On Wednesday, April 28, I presented a Webinar for the Maytree Foundation that is based on my planned (but as yet incomplete) series “Transit 101”. The Webinar itself together with a longer version of the slides (including talking points and additional topics that were not covered in the presentation) are available at Maytree’s website.
Finance
Queen’s Park Commits to Transit City, Sort Of
Queen’s Park has announced that it will build the four previously funded Transit City lines (Sheppard East, Finch West, Eglinton and the SRT rebuild/extension) as well as the VIVA busway, but over a longer time than planned.
Tess Kalinowski writes about this in today’s Star.
The construction start dates will be adjusted:
- Sheppard and VIVA are already underway and will continue.
- Eglinton will not start until 2012 rather than the originally planned 2010
- Finch West will not start until 2013 rather than 2010
- The SRT will continue operating until after the Pan Am Games in 2015 at which point it will close for reconstruction. Second-hand Mark I ICTS cars will be purchased from Vancouver to supplement the existing fleet in the interim.
Also rumoured is a Metrolinx announcement regarding purchase of cars for these lines from Bombardier.
All of the details will come out at the Metrolinx Board meeting on May 19, 2010.
The City of Toronto has proposed that it would finance the projects starting on the original schedule as this would be cheaper than other capital expenses it would have to undertake (a larger bus fleet and a new garage) to handle system growth pending opening of the Transit City lines. One might argue that they should just “get by” if this would only be a short-term pressure, but if Queen’s Park’s new promise falls through (there might be a different party in power by the time in came to actually pay up), the TTC would be seriously behind in providing capacity.
Rob Prichard of Metrolinx argues that the financial goal is to minimize provincial debt, and starting the projects early would add to the debt regardless of who pays the interest costs in the short term. This is really the nub of the debate. Queen’s Park seeks to minimize its book debt, and must deal with accounting standards that no longer allow governments to hide debt through leases or third-party financing. Oddly enough, this also affects some privatization schemes because, ultimately, the government is still on the hook to pay for the lines.
There are much larger questions in play here.
Metrolinx “Big Move” plan includes over 50 projects, and we have no idea of how Queen’s Park will pay for them, much less operate the network once it is built. If the first five projects are stretched over the next decade, when will work begin on the others? Will any new revenues (tolls, taxes, the Tooth Fairy) be used to fund additional projects, or will they backfill the original five?
Metrolinx’ mandate for a financial plan was explicitly set up to keep funding issues off the radar until after the 2011 provincial election, but that idea (a triumph of politics over good planning) fell apart when the 2010 budget cut funding for transit.
On top of this, there is no word on a provincial role in funding operating costs of local transit systems. In a best-case scenario, this might show up in the 2011 budget as a pre-election goodie, but Toronto and the TTC will go into their own budget cycle (which is largely complete by the time Queen’s Park announces its own plans) facing a TTC operating subsidy of about half a billion dollars. Mayoral candidates have a lot to be worried about, and they won’t solve the problem by counting the pencils.
NextBus, er NextStreetcar, Comes To Broadview
This morning, the TTC held a press conference at Broadview Station to launch the rollout of next vehicle information on the streetcar network.
This was something of a non-event given that all we had to look at was one small text display on the platform for the 505 Dundas car and two of the familiar video screens showing expected arrival times for 504 King and 505 Dundas inside Broadview Station. Oh yes, I mustn’t forget to mention that the display out on the shelter is solar powered. It will be intriguing to see how well it works next winter.
The announcement neglected to mention that you can obtain the same info online.
Go to www.nextbus.com. Depending on the behaviour of the browser you are using, you will be taken directly to your most recent selection if you have been to NextBus before. Otherwise, you will have to navigate to the TTC for your first time in by selecting “Ontario” and then “Toronto”.
It’s a good idea to bookmark at least one lookup (preferably one you want to use regularly) to save on the navigation if your browser won’t “remember” where you have been.
While I was at Broadview, I noticed that the information on the display did not match what was actually happening with the cars. This was sorted out by a conversation with the NextBus folks. What they are displaying is a predicted arrival time as this is what people want to know at regular stops. Terminals are a bit odd in that vehicles arrive and then tend to sit for a while. They will show up briefly as “Due” and then the display will drop them and show the time for the following vehicle.
This could be confusing especially to someone looking at the video screen inside the station where it is not immediately obvious, especially to a rider unfamiliar with the station, that a vehicle is actually at the platform. (Indeed a bus may not actually be at the platform but hiding somewhere for a break.) This information needs to be added, and will be especially valuable in large terminals where displays and vehicle bays may be quite some distance apart. If someone is waiting for the “next” bus and it has already “arrived”, and will depart (according to the schedule) in five minutes, people need to know this.
