City
This is what the new TTC streetcar looks like
The new TTC streetcars are as slick-looking in person as they are on paper. Earlier today media were invited to get a peek at the future light rail vehicles, which are on display at the Hillcrest Yards (public viewing begins on Saturday). Although the first cars won't hit the Toronto rails until 2013, a full prototype — the version on display right now is only a mock-up — will undergo testing starting next summer. That's still a long time to wait for these vastly improved machines, but good on the TTC for creating a little bit of buzz for LRV.
We already posted some basic info about the new cars when the TTC unveiled the new design last week, but actually getting a chance to walk through one gave a much better impression of what these things are going to be like to ride.
The first thing that you notice is that despite the increase in size, there doesn't appear to be loads more seating. The current ALRV cars (you know, the double ones) offer 61 seats, while these new cars have 70. Where the biggest difference exists, however, is in terms of total capacity. The new cars can accomodate 130 people, whereas the ALRVs hold 108, and the single car CLRV reaches its limit at 74.
That may not seem like a huge increase, but when the new cars have been fully integrated into the system, which isn't expected until 2018, it will raise the fleet's rush hour capacity by almost 6500 passengers, which is 32 per cent gain. The vehicles are also far more accessible than their predecessors.
Also noteworthy is that some of the side seats are back facing, meaning that you'll be placed directly across from your fellow passengers. That, I suspect, not everyone will like, but it doesn't look like it'll be too tight as far as leg room goes. And, hey, for tall people, the current front-facing seats are a bit of cram, so perhaps this represents an overall gain in comfort, just not in a social capacity. I'd also be willing to bet that there will be lots of people who will take the opportunity to put their feet on the opposing seats.
To the same degree that the design features of the new streetcars have been updated, so too will the payment system. The new cars will use proof of payment, which means that the driver won't handle fares. Instead the vehicles will be outfitted with a Presto card system and two ticket vending machines that will accept tokens, change and credit/debit (no bill). Enforcement of fares will be taken car of by roving inspectors.
Perhaps the best news about this new payment implementation is that it will require the system to move to time-based transfers, something that many have been hoping would be introduced for quite some time. You'll be able to hop on and off for short periods without having to repay your fare.
It all looks and sounds exciting. So if you're interested in a look at the future of Toronto's surface transit, head on over to Hillcrest to have a look.
The mock-up LRV will be open to the public from November 12-15 (10 a.m. to 7 p.m.) at the Hillcrest yards.
Additional photos:
Photos by Tom Ryaboi
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--Case
Also I always love it when two benzes pull up beside each other and they're exactly the same. The drivers always look like girls who wore the same dress to the prom. Suddenly not so special after all.
Grow a bigger penis.
Laughing the whole time in traffic when your Mercedes can't reach 25km/h and gets dirtied up by the slushy roads of Canada's winter.
Oh and the streetcar looks nice.
@hahaha you don't have a Mercedes. You probably ride transit too.
http://i.imgur.com/5TOdt.jpg
you'll start seeing these in 2013 (hopefully!)
Also, PoP? Really? Does that mean transit will be essentially free like the Viva, or will they pay extra to have enough ticket inspectors that people might actually pay for the streetcar? PoP only works for situations like the GO Train where it is not feasible to have collectors or turnstyles, but the trips and times between stops are long enough that you can have fairly regular ticket inspectors. In all other situations you will just lose a ton of money on it.
Aside from those criticisms, the new streetcars look very nice. Why are buses and streetcars trying to be GO Trains though? Quad seating and PoP systems really don't work on anything by GO Trains.
The entire fleet will be in service by 2018 with the first set of deliveries coming in late 2013 or 2014.
something that miller never could
No PCC headlight? Ah well, would have been a neat design cue.
Payment on board is moronic -- how will that work on a crowded streetcar at ruch hour? Answer: it won't. Payment should be at machines at every stop. And the stops should be after the lights, not before. And there should be many fewer stops -- this thing is practically longer than the distance between Victoria and Yonge on the 501. And the stops should appear on the subway map... never mind, streetcar talk is too depressing when it comes to what the TTC could have been.
As for the rear facing seats, keep in mind that this is a re-badged Bombardier Flexity Outlook. Those are normally bi-directional, with a driver seat at each end. In most cities the streetcar pull in to the last stop, then it reverses. Toronto is very unusual because it still has the loop system for turning PCC's around, so the TTC Flexity's will only run in one direction. But you still get the "backwards" seats meant for bi-directional running.
This is how it works in many (maybe all) European systems, even Subways. Not everyone has their tickets checked on every ride but the odds are high enough that your ticket may be checked that it deters cheating. The key is how it's implemented.
Just keep the old streetcars and use the money to increase service.
You may prefer all forward-facing seats, but the geniuses who designed the all-forward facing seating in the back of the new Orion buses were suddenly faced with numerous complaints from customers who where getting felt up by their seat-neighbour. When you're in the window-seat on a crowded bus there's no witness and no way to escape.
Carsickness is a small price to pay for an environment safer from sexual harassment if you ask me.
Shut down car traffic on Queen Street or King Street and voila - you'll have the much needed Downtown Relief Line at no extra cost. There's plenty of parallel streets to absorb the extra car traffic. I don't understand why no one in the city is advocating to give an existing street car line its own street - at least in the downtown core.
hopefully they run just as well
Having virtually all of our entire core surface routes completely inaccessible to people in wheelchairs in 2011 is appalling.
Construction is already underway, cancelling the contract would cost millions in penalty fees at this point.
You can't run better service if your fleet is falling apart.
Because they're not smart enough to think things through, and just make a stupid remark and think they're setting people straight. 'If I were running the TTC, I'd <simplistic solution that totally misses the point, and demonstrates a complete lack of understanding about transit, economics, and everything else>.' These people are mildly annoying in the BlogTO comments, and profoundly destructive in City Hall.
As for the new streetcars: I'll miss the clunky old ones for sentimental reasons, but this is one of the few steps forward that Toronto is taking these days.
D'oh indeed!
And this forum brings out the best of the dumb ass comments. Grow up!
What's with people being so callous on transit lately? I was standing on a crowded subway recently and an old woman got on and no one got up to give her their seat. I wanted to say something but I didn't want to embarass her. It's shameful. If an old person, a child, or someone with a baby carriage gets on, get off your fat ass and give them your seat!
Cant' wait to see the new street cars. The new trains are great. Now put them on the tracks already!
Widening roads and replacing street cars with electric buses that could pull over when picking up passengers so that auto traffic could pass. Thus assisting in relieving downtown gridlock while increasing passenger safety. Never mind the millions of dollars in tax payer money that would be saved by not having to rip up roads to replace tracks while simultaneously taking thousands of dollars from the pockets of already struggling small business owners who's store fronts are impeded by nearly useless crews of TTC construction workers who spend more time leaning on their shovels than anything else.
Downtown gridlock is caused by individual automobiles, most of them single-occupant vehicles. Transit is the cure, not the disease.
Biggest problem with GTA transit is that union c@(%suckers and city-"planners" dont allow for amalgamation of YRT-TTC etc. You pay 13-14 dollars just to go to school from Richmond Hill and back. Total BS.
These cars do look nice, but the "mental effort" to improve GTA transit is misplaced.