CLRV4002

I recall that on Twitter, the TTC posted they were inspecting a spot near the intersection. I think it was a couple days after the streetcars returned to the 501.

I’m not 100% sure on this, but I’m just using the Google satellite view of Hillcrest here. If one car was to follow the red arrows (go forward then reverse up the track) then another car goes up the track as indicated by the green arrow I suppose they could face each other head on. It looks like the other wye at the left of the image could also function the same way

Can’t remember the last time I saw 2 CLRVs facing each other head-to-head. It made me think about it for a second.

So then what’s the plan with Humber Loop? According to this plan it will just become a stop, not really used as a loop anymore. Seems like sort of a waste to have a loop which is essentially a stop and a link to the Prince Edward bus. Especially a loop that got work done on it not too long ago. This makes more sense. I wasn’t aware of the overall plan. In which case maybe the eastbound 501B will also turn north on Park Lawn on its way to get to the GO Station and perhaps do away with or modify the 176 bus since many of the current riders won’t need to access Mimico Station anymore if a Park Lawn one gets built. By then I can assume the 66 Prince Edward would be more frequent and even more necessary to serve Marine Parade and northbound to the subway.

I’m assuming that the TTC thinks that with Flexities on the 503 instead of the current bus operation that capacity should increase. Although who knows at what intervals those streetcars will be scheduled at. B for Broadview? ?? One thing I don’t understand is this Park Lawn Loop thing. By constructing this new loop it makes Humber Loop effectively useless as nothing will turn there anymore, except for maybe the odd short turn. So instead of using Humber Loop to turn the 504B they’re going to construct a new one a block away to do the same thing? If they want to allow for 504B layovers while not blocking the path of the 501B, wouldn’t a minor redesign of Humber Loop be sufficient? Also what’s the purpose of running the 504B to Humber/Park Lawn anyways? Effectively all that does is provide people who get on/off between Roncesvalles and Humber Loop with not having to board a 501. Those continuing on west of Park Lawn/Humber will still have to switch to a 501 car at some point. Seems like sort of a waste of time. The 504B should continue to Long Branch similar to the 508 today or use Charlotte to turn back the 503 and continue to operate the 504B to Dufferin Gate only. Or keep both the 504B and 503 turning back at Dufferin and extend the 504B to Long Branch during peak periods as a replacement for the 508. Those are just some possibilities as the current scheme doesn’t provide much benefit for the extra running time the 504B would be faced with.

In which case I’m curious if this proposal means the 503 will be running all day, everyday instead of just a peak period tripper. Or at the very least running all day during the weekdays. Currently it runs all (week)day in the absence of the 502, so I can imagine the same idea will apply going forward. If the TTC does in fact get more streetcars, the 503 streetcars should fix the capacity issue east of Broadview.

It’s not the same split however. The new 501 split would be similar to the one on King where the downtown/central portion of the route is served by A and B branches (between Broadview and Sunnyside).

Now it’s signed into the 506

CLRVs only on the 511 this morning. None are on the 506. 4085 is running on the 511, but signed into the 11 Bayview bus.

It also appears that 4068 has returned to Russell after a long time at Leslie. 4105 also last tracks at Leslie still.

4184 has joined as well. Currently 6 cars on the 501 and 4053 still on the 506.

I thought that maybe it was just a catch-all for everything streetcar related, but right below it there is a separate section for streetcar maintenance and facilities. Steve Munro released his post on the report and he remarks that the current Flexity order will cost about $5.8 million per car including training, warranties and spare parts. Even that seems inflated, but at least it is projected based on reality. Thinking about it that way, $6.9 million doesn’t sound unreasonable considering yes, the option price may be inflated on further orders. There’s also the storage issue which Steve says would cost an additional $85 million to retrofit Harvey Shops to store some vehicles. Bottom line, the costs really add up.

Yes it appears so. 4085, 4057, 4081, 4124 and 4170 are the Queen cars for today. 4178 hasn’t left Russell today.

