Toronto transit projects

[tomh009]

Ugh, Andy Byford is leaving the TTC Such a nice guy. I wish him well in NYC.

http://www.cbc.ca/1.4412120

It's unfortunate, but professional challenges don't really come any bigger than that, can't blame him for taking the opportunity.

[Markster]

Toronto has just taken a giant (half-)step into the future.

Time-based transfers. (for Presto users)

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">TTC board has approved a two-hour time-based transfer for PRESTO card users, starting in Aug 2018.</p>&mdash; Brad Ross (@bradTTC) <a href="https://twitter.com/bradTTC/status/935579354012274688?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 28, 2017</a></blockquote>

[DHLawrence]

How are they only just introducing something that almost every other transit agency in the GTHA has had for decades?

[Markster]

How are they only just introducing something that almost every other transit agency in the GTHA has had for decades?

Institutional momentum and paranoia over budget impacts.

[Viewfromthe42]

I mean, if you're getting on TTC from GO, you're probably doing it at a subway station. That enables you, legally or not, to get a transfer from that station, which you could use elsewhere on the line. So it might not enable anything other than convenience, sans budget impact of significance.

[Waterlooer]

Very happy about this news. The current system discourages using transit for short trips. People shouldn't have to pay a second fare after going to the grocery store for 10 minutes.

[tomh009]

People shouldn't have to pay a second fare after going to the grocery store for 10 minutes.

It all depends on what you think the pricing basis should be.  Distance? Time?  Per trip?  Per return trip (if stay short enough)?  Per entry onto transit?

In Tokyo, where nearly everyone uses transit, train fares are based on distance, with some minimums; bus fares are flat (typically about C$2.50). But there are no "transfers": as soon as you exit, you'll need to pay for another fare, whether entering the same bus, same station, different bus, or different station.  And there are numerous train lines so if you switch lines you often need to pay two separate fares.

What's fair?  It all depends on your point of view.  People who don't make quick go-there-and-come-back trips might feel that a return ride for the same price is unfair, too.

[Markster]

In Tokyo, where nearly everyone uses transit, train fares are based on distance, with some minimums; bus fares are flat (typically about C$2.50). But there are no "transfers": as soon as you exit, you'll need to pay for another fare, whether entering the same bus, same station, different bus, or different station.  And there are numerous train lines so if you switch lines you often need to pay two separate fares.

Though thanks to sane fare-by-distance on their rail networks, if you're going a short distance on the line you transfer to, your fare on that line may be as low as $1.50. Paying two "separate fares" is more palatable when they start as low as that.

[tomh009]

In Tokyo, where nearly everyone uses transit, train fares are based on distance, with some minimums; bus fares are flat (typically about C$2.50). But there are no "transfers": as soon as you exit, you'll need to pay for another fare, whether entering the same bus, same station, different bus, or different station.  And there are numerous train lines so if you switch lines you often need to pay two separate fares.

Though thanks to sane fare-by-distance on their rail networks, if you're going a short distance on the line you transfer to, your fare on that line may be as low as $1.50. Paying two "separate fares" is more palatable when they start as low as that.

That's correct.  If you're doing a 45-minute trip on two lines, the premium compared to a single line might be only 10-20%.  But doing just a couple of stations on one line, the same on a second and a final stretch by bus will probably be double the cost of doing a similar journey on a single line.

None of the pricing models are perfect, and each one will always feel unfair to some use cases. The question is which ones should we be optimizing for?

[Canard]

Oooo, that actually looks not half bad:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">A look at the livery for the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HuLRT?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HuLRT</a>. Can't wait to see the <a href="https://twitter.com/Alstom?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Alstom</a> vehicles travelling the Hurontario corridor. <a href="https://twitter.com/citymississauga?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@citymississauga</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/CityBrampton?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CityBrampton</a> <a href="https://t.co/g2rI20yYSD">pic.twitter.com/g2rI20yYSD</a></p>&mdash; Hurontario LRT (@HurontarioLRT) <a href="https://twitter.com/HurontarioLRT/status/936617789409906688?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 1, 2017</a></blockquote>

So glad to see that black band around the windows! Ottawa... take note!

[DHLawrence]

Interesting! No Mississauga Transit orange or Metrolinx green.

[tomh009]

So when is Metrolinx expecting to take delivery of these?

[Viewfromthe42]

Wrap ads stand out so much better against grayscale base designs.

[KevinL]

Interesting! No Mississauga Transit orange or Metrolinx green.

Technically it serves (a bit of) Brampton as well, so it's not a MiWay service.

It should get SOME form of branding at some point, though...

[Canard]

The pilot/neutral colour appears to be grey. From what I understand, all the different lines will have a different colour. Finch is supposed to be Orange, from what I recall.

I love that our system also adopted the same striping, so all our LRV's will look more-or-less very, very consistent.