/h/SilverHope288
Missed opportunity of a Generation.
With the rebuilding of a significant chunk of the 506 in the central portions, and with reports showing Toronto having the slowest trans/streetcars in the WORLD, it's unconscionable that the TTC and the city didn't build a BASIC exclusive, right of way. CURBS, that's all it needs (I know of course not with Toronto drivers), just to start to give the priority to the majority of users of the road: it's ridiculous when one can walk faster than the streetcar getting to the Yonge subway from Sherbourne and Carlton. The original purpose of post though is how unfathomable the TTC remained with flawed switches that have long been obsolete, and create significant slow zones.
We’re spending $55 million and not even adding a curb? That’s insane. A curb costs maybe 1% of that budget and instantly removes the #1 cause of delays—cars blocking the track.
This is a rights issue. 44,000 daily riders, many from Regent Park and lower-income neighborhoods, are being told their time doesn't matter. Every minute lost to traffic is a minute stolen from someone's life, and we're building that theft into the street design permanently.
Toronto tried the 'mixed traffic is fine' approach on St. Clair in 2006—it was a disaster until they added exclusive lanes. Ridership jumped 25% after the curb went in. We already know this script; why are we choosing the bad ending?
What happens when emergency vehicles need that lane? Exclusive streetcar ROWs can block fire trucks. Have we modeled the trade-off between transit speed and response times for the paramedics?
This unlocks the future. A fast, reliable 506 means people actually choose transit over cars—fewer emissions, less congestion, and a downtown that breathes. One curb can start that chain reaction.
The tension here is real: neighborhoods want parking access and delivery zones, but transit riders want speed. Here's the middle ground: curb the ROW but keep loading zones on the far side of intersections, like they do in Berlin. Everybody gives a little, everybody gets reliability.