When the TTC announced that fares might be going up, management limited token sales in an attempt to stem hoarders. By purchasing tokens now, 25-cents is saved each ride if the token is used in the new year. Because so many people were taking advantage of this, the taps were turned off. Laurence begs to differ on this logic, but the truth is that if you want to purchase fares in advance you have to purchase temporary adult tickets. When 2010 rolls around and fares go up, these tickets will only be accepted with a 25-cent top-up.

About the same time this was happening, the Presto smart fare card was being field tested ahead of a full roll-out over the next year. Presto could have made this fare increase more manageable, but mass media details on how it will work for the rider have been slim. Many of the questions being raised have already been answered, but the information isn’t really getting out to the public. So, here’s some reflections on what Presto can do for the riders in the GTHA. (more…)

It’s been about 12 months since I purchased my Avenir folding bicycle, and while the head-turning novelty has worn off, the flexibility that a bicycle adds to my commute has not. Originally, the decision to buy a bicycle came out of a parking problem. My house is a 15 minute drive from Brampton GO station, but the parking lot tends to fill up by 7:15 am. If there were no spots remaining then the only other solution was to drive another 20 minutes across Brampton to Bramalea GO station. In order to avoid the parking lot altogether I would have to walk 20 minutes from my front door to the Orangeville GO bus stop for a 15 minute trip to Brampton GO. A bike would have cut the walk to 4 minutes, but there was no place I felt comfortable locking up the bike for the day and I had a desire to take the bike downtown to save on TTC fares. The solution was a folding bike, which are allowed on rush hour GO trains and could be folded, bagged, and placed in the luggage compartment of almost all GO buses. (more…)

When you’ve been doing the same thing on The Better Way every day, how easily can you learn a better way to do it?  Can the energy your body expends to get underground be harnessed to help power public transit?  Suppose you could know, before the train pulls in, where on the platform the least crowded cars will stop?  

Engineering students at the University of Toronto displayed working models answering these, and many other questions, at the 2009 PRAXIS II Design Showcase all day Wednesday, April 15, 2009.  For the past couple of years, PRAXIS has focused on the TTC, noted third-year student Jane Chiu, because the students developed a particular interest in local public transit; fourth-year student Kristen Facciol explained that previously, PRAXIS had not been focused on one theme. 

First-year engineering students began the term by identifying and researching issues of TTC usability, accessibility, and sustainability.  They settled on six design challenges.  Each team of students produced a project proposal for one of them, according to Alan Chong and Jason Foster, their instructors.  And each team’s project included a cost estimate. (more…)

No, it wasn’t an elaborate April Fools Day joke…

On April 1st, the Government of Ontario announced funding a collection of transit projects across the GTHA. While many of the projects are in the central parts of the region, and there has been some criticism of this fact, these are the projects that are closest groundbreaking – some will see construction start next year. We can’t forget that we need to build a region-wide network, but we need to start somewhere.

Here’s what was announced: (more…)

When the budget dropped last week I began to wonder why the province hadn’t been very specific on which transit projects were going to be funded. Usually they are very specific and it made me wonder if something big was coming down the pipe…

Today the Province introduced The Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area Transit Implementation Act, which makes very important changes to Metrolinx, GO Transit, and potentially transit across the region. This proposed law, which has passed first reading in the legislature, has (according to the press release), a few key elements: (more…)

Toronto has the only existing street railway/"light rail" gauge in Ontario.

Track gauge is a finer detail in the technology of rail-based transportation.  It is defined as the distance between the inside edges of the heads of the running rails.  It’s an important detail since this decides the distance between wheels on the trucks/bogies of rail cars, which can impact what systems on which said rail cars can and cannot run.

What makes this topic interesting in Toronto and the GTA is that the TTC has its own unique gauge: 1495mm.  This applies to both the streetcar and the subway networks of the TTC, but excludes the SRT (which is currently standard gauge. However, if the SRT is converted to LRT, as is widely expected, it would be changed to TTC gauge).  The TTC is expected to apply their unique gauge to Transit City as well, as it keeps the system flexible and has maintenance efficiencies.

Standard gauge, however, is 1435mm, and is used by the freight railways, which would include GO Transit’s rail fleet.  If one goes back in Toronto’s history, one will find two streetcar companies operating on Toronto’s streets, one at standard gauge and the other at the TTC’s, a result of meeting a legal requirement at the time.

There are now many communities in Ontario talking about LRT in their future networks.  These include not only Toronto, but also Hamilton, York Region, Region of Peel, Kitchener-Waterloo, Ottawa, and even London. (more…)

Looking into the future, by KaroliK

Some of our Metronauts contributors came together at the invitation of our friends at TRAC this past Saturday to discuss the future of Metronauts.ca.  Since our site activity dropped off in December, many have been asking the question – “What’s going on with Metronauts?”.  This post is a summary of how we got here and an invitation to our community to guide our future direction.

This site was originally conceived as a community space to discuss issues and plans contained within the Metrolinx Regional Transportation Plan alongside its public consultation process.  With Metrolinx as a major sponsor, my role was to help create the platforms for community engagement, including this site, and to help steward the community. With that project completed (and with my role as a consultant to Metrolinx now done) it is time to reflect on what this place is, who we are as a community and what we might do together in the future.

I will retain my role as steward of the Metronauts brand and the metronauts.ca web domain, but I am looking for proposals and leadership from our community about what the future of the site could be. I intend to step into a supporting role for the best vision and plan for the future.

The role of Editor-in-Chief is now open. We are looking for proposals from the right person with the vision, energy, leadership and ability to help us realize the potential of this site.

