http://www.thestar.com/news/transportation/article/986572--ttc-looks-at-running-bigger-buses-on-finch

TTC looks at running bigger buses on Finch

Published On Thu May 05 2011
Tess Kalinowski
Transportation Reporter

That’s the reaction of some to a report before the TTC board next week, which suggests articulated buses, potentially running on dedicated lanes, could speed the ride and relieve crowding for the 42,000 daily TTC riders on Finch Ave. W., the city’s second busiest bus route.

Provincial funding for the Finch project will instead be absorbed by putting an Eglinton light rail line underground from about Jane St. to Kennedy station, where it will run continuously onto the Scarborough Light Rail track. Ford has insisted that rail doesn’t belong on city streets, which are designed for cars.

“If we really want to make the Finch Ave. corridor more attractive to riders it would take more than articulated buses. We’re looking at different service designs that would put more capacity on the route,” he said.

Among the options are:

• A two-way bus-way along the Finch hydro corridor, similar to the one that serves York University.

• Dedicated bus lanes down the middle of Finch where the light rail line would have run. Alternatively, curb lanes could be made into bus lanes or work as HOV lanes such as those on Eglinton and Dufferin.

• Strategic road widenings for bus bypass queues at busy intersections that would allow buses to move ahead of cars.

• Fewer bus stops that would speed service but mean riders would have to walk further between stops.

• Other improvements could include proof-of-purchase payments to speed boarding or moving stops to the far side of intersections to reduce the time buses spend at lights. More intersections could get transit signal priority.

The report, which will likely be sent back for further study, concedes many of the options have obvious drawbacks. The hydro corridor busway would entail prohibitively longer walks to stops and would probably cost about $27 million per kilometre. The 17-kilometre route includes a complex crossing of Highway 400 and a section of the Ross Lord Park.

Would be ironic if after all the bru-ha-ha about LRT taking up space, they end up putting in dedicated bus lanes.

You mean buses like these ones?
http://informatica-tecnologia.net/bc/images/stories/Transmilenio%201.jpg
http://informatica-tecnologia.net/bc/images/stories/Transmilenio%201.jpg

http://www.nileguide.com/destination/blog/lima/files/2010/10/metrop_peruinside_jorgealvarado.jpg
http://www.nileguide.com/destination/blog/lima/files/2010/10/metrop_peruinside_jorgealvarado.jpg

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5uo63jc96U0/TNqUEnU1vQI/AAAAAAAATIk/g9d1PIxgJyE/s1600/neobus_mega-brt.jpg
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5uo63jc96U0/TNqUEnU1vQI/AAAAAAAATIk/g9d1PIxgJyE/s1600/neobus_mega-brt.jpg

We've had articulated buses before: http://transit.toronto.on.ca/bus/8505.shtml

And I'd love to have them again, without the problems.

We have these buses in Montreal. They are very efficient.

http://www.westislandchronicle.com/media/photos/unis/2009/08/17/photo_400809_resize.jpg
www.westislandchronicle.com

Besides building a busway along the hydro corridor, why not reintroduce the Finch bus which turned down Dufferin to the Spadina line?

They really should consider double-deckers.

A bandaid solution at best.

Underground LRT is a "must" for Finch.

Fucking TTC tools. Toronto has the busiest bus routes in North America and these shmucks are slower than your grandma at answering the door when you come by. We probably have like, what, a half-dozen bus routes among the top ten busiest in North America? Time to step up already.

Fucking TTC tools. Toronto has the busiest bus routes in North America and these shmucks are slower than your grandma at answering the door when you come by. We probably have like, what, a half-dozen bus routes among the top ten busiest in North America? Time to step up already.

Manhattan has a few routes which are both busier and slower and make more frequent stops.

Toronto should P3 the TTC. Just sayin'. It'll be alot more efficent. The subway, buses and GO Trains could look, act and be alot nicer and the city gains tax revenue doing so.

And who do you think is going to step forward from the private sector to enter into this money-losing proposal?

And who do you think is going to step forward from the private sector to enter into this money-losing proposal?

Dunno. All I know is that the city has to do something to gain revenue and make stuff more efficent.

Besides building a busway along the hydro corridor, why not reintroduce the Finch bus which turned down Dufferin to the Spadina line?

Because the ridership was really poor.

Dunno. All I know is that the city has to do something to gain revenue and make stuff more efficent.

Typical reply.

A: Privatize! P3s! Revenue! Efficiency!

B: How? The taxpayer may still be on the hook later on and the improvements in efficiency might n-

C: Just do it!

Typical reply.

A: Privatize! P3s! Revenue! Efficiency!

B: How? The taxpayer may still be on the hook later on and the improvements in efficiency might n-

C: Just do it!

Your way of doing stuff to save money and my way are two different ways. My way might not work, probably because it's never been tried before. Yours might or might not. Who knows?

You can't make a meal without the process of testing and the ingredients to make it.

My way might not work, probably because it's never been tried before. Yours might or might not.

Never been tried before? Australia and the United Kingdom have 30 years of history with a large number of privatized/P3 projects, including large chunks of public transit.

I will let you read about whether it worked or not on your own, but it's sufficient to say that Melborne, Sydney, and London did not save money or receive improved service.

Hong Kong probably worked out the best. Their transit agency is a government owned corporation (similar to Ontario Hydro or the LCBO) which was also given the ability to issue bonds (like GTAA) and perform development (build malls, office buildings, etc.)

it is so funny when people come in and say privatize everything but not read up on where privatization has been attempted and has been an unmitigated disaster. No private sector will take on the risk of running a loss making organization unless their losses and investment is guaranteed. which means tax payers will be on the hook.

sure you can privatize components (cleaning crew, IT) but to privatize the whole system is just retarded

Dunno. All I know is that the city has to do something to gain revenue and make stuff more efficent.

Considering you don't live in Toronto I'm going to assume you know next to nothing about transit here.

If the TTC were actually privatized, virtually every bus line would be axed immediately and only the subway (and maybe a handful of streetcar lines) would be kept as that's the only thing that makes money.

Alternately, if the city mandated that the private sector cut no lines, then whoever was dumb enough to come forward to run this money-losing operation would demand to have taxpayer subsidies to guarantee their income and THEN after they got it, they would drastically do everything in their power to cut service to virtually every part of the TTC except the subway without technically breaking the contract.

Like virtually every major city in the world except for Hong Kong, Toronto doesn't have the population density to support private surface transit and turn a profit. Meanwhile the positives of having a public transportation system as public policy (less congestion, allows the poor, students, seniors, people going go to drink/party to travel safely and efficiently) are too great to pass up.

Privatization is absolutely the wrong way to go about this, it would destroy public transit in Toronto.

Never been tried before? Australia and the United Kingdom have 30 years of history with a large number of privatized/P3 projects, including large chunks of public transit.


There's alot of plural ways to do a singular task.

It's all about playing the cards right. Now, as I'll say again MY way has never been done before.

There's alot of plural ways to do a singular task.

It's all about playing the cards right. Now, as I'll say again MY way has never been done before.Oh now this should be interesting...well, it should at least be better than Ford's idea.

Cheers, m

I would hate to be a transit-dependant 905er. They've got buses running along steeles picking up people from remote stops next to a highway overpass haha... like how do people get to those bus stops in the winter lol!? The buses are almost always empty so who's paying for it? Running a busway along a barren hydro corridor in this case, does nothing to make transit more appealing... my 2 cents.