February 16th, 2010
Tuesday’s headlines
By Jake Schabas // 9 Comments
TRANSIT
• Resistance to transit expansion growing [ Metro ]
• Are anti-LRT activists being railroaded? [ Toronto Star ]
• Metrolinx continues court fight to allow noisy work in Junction [ Toronto Star ]
BUDGET
• Toronto won't sell assets to recoup budget shortfall [ Toronto Star ]
• City budget to bump taxes [ Toronto Sun ]
• It's budget time at city hall [ National Post ]
• GTA taxpayers catch a break [ Toronto Star ]
OTHER
• Where are Toronto's worst drivers? [ Toronto Sun ]
• Racy prank buttons make light of Giambrone's woes [ Globe & Mail ]
• Urban food strategy unveiled [ Globe & Mail ]
• The left can have Smitherman [ National Post ]
• Cycling around Toronto helped author recreate childhood [ Toronto Star ]
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There were no left turn lanes before on St. Clair, but the car groupies got them at the expense of the pedestrian sidewalks. The car groupies will be trying to find any excuse, no matter how small or imagined to stop the LRT.
Downtown streetcars go an average of approximately 12 km/h in mixed traffic, including delay from signals and stops to load/unload passengers.
The average travel speed of a car in Toronto is around 20 to 25 km/h including delay at intersections.
The target speed for transit city lines is 21 km/h including delay at intersections and stops to load/unload passengers.
The target speed is set so the speeds compete with driving. Clever eh?
Definitely bad journalism.
The drivers who are the majority in the area will experience a less functional roadway for their cars, because naturally the ROW will be a barrier. See St. Clair for all the side street intersections with St. Clair where left turns are no longer possible.
But what do you expect? When planners were formulating Transit City, was anyone actually asked in these communities what kind of transit expansion they wanted to see?
A.R, drivers will actually experience a more functional road way. No more getting stuck behind buses.
Having U-turns instead of left turns make a safer street for everybody including drivers and pedestrians. Most multi-vehicle accidents occur during a left-turn movement.
The driving experience on St.Clair has not improved with the introduction of the transit right-of-way. And the streetcars are still bunching.
Why should anyone believe the TTC when they say "This time, we won't screw up". Shouldn't they fix St.Clair before being given $8 billion to replicate that experience through the rest of toronto?
St. Clair, it can be expected that the driving experience would suffer on St. Clair because driving lanes were reduced. This is not the case on Sheppard, Finch, or Eglinton.
I absolutely agree that St Clair had many mistakes which should not be repeated. Luckily, much of the design and construction of these new lines will be outsourced to third-parties, so it won't be the same dummy making more pig-headed decisions here.
Re: Mayor Miller's comments on the budget.
I have to give credit where credit is due. While I will continue to have by disagreements with him about Toronto's tax climate and other policies, he deserves credit for dishing out some truth on the matter. Namely that Toronto has the lowest residential property tax in the GTA. With the Toronto average being $2,334 compared the the Vaughan average of $3,314. Also he deserves credit for sticking with the ETBC program to reduce business taxes. While I still believe the program was ill conceived and feeble, the fact that he has stuck with it should be recognized. Finally he gets props for shedding light on some simple economic realities, namely you cannot get something for nothing.
"Having U-turns instead of left turns make a safer street for everybody including drivers and pedestrians. Most multi-vehicle accidents occur during a left-turn movement."
With a vocal group of unsupportive residents who drive and a transportation department which has always restricted the implementation of transit priority signals, don't expect much of a transit improvement on Sheppard with the on-street LRT. Better just give them a small subway extension, followed by another one in ten years when the economy picks up and after the DRL begins construction. Eventually we'll have a proper rapid transit network.
The anti-LRT article has raised my blood pressure...
"[R]esidents fear light rail lines along Eglinton and Sheppard will create traffic chaos [...], dividing communities down the middle with dedicated streetcar rights-of-way"
Dividing communities down the middle? It's a streetcar track...it's not the Allen. If anything, the ROW on Spadina makes it *easier* to cross.
"You get in the car and you go 60 kilometres per hour and you get on the streetcar and you go 12 kilometres per hour," said Sinclair.
What a mis-representation -- comparing the TOP speed of a car with the AVERAGE speed of a streetcar. Factor in time spent at traffic lights, and the speed of a car is much, much lower than 60km/hr. I'm disgusted that Tess Kalinowski quoted this as if it was a fact.
Comment by will
February 16, 2010 | 8:39 am