TORONTO – The new, larger and more accessible streetcars that the TTC says will improve service could translate to longer waits and fewer vehicles on the routes, according to a Toronto-based transit critic.
The new streetcars (touted by TTC officials as just one way transit service is being improved in Toronto) will soon undergo testing and are scheduled to be rolled out in 2014.
Transit critic Steve Munro says that because the new streetcars can carry more riders, that will mean fewer vehicles on the routes.
Munro warns the city may be moving towards a one-for-one capacity replacement plan rather than an increase in capacity which is currently in the TTC’s official fleet plan.
He contends the current political climate at city hall is forcing the TTC to lower the cost of running public transit.
However, TTC CEO Andy Byford said the TTC has “invested heavily” in new streetcars to improve service and make the system more reliable.
“They’re all air-conditioned, they’ll be presto equipped, you won’t have to board via the front of the vehicle, you’ll be able to get on at any of the doors,” Byford said. “I think generally the customers will be delighted when they see these new vehicles. They are fully accessible, so we’ll be able to offer a much greater service to all of the people of Toronto.”
One major complaint among TTC customers, whether on streetcar or bus routes, is short-turning and the large gaps sometimes left between one vehicle and the next – issues which could be exaggerated if a number of streetcars are taken off the road.
Byford says the commission is working to fix the “bunching” of busses and streetcars.
“Well we’re very clear that customers aren’t happy about bunching, neither am I. So what I wanted to do was make the service more reliable and also offer greater capacity,” Byford said. “So these vehicles are a lot bigger, they’ll be able to carry a lot more customers and we’ll be able to operate the routes and carry more people with less vehicles and obviously my challenge is to make sure they don’t bunch up.”
Streetcars and busses are sometimes turned around – or short-turned – if their route is blocked by an emergency or if there is a large gap of vehicles travelling the other way which can be fixed by short-turning a vehicle.
Munro though says the problems caused by gapping and bunching on routes are exasperated by poor route planning.
“Well, there might be two cars in a row then a 20 minute gap. And this is what people deal with every day on the TTC, not knowing what the quality of service will be, particularly on the outer ends of the lines,” Munro said. “And if you run fewer cars further apart that will just emphasize the problem.”
TTC officials however have tried to combat bunching by deploying supervisors on the street to work with their counterparts in the control centre to monitor and alleviate the bunching of vehicles.
Two features of the new streetcars – allowing people to enter in any door and full accessibility – may help alleviate bunching, Byford said, by expediting the process of people getting on and off the vehicle.
– With files from Jackson Proskow
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