Miscellaneous TTC Discussion & Questions

[MK78]

1 minute ago, Shaun said:

So we know why the Scarborough RT is still down? Do those operators get to work in the subway pool while the RT is down?

It's been hit really hard. They had a whackload of signal & switch issues in the McCowan Yard, and they only pulled the stuck trains out on Thursday with a diesel work car, Friday they were running some ghost trains in the afternoon & evening with hiccups in power delivery across many sections...

Today they tried to do the same thing in the morning, but had many issues, now a diesel work car is going thru the sections and checking the power rails.

I thought with the milder weather today it might go in service but doesnt look like it.

[Shaun]

Don't they have a high rail vac truck? It's standard gauge right, can't they break up the ice chunks and suck them up? At least they are not digging it out by hand. 

[MK78]

Don't know. But it looks like the service on the SRT might be resuming today, possibly soon.

Edit: nope, just heard that it's gonna be tomorrow morning for resuming service.

Edit 2: They sure have been flip flopping on it thruout the day, but it was just announced over the radio that SRT is resuming the service.

[Doppelkupplung]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgPliPfCWa0&ab_channel=DashcamWorld

2:25. 

I know buses can take a beating, but is that hit a bit much? There's a lot of sideways momentum into the curb there. Pretty sure the left rear caught some air. 

[ZümmyZüm]

There’s probably very minimal damage if anything but a dented panel, it slid into it with the rear wheels hitting the curb while the bus was still pushing power 

[Shaun]

During some of the last storms I've seen videos or ALRV's and CLRV'S stuck in snow. 

I did see pictures of the new ones stuck in a row but I believe that was due to a vehicle blocking the tracks. 

Do we know of any streetcars that actually got stuck in the snow? I guess having more powered trucks makes them less likely to get stuck?

[raptorjays]

https://www.ttc.ca/service-advisories/construction-notices/York-Mills-Station---temporary-bus-terminal-at-north-west-corner-of-intersection

I am wondering why the TTC is so inconsistent in announcing possible disruptions in the subway stations regarding buses.

I know there are constructions at the bus terminal at York Mills and the TTC did post a notice about that..

However, I can't find any details about the modification happening at Islington Station... where everyone is getting off at the station entrance... and for 110 it is a stop which is before the entrance of the bus bay.

My dad used the TTC for the first time in a while and he was kinda angry about lack of information about this, both on the website and stations.. 

In addition to it, there are actually a lot of people who didn't know that Mississauga buses are now at Kipling Station except for 26..

 

I remember there were active advisories when the bus bays at Royal York was closed and routes were interlined each other.. and I don't know why there aren't same advisories for Islington?

 

 

[Ed T.]

2 hours ago, raptorjays said:

https://www.ttc.ca/service-advisories/construction-notices/York-Mills-Station---temporary-bus-terminal-at-north-west-corner-of-intersection

I am wondering why the TTC is so inconsistent in announcing possible disruptions in the subway stations regarding buses.

I know there are constructions at the bus terminal at York Mills and the TTC did post a notice about that..

However, I can't find any details about the modification happening at Islington Station...

The TTC is evil and hates South Etobicoke.

[MCIBUS]

Double Decker's?

 

I'm curious, has the TTC or one of the other transit agencies in the GTA, ever considered buying DD buses from I guess from Alexander-Denis?

 

I don't know the GTA that well or what height restriction the city might have, but GO using DD buses(not sure what routes these are on), I'm guessing a new garage would need(I'm guessing, don't know the height of TTC's garages).

But has the TTC  ever consider it for high capacity bus usage? Grant you I'm not familiar with the TTC bus route network as to how the TTC  disperses their bus fleet on what routes they may do.

 

Any thoughts?

[Articulated]

2 hours ago, raptorjays said:

https://www.ttc.ca/service-advisories/construction-notices/York-Mills-Station---temporary-bus-terminal-at-north-west-corner-of-intersection

I am wondering why the TTC is so inconsistent in announcing possible disruptions in the subway stations regarding buses.

I know there are constructions at the bus terminal at York Mills and the TTC did post a notice about that..

However, I can't find any details about the modification happening at Islington Station... where everyone is getting off at the station entrance... and for 110 it is a stop which is before the entrance of the bus bay.

My dad used the TTC for the first time in a while and he was kinda angry about lack of information about this, both on the website and stations.. 

In addition to it, there are actually a lot of people who didn't know that Mississauga buses are now at Kipling Station except for 26..

 

I remember there were active advisories when the bus bays at Royal York was closed and routes were interlined each other.. and I don't know why there aren't same advisories for Islington?

