TTC streetcar routes could get extended no-parking hours

Council expected to approve extended rush-hour restrictions on downtown routes to keep transit moving

Thestar.com
Sept. 29, 2015
By Tess Kalinowski

City council is considering more parking and stopping restrictions along streetcar routes to keep transit and traffic moving along Queen, Dundas, College and Carlton streets.

A staff report before Wednesday’s council meeting proposes to extend rush-hour restrictions along those roads on most stretches between Roncesvalles Ave. and Parliament St.

The no-stopping and no-parking rules, along with a few turn restrictions, are mostly being extended between 30 and 60 minutes, depending on the stretch of road.

The old rush hour of 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. is not today's reality, said Steve Buckley, head of Toronto Transportation Services.

If the new rules can shave a TTC run, it saves money and improves the transit experience, he said.

“If we can get the end-to-end run times improving by even a few minutes, it may mean a financial savings to them or an operational benefit to the user that they can run more at more frequent headways,” said Buckley.

TTC GPS data shows some of the streetcar routes are actually slower in the periods before and after the traditional rush-hour postings than they are during the actual peak.

Buckley says the city is ready to begin installing signs in October with a view to completing the changes by mid-November. The changes are expected to be permanent but will be monitored to ensure they are having the desired effects.

Although some businesses have expressed concerns about reduced parking in their vicinity, the city’s experience on King St., where similar changes were implemented last year, didn’t elicit any negative feedback, he said.

The new parking hours will affect about 270 parking spaces on College and Carlton. Of those, about 200 will be off-limits for an additional hour per day and 50 or 60 will lose two hours a day.

On Dundas, about 110 parking spots will be off limits for an additional hour - but 90 will actually gain an hour of parking. On Queen, 100 spaces are losing an hour of parking availability and 30 are gaining an hour.

The new parking limits are estimated to cost the city about $180,000 in lost parking revenue.
There is no empirical evidence that the changes on King St. have made the streetcars run better, according to Buckley and the TTC.

The TTC has given the King car more time to run between Dundas West and Broadview stations, meaning fewer short-turns and more reliable customer service. It has also added buses to the route to move more riders.

“Changes to parking enforcement would allow us to operate more quickly and then take back some of that running time,” said TTC Deputy CEO Chris Upfold.