Meanwhile in other Broadview Station news:
A display panel about the size of a TTC route map was installed beside the route map last fall. It is still empty.
The Station Vicinity map here (and everywhere else on the system, except where ancient ones were never removed) is still missing in action. These were to have been replaced last fall after the debacle of the many inaccurate maps posted by the TTC. Maybe the Customer Service Panel will fix this.
Finally, it’s almost May, and there is no sign of any work of the long-closed second entrance to the station. There is a sign on the barricade saying it will re-open in May 2010, but this has been discretely modified, possibly in the interest of clarity.
Metropass Turns 30
Saturday, May 1, 2010 brings the 30th birthday of the Metropass.
Back in the dark ages when creative cheating on one’s transfer produced roughly the same effect as a ride-at-will pass, TTC management said a pass would simply not work in Toronto. Over the years, they have trotted that story out for a lot of things, sadly, and the record is wearing out. (It would have been a record, probably a wind-up grammaphone knowing the TTC back in those days.)
Then a strange thing happened. Hamilton, little often-ignored Hamilton down at the end of the lake, got a monthly pass. If it could work there, why not in Toronto?
Metropasses now account for over half of the rides taken by adult customers on the TTC. With some luck we may see a shift to some form of smart card (that’s an article in its own right) and a much more flexible fare system on the TTC sometime this decade.
On Saturday, go have a coffee and a small pastry of your choice with a little candle, and sing Happy Birthday to your Metropass!
NextBus Maps Vanish: Is TTC Embarrassed by Crappy Service?
Those who have been following the on again, off again appearance of NextBus information on the TTC have noticed that the route maps are no longer visible, only the next vehicle predicitions for stops.
Apparently, the maps showing the locations of the cars were just too embarrassing for TTC management as they show how erratic the service is even on lines with their own rights-of-way and supposedly good service.
This is an odd development considering that a rollout of NextBus to all streetcar lines was expected soon, and the maps are an integral part of the product. Most of the streetcar routes appeared for a few days, and even were announced by the Mayor, but they were pulled back from public view.
At some point, TTC operations has to learn who they are working for. We hear a lot about customer service these days, but perish the thought we actually find out how bad things really are.
If there is anyone at TTC with a reasonable explanation of why we should not see these maps, I want to hear it.
Electronic Fare Collection: Lessons From New York
The TTC will present an information session on Open Payment systems:
Thursday, April 15, 2010
6:30 to 9:30 pm
Committee Room 1, Toronto City Hall
Here is the meeting description:
Open payment is an exciting breakthrough in fare collection. Instead of using a traditional farecard, it allows transit riders to use their credit or debit cards – even cell phones – at the turnstile or farebox. A prepaid card will also be available for children and others who choose not to use their personal cards.
By using the same technology as every bank, business and retailer, transit operators can be assured that their fare systems will have the highest level of security and will never be obsolete. Visitors from across Canada and around the world will be able to tap and go without having to figure out how to buy a fare.
The TTC is a full participant in the Presto farecard project and continues to work with the provincial agency to identify funding to bring farecards to Toronto. By proceeding with open payment in parallel with Presto’s traditional farecard the TTC is leading a revolution on how riders experience public transit.
Come to an information session on open payments led by Paul Korczak, former Chair of the Transportation Council of the Smart Card Alliance, a current member of the Near Field Communications Academy, and is actively involved in peer reviews and public forums on transit fare payments around the world.
With all the discussion of Smart Cards, this will bring a much-needed update on the evolution of payment technology to Toronto.
Just Raise Taxes
The ongoing debate about trasnsit funding produced a few rather strange proposals recently.
On April 1, writing in Metro, John Sewell suggested that the “crybabies on Council” who think Transit City is so important should just raise property taxes by $500 per house to generate $400-million/year. This is a ridiculous proposal for many reasons, notably that a jump of that magnitude would not be politically saleable to anyone on Council. This year’s increase is far, far lower, and even that produced howls of outrage from those who claim the city taxes too much already.
If taxes were raised enough across the board to generate $400m, that would be a 14% increase. I can hear the Board of Trade screaming now about how uncompetitive Toronto would be. If the whole load goes on the backs of the residential taxpayers, the percentage increase would be much higher.
Sewell, of course, is setting up a phony argument here by saying Toronto taxes are so low relative to those in the GTA, and if only we would raise them to the average, we would have all the money we need. Does he honestly think voters would tolerate such a change? If he were still mayor, would he run on that platform? Continue reading
TTC E-Initiatives Update (Revision 2)
Revised April 6 at 7:00 am: A short section has been added about Google Maps.
Revised April 5 at 10:00 pm: A section has been added at the end covering those e-initiatives which were not included in the discussion at the TTC.