According to Steve Munro there was, at least at one point, a scheme to redesign many of the streetcar routes. He mentioned it a few months ago. I’ll try and dig it up if I can. Edit: https://stevemunro.ca/2019/07/29/streetcar-network-changes-coming-in-september-2019/ If you scroll to the bottom of that post and look at the last comment by “Sam”, you’ll see Steve explain details of a plan that was maybe going to be included in this 5-10 year plan. It doesn’t really address the 505/504 space issue at Broadview, but it’s a plan nonetheless. If someone could find any plans that exist specifically for the issues at Broadview that would be great as I haven’t been able to.

So I suppose part of the reason this is held for further review is because it depends on large external factors such as the Ontario Line and the future of the Port Lands (i.e. the Sidewalk Labs project). These issues now ultimately are mostly out of the TTC’s control, but at least they are preparing for the possibilities associated with the projects. The big issue to me is that unfortunately nothing I saw in the plan does much to improve the current level of streetcar traffic and lack of space at Broadview Station in the meantime (meaning in the next 5 to 10 years, as in the actual scope of the plan). Page 13 of the report also outlines risks and contingencies which, although vague, look rather concerning. For example, the contingencies for not acquiring funding for new buses and streetcars is to just “forego service improvements for growth” or if the ATC projects on Line 1 isn’t complete by 2022, the contingency is to just “delay Line 1 service increase”. I’m curious to hear what Steve Munro says about the plan when he reviews it. I think the grand scope of the plan is quite solid, but many of the short term issues faced today seem somewhat neglected and aren't addressed in any other short-term planning documents.

I say 4021 and 4155

So they said in the report that this would be a good idea to maximize surface connections at the Gerrard/Carlaw Ontario Line station. They do realize that there is already a 506 that goes there and sending the 505 to Pape/Gerrard instead of Broadview station doesn’t really do anyone any good. Indeed it is nuts. The plan says to extend the 512 “across the Don Valley”. I’m not sure exactly what bridge they’d be using for that idea so good luck with that. If they took one look at Google Maps they’d see the large interruption of St. Clair across the valley. I’ll believe it when I see it

I know that 4068 and 4105 are already marked as retired, but does anyone know what they’re being used for? They were both tracking at Leslie Barns earlier this week. My best guess would be that they’re maybe being used for parts for 4001, which also last tracked at Leslie. Anyone know for sure?

Therefore it’s very easy to miss it while riding the streetcars since they’re on the opposite side you board on and the sticker on the right side is near the very back and can’t be seen especially if boarding from the front.

Many of the pages for TTC routes seem to never get updated. The 505 page under “route description” also says that no accessible vehicles operate on the route despite the fact that they’ve had accessible buses for quite some time now. Between their Twitter accounts and website, the chances of customers getting accurate and up to date TTC info isn’t the greatest.

Yet in a month most of those (somewhat) serviceable vehicles will be “officially” retired and the TTC will be operating with even less spare streetcars sitting around. Then with the very constrained Flexity fleet anytime issues impacting vehicles happen, it seems like the TTC will go directly to using buses on some routes. The Flexities can be reliable as ever, but things like track problems, flood damage (both of which we’ve seen in recent years) or anything else can happen anytime and routes like the 511, 506 and 505 (after streetcars return) will be right back to buses if streetcars are needed elsewhere.

Wow here I was thinking that this contest was just an informal fun thing they’re just doing on social media, not something with a long list of terms and conditions. I might as well just buy a ticket for the Princess Margaret Home Lottery at this point.

Steve Munro just released the January service changes and mentioned that it looks like the 505 will return to streetcars for the April board, at which time the 511 will be bused.

Since there are more CLRVs out today, I decided to run through the remaining cars and their recent tracking history. 4193 has run a few times this week. 4143 hasn’t run since November 21st. 4057 and 4124 haven’t run since last weekend on Queen.

Yes there are 25 it looks like. And there’s only 1 Flexity tracking in Russell currently as well, so I can imagine the yard looks as empty as ever.