyed in a few years from utility work and wear from tires.
TheTigerMaster
Superstar
I think urban planners generally understand that the only way to change driver behaviour and improve road safety is to change the physical design of the roads themselves, to be conductive to safety.
Installing safety islands and speed bumps to force cars to slow as they approach streetcar stops would be a more effective strategy to reduce streetcar stop collisions.
Installing safety islands and speed bumps to force cars to slow as they approach streetcar stops would be a more effective strategy to reduce streetcar stop collisions.
amnesiajune
Senior Member
How is that supposed to work? Speed bump in the right lane but not in the streetcar lane? If anything you'll probably end up with more accidents because people try to move into the lane that doesn't have a speed bump.
What really should be added on the new streetcars are flashing lights on the back and a stop sign behind the rear door. That works well for school buses, I'm not sure why it wouldn't on the streetcars.
TheTigerMaster
Superstar
What's the clearance underneath streetcars? Typical speed bumps are about three inches high, so it might work over the tracks if the streetcar has similar clearance as automobiles.
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TheTigerMaster
Superstar
Something like this looks like it'd be trivial to install and low enough for streetcars to travel over. Installing two or three of them approaching the stop would encourage drivers to slow down, or at the very least deminish the severity of collisions.
The obvious criticism of this is that it would force cars to slow down even if there aren't any streetcars in the area. But I believe our streetcar routes are generally on 40 km/h streets, and speed bumps are regularly installed on residential streets with 40 km/h limits around the city. And these bumps would probably be installed at stops where drivers blowing past open streetcar doors are a particularly problematic, so it wouldn't be at every stop.
However, others would argue the traffic claiming is a good thing, especially since they'd likely be proximate to major intersections where pedestrians are crossing.
The obvious criticism of this is that it would force cars to slow down even if there aren't any streetcars in the area. But I believe our streetcar routes are generally on 40 km/h streets, and speed bumps are regularly installed on residential streets with 40 km/h limits around the city. And these bumps would probably be installed at stops where drivers blowing past open streetcar doors are a particularly problematic, so it wouldn't be at every stop.
However, others would argue the traffic claiming is a good thing, especially since they'd likely be proximate to major intersections where pedestrians are crossing.
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DSCToronto
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They do not use these in Toronto as they get ploughed up by snow ploughs! The speed bumps here are less 'severe' and seem to survive.
TransitBart
Senior Member
The new streetcars have exactly this.
Have a good look.
It's only activated on non-ROW operations.
Voltz
Senior Member
Although the flashing red strips on the rear edges of the doors activate on the ROW stops, which is not good since it conditions drivers to ignore them.