On March 24, 2010, the Transit Commission received an update from staff on the status of various initiatives broadly relating to the use of information technology. These include:
Internet Trip Planner (ITP)
Next Vehicle Arrival System (NVAS)
Customer Service Disruption Notification (CSDN)
Narrowcasting
Next Train Arrival System (NTAS)
This article gives a summary of that presentation and a few of my own comments on these and other related matters.
Analysis of 512 St. Clair for Jan-Feb 2010 (Part 1: Headways)
In the previous series of four articles about the St. Clair car, I review operations in January 2010. Quite noticeable within the data for January was a change in line management style in the last week of the month with a more regular pattern of short turns and generally more reliable service.
On February 14, the TTC implemented new schedules with longer running times in an attempt to overcome problems with the original versions. Headway reliability on weekdays improved slightly, although the largest change had already come with the new line management scheme. On weekends, although the worst of the bunching and gapping was reduced, there continued to be wide variation in vehicle spacing suggesting that the level of management necessary to ensure reliable service was not present.
I have now received February 2010 data for the St. Clair route, and this series of articles will review what it shows about the effect of the new schedules on various aspects of the operation. Here I will review headways at key points, and in future articles I will look at link times, general line management and intersection delays.
Service Changes Effective May 9, 2010
Construction diversions on several routes will begin or continue in May.
504 King and 508 Lake Shore:
King cars will continue turning back at Roncesvalles and Queen, but will reach there via Shaw and Queen Streets. Watermain construction which last year caused Roncesvalles to be torn up last year moves to King between Ronces and Jameson.
The 504 shuttle bus will be rerouted and extended to run between Shaw and Dundas West Station bothways via Roncesvalles looping via Strachan, Douro and Shaw.
No date has been set yet for resumption of streetcar service on Roncesvalles, but this is expected to be in the late fall. The diversion via Queen and Shaw is expected to last to the end of August 2010.
502 Downtowner and 503 Kingston Road Tripper
The reconstruction of Bingham Loop, deferred from 2009, will occur this summer. Buses will replace streetcars over both routes until mid-August.
Replacement bus services will loop via Victoria Park, Meadow and Blantyre to Kingston Road. The peak service on both routes will be improved from 7’30” to 6’00”, but offpeak service on the 502 will remain at 20′.
22 Coxwell and 70 O’Connor
Reconstruction of the bus loop at Coxwell station requires the removal of all bus service. Routes 22 and 70 will interline, and all of the “O’Connor” service will run through to Queen or to Victoria Park depending on the time of day.
Existing interlines between the O’Connor, Gerrard and McCowan routes will be discontinued during this period.
72 Pape
Construction at Pape Station requires that the Pape bus be rerouted to loop at Donlands Station. Passengers transferring to this route from the subway at Pape will do so using on street stops. This diversion will last until the end of 2010.
The seasonal extension to Cherry Beach will operate during the evenings Monday to Friday, and all day on weekends and holidays. This will run until Labour Day.
512 St. Clair
The mixed streetcar and bus operation on St. Clair is expected to last until the latter part of June 2010 at which point the TTC hopes to restore streetcar service to Gunn’s Loop.
509 Harbourfront and 510 Spadina
The seasonal fare collection scheme on Queen’s Quay will be in effect until Labour Day. No fares will be collected eastbound on Queen’s Quay between Bathurst and Union Station on weekends after 3 pm, and there will be collectors stationed in the tunnel linking the Union Station Loop to the subway.
One PCC car will operate on the Harbourfront route on Sundays until September 5, 2010 between 1130 and 1930. This will run as an extra, and will be subject to availability of both a car and an operator.
Seasonal Route Extensions
- 72 Pape to Cherry Beach (see above)
- 28 Davisville to the Brick Works
- 29 Dufferin to Ontario Place (service south of Dufferin Loop will be split between the 29B Ontario Place and 29D Princes Gate branches)
- 86 Scarborough to the Zoo
- 85 Sheppard East to the Zoo
- 510 Spadina King short turn extended to Queen’s Quay on weekends
- 165 Weston Road North to Wonderland
Other Route Changes
- 25 Don Mills service north of Steeles removed (York Region request)
- 29 Dufferin trial service in Exhibition Place rerouted to operate via Manitoba Drive, Canada Drive, Princes’ Blvd., Nunavut Rd., and Nova Scotia Ave to Manitoba Drive.
- 224 Victoria Park North service extended to Elgin Mills (York Region request)
- 96B Wilson route changed via Claireville Drive
- 96C Wilson service removed from Thistledown Blvd. early mornings and late evenings
Service Level Changes
Many route have new schedules starting on May 9 primarily for seasonal changes in demand. The details are in a spreadsheet linked below.
