TRANSIT REVIEW: Cable car, walkway could replace Union Station streetcars

YorkRegion.com
Sept. 20, 2017
Rahul Gupta

WATERFRONT TRANSIT STUDY PROPOSES RADICAL OPTIONS

Some outlandish options are under consideration for improving travel around Union Station.

The Waterfront Transit "Reset" is a city-led transportation planning study spanning the water’s edge from Long Branch to Woodbine Avenue. Most of the findings aren’t too surprising – the study proposes a transit-dedicated corridor to serve Humber Bay Shores, a long-time community ask – but options get more creative for the Union corridor.

As an alternative to expanding streetcar service underneath Bay Street to Queen's Quay, the study suggests an automated walkway, like those in airports. Things get wackier with the funicular option to replace the streetcars with a high-speed cable car system. Such transit modes are in use around the world and typically built on an incline.

Don’t get too outraged or excited just yet; the findings are preliminary and wholly dependent on political approval to proceed. A study update is due in October.

CROWDSOURCED PLAN TO COUNT BIKES IN DOWNTOWN CORE

Plans are in the offing for a crowdsourcing project to count the total cyclists who make use of downtown bike lanes and other roadways.

The plan is the brainchild of Gil Meslin, who hatched the scheme over Twitter (where else). He suggests a manual calculation of bicycle traffic volume, updating the numbers produced from a 2010 city study. Having convincing data on hand will prove persuasive to politicians when it comes to approving more bike infrastructure, Meslin argues.

If you’d like to help out with a bike count, contact Meslin directly at TorontoBikeCount@gmail.com

"SIXTEEN MINUTES TO SPADINA" BEMOANS TRANSIT DELAYS

For all those stranded in the subway thanks to a TTC delay, the band Conflicting Plaid has a new transit anthem for you.

Sixteen Minutes to Spadina chronicles the band’s hilariously frustrating odyssey through the Better Way, resulting in failed relationships thanks to stalled subway cars. The self-styled lounge punk song features lyrics such as “My girl hates it when I’m late/But the subway’s stuck at Pape”.

The band insists it’s not blaming transit workers for the delays, rather voicing frustration at years of “monetary and infrastructure neglect that got us to this point”.