From the point
of view of a motorist, getting stuck behind a slow-moving streetcar
seems like a real pain in the accelerator. For riders on a crowded
streetcar, it can be equally frustrating to wait behind an
automobile trying to make a left turn. These are two examples of
problems when autos and trams try to share the same lanes. Next
week, the City of Toronto will hold two final public meetings on the
controversial proposal to put exclusive streetcar lanes down the
centre of St. Clair Ave. A lot of people have been pondering what’s
best for this wide boulevard, and here are two more:
Andrew Warby of
Toronto writes, “In 2005, the TTC will start work on the St. Clair
line of its streetcar network. This will be a costly upgrade, as a
lot of the line must be completely replaced due to it being severely
degraded. The problem with the operation of streetcars seems to be
two-fold. One is an aging fleet of streetcars. The second is the
cost of maintaining track for the streetcars.
“If one of
these problems could be removed, then the cost of operation of the
streetcar system would be greatly reduced and allow money to be
freed for enhancing other areas of public transit. I think the cost
to be removed is that of the tracks.
“In San
Francisco, they use electric trolley buses. They operate on the same
wiring system as streetcars, but run on standard tires, the same as
a regular bus.”
Doug Allen of
Toronto writes, “Did you know that the designated right of way will
save only five minutes on a ride from Keele to Yonge? Also, the TTC
says it will have fewer streetcars on the route if the proposal goes
through. That will mean that you will save five minutes on the ride,
but will wait longer for the streetcar for a net saving of zero
time! Makes the expenditure of millions for the barrier, and the
disruption of neighbourhoods seem a bit ridiculous.”
Maintaining
tracks in the middle of a road is not cheap. The cost to rebuild St.
Clair exceeds $20 million dollars, and installing special lanes
could add another $7 million or so. The light rail vehicles used by
the TTC still have at least a decade in them -- so it makes sense to
keep using them.
In fact it was
the high cost of repairing the wires and tracks that led to the
demise three decades ago of two of the three tram lines that fed
into St. Clair station. Since the 1940’s, the TTC has often replaced
streetcars with -- surprise -- electric trolley buses. In the 1970s,
these bit the dust when it was found to be too costly to upgrade the
worn out buses and overhead wires .
Moreover, buses
simply do not carry as many people as streetcars -- and one of the
biggest costs of transit operation is labour. If St. Clair lost its
Red Rockets, many more buses would be needed to carry the same
number of people -- and costs would rise. If the TTC had exclusive
access to two lanes, suddenly streetcars can run on schedule and one
of the biggest frustrations of transit riders is reduced:
unreliability.
You’ll have to
trust me on the math, but if a round trip takes less time, fewer
streetcars are needed to transport exactly the same number of
riders. It’s more likely that the TTC will not reduce the amount of
streetcars, allowing them to come more frequently. The combination
of better reliability, faster trips, and more frequent service in
turn encourages ridership -- requiring the TTC to in fact add
vehicles to the route. And that’s a triple-win for riders.
Send e-mail to
transit@eddrass.com.
Include address and phone number.