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It's part of the dress code during training. Depending on who you have as instructors, they may or may not insist that you wear it.

I'm not exactly sure if this is why they keep the streetcars on or not, but my guess is that they want to keep the air compressors in operation. The compressor supplies air to the doors, brakes, windshield wipers, sanders, suspension and on the ALRVs, the line switch. An absence of air in the braking systems will cause them to seize and not release until enough air has been reintroduced into the system. An absence of air in the suspension system will cause a loss of suspension and the streetcar will bottom out. On the ALRVs, if enough air escapes the system, the line switch will open and the streetcar will not be able to power on again unless air is introduced from an external source. When the air systems are all empty, it takes a while for the pressure to build up again once the streetcar is powered on. As stated earlier, the brakes won't even release unless there is enough pressure built up. It's just easier to leave them powered on because they are always ready to move when they need to be moved.

25 days for bus 27 days for subway 32 days for streetcar Does not include weekends or holidays

The work is picked in 6 week blocks called board periods. If you sign your own crew, it will come with off days (most likely 2). You'll do a certain crew during the week and it will come with a certain crew on Saturday. You'll pick your Sunday crew separately. You'll do these same pieces of work for 6 weeks until the board period changes.

You would keep your seniority if you transfer over.

You're placed before you start training. As soon as you finish training and divisional training you start on your own.

They check your vision and you have to do a reading comprehension test (pretty simple). After that's done, you get to play on the simulator. That's it.

Somebody also made it to the Union station platform which is many times the distance than to the Spadina station platform. How they made it that far over the exposed rail is beyond me.

They are scheduled runs, but the schedule only calls for the buses to operate between Long Branch and Windermere, not Long Branch and Dufferin like they are currently operating. This is because the schedule for the February 18th board extended streetcars to Humber Loop, but the construction is still not complete, so they had to extend the buses to Dufferin. These factors make it impossible for the buses to operate to schedule, so they must operate on headways. There still is no excuse for that kind of bunching however. Last Summer for a time, the 511 Bathurst was using all 3 types of cars.

2) You must do the police check that the TTC provides for you. At your conditional offer signing session after you've passed your interview, you'll be provided with a police check form that you have to fill out during the session. You hand it back to the HR staff and about a month later if all goes smoothly, you'll receive a certificate from the TPS in the mail stamped 'CLEAR' indicating that you've passed the background check. You must scan it and send the scanned version of the certificate via email to your placement specialist. 3) Yes divisions have free parking for employees. Some have bigger lots than others. 5) You will have 2 birthday floater days that you can use. You also can book emergency days or sick days depending on the nature of the situation. Those are the only ways you can get time off other than your designated vacation weeks.

Looks like 4047 may also be a goner. I saw it with its headlights and tracklights removed with its trolley pole hooked down.

The only thing with dual-mode is that operators are selected to do it based on seniority, so if you do get into streetcars it could be a couple years before you'll be considered to do the training. Just do your homework and pay very close attention in class. Always ask questions if you don't understand something. If you do those things, you'll be fine.

Yeah, I enjoy it. It was originally my least preferred mode, but I've grown to like it somewhat. Some pros: .You're stuck on rails, so it's not as easy to go off-route as it would be in a bus .On the new cars, you're in a cab so you're isolated from the public (I guess that could be a pro or a con depending on how social you are) .If there is an obstruction on the road, you're stuck behind it until it moves (could also be a con depending on your personality) .Only a few routes to memorize as opposed to some bus divisions with many routes .Many social and friendly operators in streetcars, we're like a big family that look out for one another .Most streetcar routes in general are quite busy as opposed to bus routes because you're operating through the downtown core in a lot of cases. It makes your shift seem to go by quickly when you're busy and picking up a lot of people .You can sign up for dual-mode training. (They train you on buses so you can operate them on streetcar routes being substituted by buses during construction or a streetcar shortage) Bus operators do not have this option There is talk about expanding the streetcar network but currently nothing has come to fruition. They're currently focusing on replacing all of the old cars. I would definitely switch modes to see what the others are like. I actually have a bid in to transfer to subway but I am still pretty junior and a lot of people senior to me have bids in, so that may not happen any time soon. Also, it's not easy to leave streetcar once you start there as streetcar operators are in high demand and management is not in a hurry to let us bid out because they need us. Some operators stay in 1 mode for their entire career while others move around. It depends on the desires of each individual operator and what suits them. Hope this helps, no problem ?

I've only done streetcar so far, so I can't compare it to any other mode. From operators I've spoken to that have done steeetcar and bus or all 3 modes say that streetcars are the most difficult to operate safely. Essentially, you're operating a train in mixed traffic. When operating a streetcar, you must have a very heightened awareness of your surroundings at all times and you have to be prepared to act defensively at any given moment in response to obstacles that may suddenly appear in front of you with little notice. Remember, it's a rail vehicle and handles just like a rail vehicle. If there is an obstacle obstructing your clearance, all you can do to avoid that obstacle is stop before you make contact with it. The ability to swerve around obstacles does not exist with these vehicles. Another thing is the rail itself. You know in the winter when there's a lot of snow on the road and your wheels spin because it's more difficult to gain traction? The same thing happens with streetcars when the rail is slippery. The wheels tend to spin and slide when they are attempting to gain traction in slippery rail conditions. This may increase an otherwise short stopping distance, to one that is significantly longer. We use sand to combat the effects of this spin/slide, but it can only do so much. You also have to worry about the track switches, stopping at each one to ensure that it is set for the correct direction of travel. Failure to do this could result in a serious collision with another vehicle. It's definitely not as easy as it looks and there is a lot of room for error when driving these things.

Birchmount will also have some runs on the 505 and 506.

Slightly, it could be the difference between missing and catching a light. It won't be that noticeable of a difference though. We must still stop momentarily at each facing switch in accordance with procedure.

Also, the 501 schedules are set for Humber Loop next board.

From what I remember, the guides indicate that the schedule is set for York Street as the terminus. Maybe Wellington is supposed to be ready by the beginning of next board.

It's official, next board the 505 and 506 will be 100% buses. The 503 and 511 will be reverting to streetcar operation. If I read the guides correctly, it seems as though the 503 will run from the beginning of the am rush until the end of the pm rush instead of solely during both rush periods as it does now.

They actually train streetcar ops who wish to be dual-mode on buses when the need arises. There are some who initially never worked out of a bus division as a bus operator before. They still technically 'belong' to their streetcar division once they have become bus qualified and may only sign work with streetcar shuttles. They may, however do overtime at bus divisions when it is available.

The streetcar operators just sit at their division for the duration of their crew. Bus operators handle the replacement buses.

Any streetcar could be dispatched from Russell one morning and end up at Roncy the same evening and viceversa. The obvious exception to this however are the new cars which currently are always dispatched from and return to the Leslie Barns.

Just saw a sign posted in my division. From 5 am tomorrow morning until 5 am on the 18th, all TTC service will be free.

It is procedure to not exceed 10 km/h through switches (facing and trailing) until the rear trucks have cleared any switches to lessen the possibility of derailments. However, some operators are either impatient or because they may be a bit late, don't take the time to do so and just fly through. Also, when two streetcars arrive at an intersection where there is a possibility that the tracks they are on can take them on a collision course with each other, the streetcar on the down trip has the right of way to enter and clear the intersection before the streetcar on the up trip may enter. This is to prevent the possibility of one car splitting or derailing over a switch and making contact with the other one.