Transit improvements offer hope for King route riders

By Anthony Marcusa –

If waiting for the King streetcar can at times seem to take forever, then waiting for TTC service changes can seem to take even longer.

The overcrowded and poorly timed King St. transit, a future Downtown relief line, the Georgetown South corridor for GO Transit, and the diesel versus electric train debate were among the main issues of a town hall meeting hosted by Trinity-Spadina MP Olivia Chow on Aug. 23.

By coincidence, the meeting was held the same day that the TTC and Chair Adam Giambrone were given a 50-page report with over 75 recommendations to improve service. Before addressing the impetus of the evening, Giambrone spoke briefly about the first of many sessions concerning the report.

“We’ve done two things, the first of which is to go ahead immediately to hire a manager of customer service,” he said. “Secondly, at our September meeting we will have a detailed action plan with all the issues addressed. Some will be very quick, while others will take longer.”

As for the King streetcar, Giambrone offered some ameliorations and concessions to the situation on King St., but also stressed the realities.

“We simply don’t have enough streetcars: we are at 247, which is about 12 to 15 short or what we need to provide a level of service,” he said. “Ridership is growing much faster than we anticipated, despite a fare increase.”

“We’re at about 14 million rides above budget—quite remarkable considering the economic situation.”

The busiest surface route in the city, the King streetcar services around 54,000 people a day—a number that becomes more impressive when compared to the longer Dufferin and Queen lines, which both carry around 43,000 a day.  Moreover, in theory, the King streetcar has the smallest headway with two minutes and two seconds between cars, quicker than the subway. Of course, as Giambrone admitted, theory often doesn’t pan out into reality.

“Challenges include being stuck behind left hand turns, parking issues that restrict lanes down to one, and just an overall increase in traffic,” he said.

There will be some changes coming soon, Giambrone announced. After Labour Day five new streetcars will be added to the route, and the TTC will continue to use GPS units to allow riders to know with great accuracy when cars will arrive.

While King may see some changes soon, the possible Downtown subway relief line, is years and maybe even decades away. Moreover, a new order of 204 streetcars, costing $1.22 billion, will be deployed in 2012, with some beginning in late 2011. Yet, subway cars that were ordered four years ago have finally arrived, and will be seen in the next month on the extra track on the Sheppard line.

Giambrone was not the only target of agitated residents during the Aug. 23 meeting.

Gary McNeil, managing director of GO Transit, delivered news concerning expanded routes and diesel vehicles, leading to questions of noise, pollution, and decision making.

The Georgetown South line, which runs through Liberty Village and Parkdale, will be adding tracks, requiring construction along Strachan Ave. A grade separation will be enacted, where the existing track floor will be replaced and lowered 20 feet, while the road will be raised about 10 feet.

Construction is to begin this fall, with an office opening at 900 King St. W. for the public to interact and raise their issues or concerns.

In the end, Giambrone reminded everyone that globally speaking, Torontonians have it okay. “Out of 35 metoro operations, TTC has the second highest labour productivity. And at rush hour, while our subway averages 4.5 people per square metre, some European cities are around six, and Asian cities are as high as nine people per square metre.”

“It’s gonna be crowded, people.”