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…)

Blinkenlights Stereoscope (2008), City Hall, Toronto

Binary data is often represented by two states: on and off. The Blikenlights Strereoscope installation at City Hall this year during Nuit Blanche, made data very public.  If you attended, you may have noticed the installations’ connection to open, malleable and user-contributed data.  As stated on the project website, “Project Blinkenlights invites the public to be a part of the installation by opening up a variety of ways to interact with and provide content.”  In terms of a practical application of open data, the issue returned to city hall through the issue of open transit data, discussed at the Web 2.0 Summit on November 26, 2008.

Wikipedia defines that open data is “a philosophy and practice requiring that certain data are freely available to everyone, without restrictions from copyright, patents or other mechanisms of control.”  The challenge to open up the city’s transit data (i.e., schedules, routes and timetables) to be used in Google Transit was posed by Mark Surman of the Mozilla Foundation during his talk at the summit.  Mayor Miller stated in response to Surman that the process to get Toronto online with Google Transit is underway and we can hope to see results next year.  Surman summarizes this exchange via a blog entry accompanying an archive of his talk.

Many questions about opening up transit data are still outstanding in relation to the draft RTP or final RTP in relation to trip planning and fare cards:

Trip planning:

• If Toronto opens up data their data for Google Transit, will the other regions and transit agencies in the GTHA be encouraged to do the same? (Note: Hamilton’s HSR system is already online at Google Transit)
• Do Metrolinx’s plans for an integrated trip planner take into account Google Transit, mashups or citizen initiatives?
• What information is needed by citizen and community-based groups like myttc.ca to continue to innovate and build from the community level up?

Fare cards: intense data collection is also a real possibility with fare cards when they are implemented across our region.

• What data will be collected through fare cards?
• Where will this data be stored, who will access it and for what purposes?
• Will any of the aggregated data from fare cards be opened up?

Grade separation west of Union station

The GTHA has an interesting railway network when one includes the rail lines that are not serviced by GO Transit.  It also holds a huge amount of potential if its integration can be exploited to commuter operations’ advantage.

CONNECTING THE DOTS

Already built are a number of connections that can be of significant value to the region’s passenger rail movements.  An interlining GO service on the railways can be extremely useful in both getting more people onto the network, and also at alleviating the stress Union Station could be at significant risk of facing in the future, particularly in a fare-integrated network.

Consider the following connections that already exist in the network that can be used for future service (italics indicate locations not yet serviced by GO):

Oakville – Long Branch – Kipling - North Toronto – Agincourt (CP) - Malvern – Seaton
Existing tracks and junctions

Meadowvale – Kipling - North Toronto - Agincourt (CP) - Malvern – Seaton 
Existing tracks and junctions

Brampton – Weston – North Toronto – Agincourt (CP) - Malvern – Seaton
Existing tracks and junctions

Bolton – Weston (CP) - North Toronto – Agincourt (CP) - Malvern – Seaton
Existing tracks and junctions

Oakville – Union – Agincourt (CP) – Seaton/Locust Hill
Existing tracks and junctions

Pickering – Union - Newmarket
Existing tracks and junctions, and has been run in the past (unofficially… call it “the inside track”)

Oakville – Long Branch - Kipling – Weston – Pearson
Existing tracks and junctions except for Pearson spur

The connectivity of the network is somewhat lopsided in the west end’s favour as the connections between CP and CN lines are generally absent on the east side apart from the CP Belleville Don Branch, but exist at the West Toronto Junction (omni-directional except for north-to-east/west-to-south, which is useless anyway) and at Kipling (uni-directional (NE/SW only)), key points in the west end, allowing all current westbound (Hamilton/Milton/Georgetown) GO corridors to run into the CP North Toronto sub, and would also include Bolton service (which is a CP line anyway, the MacTier sub).

Some of the points after the jump were discussed at one of the earlier meetings hosted by Ed Drass at Metro Hall. (more…)

East of Scarborough GO Station

In a previous post, the topic was about where GO Transit could add stations to its westbound train lines to increase the value and performance of the existing service area, something that should probably be done before extensions of lines takes place.  Now in this post, the same question is posed towards its eastbound lines; the Stouffville and Lakeshore East corridors. (more…)

I love this video.  It shows a new form of restricted access to Manchester’s pedestrian city centre.  A sensor on the bus tells the bollard to lower like a sophisticated automated gate.  Aggressive drivers try to beat the system… and fail miserably.

I’ve seen similar bollards in Madrid, Spain.  I doubt that we will see something like this installed in North America anytime soon.  It is a bold move, and puts transit and pedestrians at the top of the transportation hierarchy.  However, we are starting to see a culture shift by City of Toronto staff away from car-first planning.  Their official plan states that pedestrians, cyclists, and transit must be given more priority than cars on city streets.  Narrowing streets, wider sidewalks, bike lanes, scramble intersections are a few of the changes we are starting to see implemented.  Hopefully there’s more of this to come.

This week at the Westin Harbour Castle hotel, Toronto hosted the Transportation Association of Canada Annual Conference, Canada’s largest gathering of transportation professionals.  This year’s theme was Transportation – A Key to a Sustainable Future.  Sustainability was certainly a buzzword heard throughout the conference.  About half of the 150 papers that were presented were related to that theme.  Minister Jim Bradley stated that “sustainability strengthens Ontario’s economic advantage”, and Mayor David Miller that “sustainability is at the core of the city’s values”. Much knowledge was transfered and many ideas were shared.  I was there for a few of the sessions; here are a few of my highlights.

