Bike Walk Bus Toronto

 On this blog, I rarely speak about downtown transit issues. This is for a few reasons: there are lots of other people doing it, and in terms of the basics of providing transit service, downtown has a solid grid shape. This works well for transit, except for the areas to the southwest of Union Station. In this blog post, I will outline the basics of this area, outline its recent transit history, and what I think the next steps should be. The Area The area in question is roughly defined as anything bounded by Lake Shore, Strachan, King, and York. This area is high-density, and there are significant development pressures here. Neighbourhoods include CityPlace and Fort York. In addition, numerous attractions can be found here, including the CN Tower, Rogers Centre, and Fort York. In this block, there is east-west transit service along King, as well as along Queens Quay, just south of Lake Shore Boulevard. There is north-south transit on Bathurst, Spadina, and via Line 1 from Union (wh...

 I don't think I need to explain this, but most TTC routes require additional frequency. Many routes have not yet returned to frequencies from prior to the pandemic, and some streetcar routes operate much less frequently than they did in the 1980s. I think, however, that there are four TTC bus routes that TTC underinvests in. By this, I mean that they keep service at a minimum, despite high demand, and convenient routings that, if they were more frequent, would serve an important purpose for the entire network. In this piece, I will briefly identify the four routes that TTC is missing opportunities with by not providing a better service. 9 Bellamy The 9 Bellamy is the least frequent mainline route in Scarborough. Its morning peak frequency of 18 minutes is quite poor, and aside afternoon peak, service ranges from every 26 minutes to every 30 minutes. While Bellamy is mostly low-density, it serves large parts of Scarborough that are otherwise a distance from other transit services. ...

 If you've ever heard me talk about transit, you know I have a million and a half ideas for every agency in the Golden Horseshoe. I make these into comprehensive (and probably complicated) plans, which I hope to eventually implement. Recently, in conversation, someone asked me what would be the first major service change I would do if I became a TTC planner. I didn't really have an answer for them, because I've never really ranked my ideas: they are all pieces of the broader transit puzzle. Most of the changes have something to do with another change, which has something to do with an other, and so on and so forth. The goal of this blog post is to answer that question. I put some rules onto it though, mostly that the change has to be simple enough that it could be implemented today, and not require a massive reorganization of services in an area. Here, I will outline the three changes (all three of which are new routes!), and why I think they make sense and will be successf...

Transit, in a perfect world, should be easy to use. A trip should require a low amount of planning, and one can 'pick up and go.' While most agencies in the GTHA are somewhat easy to use, GO Transit is a major exception to this rule. I consider myself very familiar with GO Transit's rail and bus services, but, often, I still find that I am reading schedules, and spending time planning out relatively simple trips. In this blog post, I will outline the ways that I think GO Transit is difficult to use, and provide easy-to-implement solutions that would improve functionality for all customers. I have split these into two categories: scheduling and fares. Scheduling There are a number of specific scheduling issues with GO, so I have left one out of these longer explanations: GO's schedules available on their website are quite hard to read. Interlines In order to reduce the number buses being used, and to reduce transfers for some customers, interlines are used. What this mea...

 As any regular GO Lakeshore East Line user can tell you, travelling along the corridor has been a challenge on some weekends this year. Due to Ontario Line construction, service on some weekends on the line, as well as the Stouffville Line, has been suspended, with replacement bus services offered. As I tend to avoid using the GO train during these times, I have been able to avoid these detours. This past weekend, when service was replaced by buses, I was able to see some of the first-hand challenges related to the disruptions. However, I also noted how easy it would be for GO to resolve some of these issues. GO's unwillingness to reduce severity of train disruptions speaks to how incapable they are in promoting regional transit, instead of a downtown-centric system. The impacts in this case are Scarborough-heavy, but they affect all parts of non-downtown Toronto. In this blog post, I will explain some of my overarching concerns with GO Train service disruptions, and how I think t...

At the beginning of September, YRT introduced a new route: the 361 Nashville Express. This route, which operates during peak periods only, at 27-minute frequencies, provides transit service to some parts of Vaughan that were otherwise at a significant distance from the transit. The map of the route is below.  Its shape is quite peculiar, and genuinely looks like a little kid designed it. However, despite initial feedback from the public last year being mixed, there are some immediate positives: notably, the route operates through both residential and industrial areas, so demand is bidirectional. While it is not shown on the map, the 'end of the line' for a northbound trip is on Barons at MacTier: remember this for later. As I do, I took the route on its first day of operation, and I was astounded at how stupid of a route it is. While there is some demand, the implementation of the service, combined with the fact that is requires three buses to operate, reads to me that this wil...

Finally! In this blog post, I will be ranking my top ten GO stations. Frankly, the top ten was quite easy to decide, but the order was a bit more difficult. Additionally, at the end of this post, there will also be a bonus ranking! #10: Hamilton GO Centre Despite its name, this station acts more secondary within Hamilton, since train service is limited to rush hours. However, bus service is extensive: GO operates routes 16, 17, 18, 40, 41, and 47 from here, to numerous destinations. The 18K is the only route that operates from here down the peninsula. In addition, HSR service here is heavy: routes 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 20 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 33, 35 and 51 serve this station (either directly or on James), meaning that transfers to much of Hamilton, most notably on the Mountain, are easy and convenient. The area around downtown Hamilton is dense, with a lot of cool stores and places to check out. Even the station building is cool! Overall, the station works well, but particularly so ...

I promise this series is slowly coming to an end. I really have nothing much to say here besides that this post will cover the fifteen stations that just missed the top 10, which will be covered in the final entry for this series. #25: Langstaff For some reason, Langstaff GO and Richmond Hill Centre are considered to be two separate transit facilities, but they are really just one. While land use nearby is quite poor, I give it a pass since I can't expect much being adjacent to Highway 407. The bus connections are quite strong, however: VIVA operates north and south on Yonge, as well as east and west on Highway 7, meaning that lots of York Region is easily accessible from here. I would counter, however, with the fact that the local YRT services from here are quite poor, and so areas that are relatively close are not convenient to get to. As a last positive of the station, the platform crosses under the 407, providing a decent walking link. #24: Markham Named for the historic villag...