There are several key assets and strengths we can build from:

• metronauts.ca domain and the playful and engaging Metronauts brand
• a beautiful visual identity and strong design direction from Alistair Morton of Peapod Studios
• a strong core of content with some talented and passionate contributors
• an informed and active community of commenters who engage in intelligent discourse about the issues they care about
• a strong readership: 16,675 absolute unique visitors, 69,691 pageviews and 1,324 comments since August 1st, 2008 (the Google Analytics graph below charts weekly site visits over this period)

We need your feedback. Please leave a comment and answer some key questions:

• (more…)

I think we can all agree that we need a better transit system in the GTHA – no one is debating the need for a grand vision. But, there has been a lot of passionate debate about specific projects and how they should be constructed. Over the past few weeks, three specific issues have stood out in particular:

1. What should we do with the Sheppard corridor? Should the original subway vision or the new light rail vision be fullfilled?
2. What should we do with the Scarborough RT corridor? Should it be refurbished with Skytrain or conventional cars, or should it be replaced with a subway?
3. What should we do in the Mississauga City Centre? Should the future light rail line run to the terminal, or should the terminal move to meet the future light rail line?

There have been very vocal arguments on both sides, and I don’t see a reason why Metronaunts can’t host some of that spirited debate. Since it’s not in the spirit of the community to descend into a flame-war, I’d like to try to guide the discussion by laying out some relevant facts and asking community members to answer a question (keeping those facts in mind, of course). In a way, it reminds me of an academic examination – hence the “discuss with examples.”

So here we go: (more…)

Greenwood Subway Yard - Only at yards can TTC trains turn 180 degrees.

Rollsigns!  Those useful little things that tell us where the train is going so that we know where we’re going when we get on.  A small but very important detail in every transit system. 

I remember when I was travelling by transit to get to college (Sheridan’s Davis campus), I would take the Spadina line to Yorkdale to connect with a GO bus.  In the mornings, many trains short-turn at St.Clair West.  And sure enough, both the desitnation signs and the Solari signs (those signs on the platform that tell you where the next train is terminating) would switch between Downsview and St.Clair West as appropriate.

I’ve been noticing something that I typically never saw, or at least saw so rarely that I don’t remember it happening.  For reasons that I do not know, subway rollsigns are losing their accuracy now.  I’ve noticed this now 5 times in about as many weeks.  From “almost never” to “about weekly” is a big jump. (more…)

Proposed new GO platform location (Source: Metrolinx)

The proposed Georgetown South rail corridor expansion and new rail service between Union Station and Pearson International Airport is one of the first big moves to be implemented from “The Big Move”, Metrolinx’s Regional Transportation Plan for the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA).

Metrolinx hopes this rail link will “make it easier to get around the region, create construction jobs, spur economic growth for businesses and communities in the GTHA, ease the social and economic burdens of traffic congestion, and reduce air pollution.”

The Metrolinx Virtual Open House for the this project is now live at the Metrolinx Consultation Portal. You can review project details, Open House storyboards and submit your comments to the project team anytime before Monday, March 16, 2009, 5pm EST if you want them to be included in the draft Environmental Project Report (EPR) when that goes out for evaluation. Comments received after March 16th will be included in the final EPR. (more…)

DRL Map by C. Livett, adapted from Network 2011 DRL plan

On Wednesday, Toronto city council voted to study the possibility of fast-tracking construction of the long-dormant Downtown Relief Line — perhaps even putting it ahead of plans for extending the Yonge line further north. Not only was the Yonge North extension approved in principle with previous conditions attached, but council also moved to study the Downtown Relief Line in detail and suggest having it moved from Metrolinx’s 25 year plan to the 15 year plan.

And they want to replace the technical name ”Downtown Relief Line” with something more imaginative and marketable. Ideas, anyone?

According to an article in the National Post, Councillor Michael Thompson (Scarborough Centre), who proposed asking Metrolinx to review its priorities, said the downtown relief line might be a solution to the overcrowding that is expected to result from extending the Yonge line north.

“The residents of Toronto deserve better, the riders of the TTC deserve better,” said Mr. Thompson. “From a perspective of cost, the downtown relief line is cheaper, it is more efficient, it provides a utility that is needed.”

Over at Spacing Toronto, Sean Marshall wrote an article noting the opposition within the TTC to the Yonge extension and staffers’ views that the DRL should be “a last resort”. However, with the Yonge extension becoming a more likely reality, if the DRL is already in place when the Yonge extension is completed, it would relieve future overcrowding on the Yonge line as a result of the new stops. As well, the new subway line would put off or even altogether negate the need for an expensive and awkward second renovation of Bloor-Yonge station, the worst bottleneck in the subway system, and relieve crowded streetcar routes on Queen and King. (more…)

Everyone, from Steve Munro and Stephen Rees to the community at the Urban Toronto Forum, seems to be talking about a very interesting article that appeared in the Globe and Mail today. Referencing the work of Professor Patrick Condon, senior researcher at the Design Centre for Sustainability, University of British Columbia, David Beers discusses some very interesting findings in the sustainability of different modes of travel.

Vancouver has a plan to extend one of their Sky Train lines from the downtown core to the University of British Columbia campus at a cost of $2.8 billion, and while this is a missing link in their network, there have been many calls to consider other technologies, such as the same European-style trams being considered for use in the City of Toronto. There’s no question that more lines could be built for the same price tag if trams are used, but the Sky Train (the next evolution of our Scarborough RT) has a speed advantage that is very difficult to ignore in today’s fast-paced society. (more…)