The Killer Wait: TTC Bus Idling Needs to Stop

I'm getting totally fed up with the insanely lousy streetcar service on queen (and to a certain extent king as well). for some reason they can't seem to schedule the streetcars properly. on numerous occasions, 2 or more pass by within seconds of each other and then there is a long wait (like 20-30 minutes) until the next one comes along. of course, quite often then it is totally packed and you're lucky if you can get on.

streetcar bunching is a classic queue theory problem that's been worked on for a long long time. how do you mix a queue with defined entry and exit points and a regulated rate of flow (that is streetcars on a track traveling on a schedule) with traffic that can enter and exit the queue at random points and at random rates (all non-streetcar traffic). it is a scenario we can successfully model in queuing software but have yet to find a solution to (excluding dedicated street car lanes [i.e. not allowing random traffic into your regulated queue]).

indeed <a href="http://pubsindex.trb.org/document/view/default.asp?lbid=777105";>the ttc is studying the problem and modeling possible solutions</a>. it's just hard. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_NP-complete_problems#Routing_problems";>np-complete hard</a>. which generally means smart people get paid by universities to think about it all the time.

so it could pay to think about a solution to the bunching problem while you're standing around freezing your 'nads off...

on a slight tangent to the bus idling complaint: does anyone know what ttc policy is for drivers hopping out of buses while their on their routes to say, i don't know, grab a slice of pizza or a coffee? i ride the 92 woodbine south bus and two nights in a row this week the driver stopped south of queen and woodbine to jet into pizza pizza. he just left 4 or 5 us sitting there on the bus with it idling and the door wide open. i keep meaning to call the ttc info line to check on the official policy...

good colours on the shot, Tanja!

Tim, that's exactly what happens when buses/streetcars DON'T idle.

The issue of buses idling is an important issue, thanks for raising it Tanja. I don't know the stats, but the TTC is now acquiring many hybrid buses. If the hybrid buses work like hybrid cars such as the Toyota Prius, then the combustion engine turns of while idling, only the electric motor runs.
Of course unless something else is done by drivers of older buses now, commuters will still be exposed to the dangerous gases.

..err, that's St. Clair <em>West</em>, of course.

Rocco, no one is complaining about their bathroom break, its the fact that they have to leave their bus idling during it.

Thanks for that common sense, stung.

I am complaining about the bathromm breaks. I am also complaining about the coffee and, and as one commenter noted, pizza breaks. I sit at my desk at work for 4 hours or more before I need to use the bathroom. What is wrong with the drivers, Rocco? Are they all suffering from tiny bladders that they need to use the bathroom every hour?
These guys are the biggest whiners. Can't keep a schedule and they expect us to pay for it, like when they "short-turn" streetcars on Queen when they are running late. That just screws the people on the ends of the line who then have to wait for another car in the cold and that makes the rider even more late because the initial streetcar was late in the first place.
What is the point of publishing a schedule that indicates a vehicle every 5 minutes when it takes 20-45 minutes for one to come?
I don't accept that it is due to snow or anything else because the trip from Neville Park to downtown takes the same amount of time in the winter as it dies in the summer - I have times it numerous times.
I am a 21 year veteran rider and I have worked for the Commission as well. I know about what I am talking about. They have no respect for their PAYING riders and treat us as lower class citizens because we take transit.
I don't have to take the TTC, I can afford a car, I choose to based on my beliefs in mass transit but these guys are quickly changing my mind as to whether this is a good choice. I don't need to wait excessive amounts of time for a driver who is late, rude and who cries everytime they don't get their way(read wildcat strike).
I have taken to riding my bike everywhere 8 months of the year and I am better off for it. My heart beats like a swiss clock and my muscles are toned. No waiting, rudeness or people on their cellphones. Plus a savings of $800/year not wasted on Metropasses.
I use public transit when I visit other places and, in my experience, even 3rd World countries with rickety, broken buses are better able to keep their schedules than the TTC. Know why? Because they aren't overpaid union crybabies. They feel a need to please their customers.
The biggest condemnation of the TTC that I can think of is that it appears as if the majority of their operators drive to work. Why not take the "Better Way"?

TTC employees are consistently some of the rudest people I encounter day to day in this city. I wish this wasn't true (for me and for them) but it's an unfortunate reality that Torontonians face every day