How NOT to build public transit (Toronto’s Streetcars)

Streetcars in North America have a bad reputation for being slow and "causing traffic". But trams can be a fast, reliable, and efficient transit option, as long as we prioritize just like the rest of the world.

➜ Follow Me:

➜ References:
The real story behind the demise of America's once-mighty streetcars

Fighting Traffic - The Dawn of the Motor Age in the American City

Toronto's First Subway

Downs-Thompson Paradox

Transit Signal Priority Lecture

Transit Ridership Statistics

Traffic violations on King St.

➜ Timestamps:
0:00 Transit in America sucks
1:19 The rise and fall of streetcars
3:33 Toronto's car-centric mindset
4:52 Streetcars do not cause traffic
6:48 Giving streetcars priority
10:31 User experience & accessibility
11:51 Wasted opportunity
13:08 King St Transit Priority Corridor
15:35 Conclusion

➜ Disclaimer:
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This content has been created in agreement with the Terms of Use for the “Pokémon Game Sound Library”.

- flurf
#urbanplanning #publictransport #toronto

[MasterPuppets]

I'll never get over how nice grassy tram tracks are

[ryancraig]

I have literally walked up Spadina faster than the streetcar. It's insane that they put them on the separated tracks but then didn't give them priority at the lights.

[Fumxe]

This is why I love Toronto. You'll have cars blocking the streetcar tracks mixed with the transit operator dealing with a belligerent passenger over why the streetcar is going slow.

[cosmic_jon]

I live in Berlin and take the tram every day to work. The ride itself is about 3km, 7 stops, and takes maybe 10 minutes. The tram has a dedicated lane with prioritized signaling, so it's typically faster than taking a car. By the way, we're getting new trams next year that can fit 312 people, and they come roughly every 5 minutes. It's hard to beat.

[rodchallis]

The problem is in our politics. And I don't mean that in a party political partisan way. The problems with Public Transit in North America is that the decision makers-- from the city councillors, city administrators/planners-- don't think of Public Transit in terms of providing service to the public or even in service of creating an efficient city. They think of it in terms of how much taxpayer dollars can be funnelled to Engineering/Contractor firms that both contribute to political campaigns and also hire cooperative city administrators when they want to cash in in the private sector. That's why these projects-- none of which seem bad or faulty when proposed-- fail in the execution in our eyes.

[rabbitfishtv]

Torontonian here. Great video. The most important thing I learned was about the mentality of the city, that when the subway was built, the focus was on making the streets better for cars, not on the wonder of moving all those people by transit. I’m 61 years old, have lived downtown since 1986, and never bought a car. When transit is working, it’s a joy. I love being with my fellow citizens, all going places. I love knowing we are building community and helping to fight the blight of cars. I love people-watching, I love being a piece of society, not an atomized cog, going it alone in my mini-tank.

[Coffeepanda]

I own a book detailing how cars took over the streets in my own country. It's excellent, the only reason I haven't finished reading it is it makes me too angry.

[Jordsgood]

I drive a streetcar in toronto and I agree with everything in this video.

Some many easy fixes to make streetcars more reliable but nah, lets prioritize cars instead 😅

Great video!

[A_Canadian_In_Poland]

I have found that public transit being exclusively for the poor is more specifically a U.S. thing than a Canadian thing. My experience riding the bus to Miami Beach when I was in Miami for a conference showed this--it was cheap, worked perfectly fine, the same speed as driving, but yet I was the only tourist on the bus both ways.

[Skyfoogle]

toronto's streetcar network was built in the late 1800s. theres nothing wrong with how it was built, they're just not meant to co-exist with automobiles.

[Frostbiker]

Everybody hates traffic, but some people don't realize that's what they become when they drive.

[mattiapreti]

Cars cause more congestion in all areas of Toronto than all others forms of transit. Drivers aggressively block busy intersections on a daily basis, which backs up buses and street cars.

[CasualCommuter_]

I took the 509 Waterfront streetcar and was shocked at how slow it ran – despite having a dedicated right of way. The 511 Bathurst streetcar which runs in mixed traffic runs faster lol. They must have completely botched the signalling, and shocked they haven't fixed it yet.

[Randomperson-heef]

Lets not forget that the cars keep on being delayed so it’s not like we are even going to be able to use them. (The transit in my area was meant to finish 4 years ago….)

[greysea]

Since the new streetcars have been put into use, track repairs have syrocketed. It's clear that the rail system in Toronto was never designed for the larger cars.

[coverversionoftheday]

I've always wondered why they removed all of the North South streetcars. Now I know. It's because they put the Yonge line in thinking that it made the surface level lines redundant.

SMH

[knarf_on_a_bike]

I used to live in New Toronto (Lake Shore and Kipling). Taking the streetcar was brutal. Average 90 minutes to get downtown. Most of that was the trudge along Queen through Parkdale. You're right, streetcars and cars don't mix.

[gmm]

I remeber when i showed and guided a american friend coming here to Bangkok firsttime..He was shocked how easy and cheap u get around in a 14 million mega city with skytrains subway busses and even insanely cheap scooter taxis.. sitting in a car is only to be stuck in traffic

[taotaoliu]

I have not yet used Toronto’s streetcars, but I personally didn’t have any issues riding their public buses and subway trains!

[ScavengingWisdom]

Commenting to boost this vid in the algorithm, more people need to see this.