 

 

There has historically been difficulties with how the TTC disseminates information regarding closures and diversions, and they often fall into one of multiple categories depending on how they come about:

• "Unscheduled" diversions are usually part of the Service Alerts.
• Short-term diversions related to external factors (i.e. road construction) also make their way onto the Service Alerts.
• Long-term diversions that get incorporated into the schedules (i.e. for a full board period) usually get found on the Service Changes page.
• Route diversions related to TTC construction projects are often only found under the Construction Notices page.
• And of course, TTC occasionally puts diversion notices out on their social media feeds (Twitter, Facebook, etc.)

I certainly agree that the lack of consistency in how diversions are handled and advertised is frustrating, and the fact that there is no one central location to look at all diversions 

As for MiWay buses having departed Islington Station for Kipling, that's not TTC's fault - MiWay is the one responsible for advertising to their customers. I definitely saw a lot of ads around the time that change took place, and it was no secret to this community that Kipling Terminal opened. At some point though, people need to take individual responsibility for searching up schedules and information before they leave home if they haven't taken their usual route for an extended period of time. Transit agencies shouldn't be responsible for leaving service change information up for years following a change - then you'd just have people complaining that posters from 6 months ago are still up, and complaints that they can't see the latest news on the website because it's buried under old information.

1 minute ago, MCIBUS said:

Double Decker's?

 

I'm curious, has the TTC ever considered buying DD buses from I guess from Alexander-Denis?

 

I don't know the GTA that well or what height restriction the city might have, but GO using DD buses(not sure what routes these are on), I'm guessing a new garage would need(I'm guessing, don't know the height of TTC's garages).

But has the TTC  ever consider it for high capacity bus usage? Grant you I'm not familiar with the TTC bus route network as to how the TTC  disperses their bus fleet on what routes they may do.

 

Any thoughts?

This topic has been discussed before on here, and it's a complete non-starter. None of the TTC's garages can accommodate double deck equipment (there's already been height clearance issues when maintaining rooftop equipment of Nova LFS buses at some of the older garages), and many of the TTC's major bus terminals are located underground where height clearance would be impossible to accommodate double deck vehicles.

Plus, the TTC generally does not operate the same type of long-distance commuter runs that OC Transpo might. Service generally involves fairly frequent stops and high passenger turnover (even on the Express routes), and having to wait for passengers to go up and down the stairs would add significantly to the stop dwell times.

[MCIBUS]

There are several OC routes that DD buses are on that are not express routes but cross town routes that have frequent stops and OC seems to have no problems.

[ZümmyZüm]

56 minutes ago, MCIBUS said:

There are several OC routes that DD buses are on that are not express routes but cross town routes that have frequent stops and OC seems to have no problems.

But they shouldn’t be on them. routes like the 6,75,88 where they’re often found are dramatically slowed down when a decker is on it. I much rather have a 60ft or a nova with speedy doors on any route. Express or not 

[Doppelkupplung]

37 minutes ago, ZümmyZüm said:

But they shouldn’t be on them. routes like the 6,75,88 where they’re often found are dramatically slowed down when a decker is on it. I much rather have a 60ft or a nova with speedy doors on any route. Express or not 

We need to make 3 door 40 footers a thing here. 

[Gil]

2 hours ago, Articulated said:

...

This topic has been discussed before on here, and it's a complete non-starter. None of the TTC's garages can accommodate double deck equipment (there's already been height clearance issues when maintaining rooftop equipment of Nova LFS buses at some of the older garages), and many of the TTC's major bus terminals are located underground where height clearance would be impossible to accommodate double deck vehicles.

Plus, the TTC generally does not operate the same type of long-distance commuter runs that OC Transpo might. Service generally involves fairly frequent stops and high passenger turnover (even on the Express routes), and having to wait for passengers to go up and down the stairs would add significantly to the stop dwell times.

Any agency contemplating a new garage facility may consider it depending on how far along in the planning stages they are.  Adding them to their fleet without retrofitting an existing garage or just parking them outdoors would preclude most agencies.  I can't think off hand of any GTA agency outside of the TTC that has to deal with underground terminals that can't accommodate DDs.

[Toro]

Why is is that TTC buses track wherever they are (except  broken trackers, a turned off bus, etc.) but from the time they cross a mysterious boundary in Mississauga specifically on its way to a warranty shop it just cuts off? Buses on 52 track perfectly fine and other buses have trained or done other stuff in Mississauga without the tracker stopping yet buses heading to warranty shops in sauga just cut off at Derry and vanguard 

[H4 5600]

This image of an old ttc token was sent to me recently (image is not mine).

Does anyone know if these tokens were ever actually used or if its just some kind of prototype? I have never seen one with this design before, and cant find anything about it.

[nfitz]

33 minutes ago, H4 5600 said:

Does anyone know if these tokens were ever actually used or if its just some kind of prototype? I have never seen one with this design before, and cant find anything about it.

