Toronto’s rivalry between automobiles and streetcars wages on, with important ramifications for the city’s pedestrian, cycling, and commuting population.
This morning TTC CEO Andy Byford announced a motion to establish downtown Toronto’s King and/or Queen St. as car-free zones during morning rush hour (7a.m. – 9a.m.)
The Star reports that Byford is frustrated with the slow moving and problematic streetcar service on King, which is “the busiest of the TTC’s 11 downtown streetcar routes, carrying 56,700 riders a day, more than the Sheppard subway.” Due to the rapid construction of condos on the street and in the area, the route is inevitably set to become even busier in upcoming years.
Other plans include the same car-ban on Queen St., creating transit-only lanes, or retiming traffic signals to improve the flow of traffic. “While it would be off limits to general car traffic, a streetcar corridor could be open to cyclists, taxicabs or delivery trucks,” Byford said.
The rivalry between streetcars and automobiles is one ingrained in the North American city, and dates back to the establishment of conspiracy theories as to the extinction of street cars in several North American cities, including Montreal. The conspiracy states that the public transit systems, which were bought out by a number of auto-related industries – such as GM, Firestone Tires, etc. – were intended to fail, leading to the rise of the automobile in the 50’s and 60’s.
This King St. proposal also brings to mind the recent discussion of the Right-of-Way streetcar development on St. Clair, an elevated and separated streetcar platform, which has had a largely split reception. Nay-sayers point to a construction period that went over-budget and overtime, while supporters cite an increased popularity and real estate value on the street since the project’s completion.
You can read more about Toronto’s new streetcars, which according to the TTC will “be able to carry more passengers and they will be more reliable than the existing fleet,” here.
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Jeremy Schipper is an intern at Toronto Standard. You can follow him on Twitter at @jeromeoschipps.
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