After a few days’ operation, observations about the new St. Clair streetcar right-of-way from Bathurst to Lansdowne are accumulating (see comments in the previous post in this series).
On Sunday, service was a shambles because in general the operators could not achieve the faster scheduled speeds in the new timetables. Part of this was due to unfamiliarity, part to the operation of the traffic signals, part due to passenger behaviour and part to what I can only call “operator style”. For anyone used to dawdling back and forth on the old shuttle east of St. Clair West Station, the new timetables are quite a change.
The scheduled speed for the shuttle was 11.3km/h on weekdays and 11.9km/h on weekends. Headways were supposed to be 3’30” and 4’00” respectively. All who rode the line know that the cars spent most of their time sitting at terminals, and the schedule was complete fiction. This operating style established the idea that there was lots of time for layovers.
The scheduled speed for weekday operations on the new route ranges from 12.8km/h (am peak) up to 15.9km/h (late evening). On weekends the scheduled speeds are higher than comparable periods on weekdays.
It is worth looking at the the 510 Spadina service (also shown in the linked summaries above). The segment from Bloor to King ranges from 10.5 to 12.6km/h with service to Union at a higher average speed because of fast running south of King. Continue reading
Steve Munro 