It's a 1954 subway token. The image is from the city's website (and the city archives) - https://www.toronto.ca/explore-enjoy/history-art-culture/online-exhibits/web-exhibits/web-exhibits-transportation/the-ttc-100-years-of-moving-toronto/side-stories-ttc-fare-media/

 

[raptorjays]

I am wondering which Orion Vll would retire first? 
I know 2006 OrionVll hybrid (OG, 1000-1149) and 2006-2007 OrionVll diesel (7900-7979, 8000-8099) are the oldest fleet remaining on the TTC..

Meanwhile the diesel set didn’t even get the new livery painting while all of the hybrid did.. so does this mean the diesel one may retire before those hybrids? 

[Young]

17 minutes ago, raptorjays said:

I am wondering which Orion Vll would retire first? 
I know 2006 OrionVll hybrid (OG, 1000-1149) and 2006-2007 OrionVll diesel (7900-7979, 8000-8099) are the oldest fleet remaining on the TTC..

Meanwhile the diesel set didn’t even get the new livery painting while all of the hybrid did.. so does this mean the diesel one may retire before those hybrids? 

About 11 of the 2006 hybrids have been retired already

[raptorjays]

9 hours ago, Young said:

About 11 of the 2006 hybrids have been retired already

Aha according to CPTDB wiki

1002 1027 1033 1039 1040 1077 1092 1110 1124 1137 have been retired (that’s 10) 

For diesel..

7911 7929 7936 7939 8045 8058 8099 have been retired (that’s 7)

7900 to 7908 has been reassigned to Police unit (7901 7904 7907 are officially retired) 

7937 & 7950 has been reassigned to event support vehicle

7953 & 7960 has been reassigned to COVID-19 transport vehicle

7955-7958 has been reassigned to EMS transport bus

So 10 retired for Hybrid

10 retired for Diesel + 14 has been reassigned. 

I am wondering those diesel unit which is reassigned for other purposes would ever come back to regular service. 

[Doppelkupplung]

I don't want to be "that guy"...but I do hope at least one deezel 7 is preserved (and I don't mean TPS reassignments).

[T3G]

1 hour ago, raptorjays said:

I am wondering those diesel unit which is reassigned for other purposes would ever come back to regular service. 

Theoretically possible, but highly unlikely. There was a surplus of buses throughout the pandemic, which is why they were able to retire so many of the NG hybrids without anything new coming in. If there was any danger of a bus shortage, they wouldn't have reassigned any diesels in the first place. And with replacements on their way in the near future, they will probably end their lives in the forms they are in right now.

Last month marked 19 years since the entry of the first 7400 into service back in 2003. Makes me feel old to think that this bus type has been in service for a whole generation.

Meanwhile, while I'm here, can anyone recall how long it took the TTC to produce the average 2000 series GM rebuild? I was shocked when I was browsing our wiki and found an article cited on the 7400 page that said one bus' refurbishment only took 8 days, but then, that refurbishment was much lesser in scale compared to the GM rebuilds. The only thing resembling a timeframe I have from old allocation sheets is that the old 8533 (which became 2017) was out of service from March 1997 until it emerged as 2017 in February 1998 - there were are a few 852x-853x buses which were stored around that time and turned into 2000s, but I'm not sure if those were initially retired and the TTC eventually thought the better of it, or what the circumstances were behind their extended absence.

[Doppelkupplung]

Also if they intended for them to return to service, they likely wouldn't have been repainted. 

[Kobayashi]

4 hours ago, raptorjays said:

Aha according to CPTDB wiki

1002 1027 1033 1039 1040 1077 1092 1110 1124 1137 have been retired (that’s 10) 

For diesel..

7911 7929 7936 7939 8045 8058 8099 have been retired (that’s 7)

7900 to 7908 has been reassigned to Police unit (7901 7904 7907 are officially retired) 

7937 & 7950 has been reassigned to event support vehicle

7953 & 7960 has been reassigned to COVID-19 transport vehicle

7955-7958 has been reassigned to EMS transport bus

So 10 retired for Hybrid

10 retired for Diesel + 14 has been reassigned. 

I am wondering those diesel unit which is reassigned for other purposes would ever come back to regular service. 

15 have been scrapped, three including bus #1684 is now under the care of Sault Ste. Marie Transit. Other holdouts include #7029, #7325, #7423 and #1615 are still intact, not scrapped.

[Novabus photographer]

3 hours ago, Kobayashi said:

15 have been scrapped, three including bus #1684 is now under the care of Sault Ste. Marie Transit. Other holdouts include #7029, #7325, #7423 and #1615 are still intact, not scrapped.

Weren’t there 2 Detroit Orion VIIs that were given to the Toronto fire service for training purposes? I’m not sure what the fleet #s are.