Canadian Railroads > Toronto - snow is a problem for streetcars...

The Globe & Mail has a columnist's views about the silliness affecting operations of streetcars in Toronto during snow storms. In a nutshell, when it snows, the cars are stopped cold by motorists who park in a way that blocks the tracks.

When the street is not fully cleared, or a mound of snow is left near the curb (kerb?) drivers park their cars farther out in the street, sometimes fouling the streetcar's passage.

This problem, which goes back almost to the beginning of streetcar service, has been compounded by a decision to remove constable powers from Toronto Transit inspectors. They used to be on patrol and could ticket and order the towing of improperly parked cars immediately. Now they need to wait for a proper constable to ticket prior to the order to tow an offending cars. So a line of streetcars and motor cars builds until the parked car is removed.

Various solutions like banning parking on key streets during short "snow emergencies" would allow for more complete removal of snow. So would enforcement of no parking rules. In the street running section of Jersey City NJ, the trolley right of way is brick lined. If any part of your vehicle, including the mirror overhangs the brick, you're looking at a $250 fine and towing costs. Since the city has tow trucks cruising about seeking violators, it works pretty well.


>>Of course, the ultimate solution would be to get rid of streetcars altogether. A bus could at least pull around a car jutting into the street. That would make the mayor happy, no doubt. People “don’t want these damn streetcars clogging up our city,” he famously exclaimed during a city council debate last year.

But the city’s 11 streetcar routes are a vital part of its transit network. A streetcar carries about 50 per cent more passengers than a typical bus, and the new, bigger streetcars coming next year will carry even more. Replacing the streetcar fleet with buses would fill downtown streets with roaring diesel vehicles. Getting past them as they pulled in and out of stops on these relatively narrow roadways would be no treat either.


http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/snow-streetcars-and-street-parking-a-perennial-recipe-for-traffic-chaos/article8472432/

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
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> >>Of course, the ultimate solution would be to get
> rid of streetcars altogether. A bus could at least
> pull around a car jutting into the street. That
> would make the mayor happy, no doubt. People
> “don’t want these damn streetcars clogging up
> our city,” he famously exclaimed during a city
> council debate last year.
>
> But the city’s 11 streetcar routes are a vital
> part of its transit network. A streetcar carries
> about 50 per cent more passengers than a typical
> bus, and the new, bigger streetcars coming next
> year will carry even more. Replacing the streetcar
> fleet with buses would fill downtown streets with
> roaring diesel vehicles. Getting past them as they
> pulled in and out of stops on these relatively
> narrow roadways would be no treat either.

The mayor, (or what poses for one) drives a gas guzzling, environmentally unfriendly, Cadillac Escalade, reads while driving on an expressway, coaches football when he's supposed to be attending city council meetings, votes against his own budget, and has difficulty stringing two sentences together. His temper tantrums are legendary. He would dismiss the above information out of hand, as he does anything that goes counter to what he wants. Mr. Spock would not be fascinated. Thank goodness he only has one vote at city council.

James Adeney
Toronto

A re-gauged wedge plow should work just fine

So you people up north don't get along any better than we do down here? I guess there are stupid people, stupid mayors, stupid rules, stupid laws,and stupid government everywhere.

KR

kdrtrains Wrote:
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> So you people up north don't get along any better
> than we do down here? I guess there are stupid
> people, stupid mayors, stupid rules, stupid
> laws,and stupid government everywhere.
>
> KR

One of the problems is that "high profile" big city mayors in Canada often chose to run for higher office. Gordon Campbell of British Columbia is just such a person. He was Mayor of Vancouver. Ever since it was a logging village, Vancouver has been a political city, left and right, rich and poor. The civic Government and indeed the Transit Authority swings from left to right with the winds of political change.

During his tenure as Mayor, the newest LRT route to the airport and Richmond was planned and authorised. The wealthy neighborhood of Shaugnessy didn't like the idea of a surface or elevated transit line through their community, so instead the line was tunneled deep under the community and no stations were built to serve the community. Now, I hear grumblings about "why are there no transit stations". This routing was debated for decades and through several civic elections. BC Transit is funded in the Vancouver region by a 4 cent a litre gasoline tax, another hot potato in civic elections.

Perhaps the fact that the "Canada Line" is largely underground and all on dedicated right of way means fewer snow problems.(Vancouver gets the screaming me-me's when it snows, nobody has snow tires)

Campbell wasn't a particularly good Mayor of Vancouver, but he had a strong right of centre following. He also knew that Vancouver has the greatest concentration of voters in BC. When his political party ran in a Provincial election, he simply had to convince Vancouver and a few other key ridings that he should be the Premier. "Psst...wanna buy a railroad?" Nudge.nudge, wink,wink to his buddies at the golf club. (sadly,it worked)

Could Mayor Ford of Toronto have aspirations of higher office.?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/20/13 12:20 by eminence_grise.

It never ceases to amaze me how the collective IQ of drivers seems to go down with the slightest bit of snow. As soon as snow covers the lane markings, right-turn or left-turn only lanes become straight through ones (fouling intersections), a single lane highway entrance ramp becomes a two lane one (or even a three lane one, as I experienced just this morning), and parking jutting at a 45% angle into the street becomes an "acceptable" practice. Fortunately, at this point of the winter, the people who drive their black Dodge Ram pickup trucks at twice the safe speed for the conditions have pretty much eliminated themselves from the mix.

Ray

i can't believe that a city the size of Toronto still insist on maintaining a 1940's method of inner city transit. My God, here in the U.S. streetcars have been obsolete for years with the exception of a few Tourist lines in some cities. Come on Canada ,get with the program

bayview_boy Wrote:
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> i can't believe that a city the size of Toronto
> still insist on maintaining a 1940's method of
> inner city transit. My God, here in the U.S.
> streetcars have been obsolete for years with the
> exception of a few Tourist lines in some cities.
> Come on Canada ,get with the program

There are about a dozen US cities with significant streetcar lines, Boston in particular. Several are fairly recent. In Montreal, the topic of bringing them back comes up from time to time.

Ray