(more…)

The library is a place I have visited frequently throughout my life.  Except from experiencing the subtle vibrations at the OISE building which sits on top of the St. George subway station in Toronto, I have never really associated transit riding with getting an education.  I recently came across some information which explains that in Mexico City, transit riders can borrow books underground.  An archived story from 2004 by Morgan Lee explains that there was a two year plan to loan or give out 7 million books at transit stations.  It sounds like a great combination of the functions of the public library and public transportation systems.

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

The Downtown Relief Line (DRL) continually falls somewhere between long-term planning and long-term lore when it comes to heavy rail infrastructure ideas for Toronto.  While the idea lay dormant for a generation, we now seem to be back in an era when it has come out of its fabled state and into some vision of long-term reality.  While it might not be something on the average Torontonian’s radar yet, it is once again being seriously discussed, not only on transit blogs and forums, but also in some halls of power.

The DRL was first studied in the mid-1980s as part of the Network 2011 transit plan for what was then Metro Toronto. The line was envisioned to connect Union Station with Pape and Dundas West Stations by running large portions of the line at grade via mostly existing railway right-of-ways which would also help to significantly reduce the cost of such a major investment.  The DRL would, in effect, have created a second, wider subway ‘U’ for Toronto, and thereby taken enormous pressure off the existing system.  For instance, if one were coming from the east, one would have the option of switching lines at Pape instead of Yonge-Bloor Station for a quick ride downtown.  The DRL could also be thought of as a heavy rail version of the King streetcar, but following a wider route and playing a more regional role.

(more…)

A couple years back, I was looking for an easy way to commute from my home in Little Italy to my office near Dundas Square.  I had learned very quickly that most commuting isn’t fun – even biking during rush hour, as I came to realize, involves sitting in two-wheeled traffic.  This didn’t make sense to me: given how much time I spent travelling, why shouldn’t I have fun on my way to wherever I was going? For really circuitous reasons including a love for Michael J Fox and a then-shaky belief that you can still learn new things after you turn 25, I ended up one day teaching myself to ride a longboard.

A longboard differs from a conventional skateboard in several dimensions, including its length, wheel diameter and width, and size of its trucks (or axles).  Whereas a traditional skateboard requires the front wheels to be lifted from the ground in order to change direction, a longboard’s geometry allows for long, s-turns that come pretty close to surfing or snowboarding on concrete.  (As a tradeoff, most longboarders are unable to do any skateboard-style tricks with their boards).  On a longboard, the rider is able to generate much more speed than on a traditional board, which means a longboard is more functional for use as transportation.  And that is the really short story about how I ended up as a commuting longboarder.

(more…)

What gets a person to ride a bike?

This is the $6000 dollar question (the average annual cost of owning a car). Some people need some mentoring and encouragement from a cycling enthusiast to get them started.  Others need to have bike lanes or be fed information about best routes. Others, still, are so set in their ways that getting on a bicycle seems like a far-fetched notion. There are many motivations to ride: saving money, saving the world, saving one’s waistline, or simply enjoying the pleasures a bicycle offers. Conversely, there are many barriers that discourage people from choosing two wheels over four. Safety, weather, distance, health, and facilities are but a few. I aim to explore these motives in this and future postings.

I started riding to work three years ago. Let me provide some context and back up to 1994. When I was in high school, my bike was stolen from my parent’s garage. At the time I didn’t really think it was cool or safe to ride anyways, so for a period of 10 years I didn’t bother to replace it. In university, I was oblivious to the precious minutes of extra sleep I could have had if I cycled to class, in breezy style I might add, instead of making the 15-minute trek by foot. Worse, I drove a navy 1988 Cadillac DeVille around town, an eight-cylinder boat of a car that downed 15L of black gold for every 100 km travelled.

(more…)

On one day every year, Torontonians can experience the thrill of a ciclovia, a temporary road closure to cars for the benefit of other users such as cyclists. I am referring to the Becel Heart & Stroke Ride for Heart, a charity ride which allows cyclists and in-line skaters to travel the DVP and Gardiner Expressway free of cars and trucks.  I was one of the over 12,000 participants at this year’s event on June 1st. I have three observations I would like to share:

Cycling is for everyone! I saw people there of all ages and walks of life: training wheels, recumbents, tandems, trailers, third wheels, cruisers, racers, families, new love, old love, too much spandex, and a whole lot of smiling. For those new to cycling, it is a great place to learn. Plus, it gives our youth a crucially important impression about the fun and importance of this exercise. For the experienced cyclists, it is a great place to reconnect with the cycling community. For me, it was a breath of fresh air. I think H.G. Wells put it best: “Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair for the future of the human race.”

(more…)

Pedestrians got a big boost when the Yonge and Dundas intersection became a scramble crossing last week, so now’s a good time to ask how we can improve the pedestrian experience even more in the downtown core.

One answer to making the city more walker-friendly that floated around last year and perhaps should be revisited is creating pedestrian-only streets.

Streets like Yonge Street.

It has been done before: Spacing reported last year that Yonge Street south of Bloor was converted to a pedestrian mall for a short time in the 1970s. I think it’s time to look at that idea again.

Sure it has been brought up before, but with the Regional Transportation Plan still open for discussion, perhaps now is the perfect time to bring the idea back up for serious consideration? Can pedestrian malls be integral parts of the new vision on transportation?

(more…)