Saturday, October 21, 2006

Excellent reader input - Steetcar (non)-performance

I get a number of comments each week. All comments are welcome - although I won't post trashy comments.

Earlier this week, a reader forwarded me an analysis he had done on TTC ridership by route. I've done some of my own analysis of overall ridership (a while ago now)- but this was new to me.

The analysis show the TTC top bus and streetcar routes by ridership per service hour. I've inserted a table provided to me below.

It's clear that steetcars are providing any extra capacity. This is no surprise to me - go back to some of the earlier posts on this blog. Here we have it from the TTC's own statistics.


Interesting reader input Posted by Picasa

PS - The reader was posting on streetcar afficionado Steve Munro's website - until Mr. Munro apparently curtailed the discussion. Again, no surprise to moi. I was in a debate with streetcar fan James Bow last year. After a number of posts back and forth, Mr. Bow ran for cover. Transitheads aren't used to be presented with facts and figures they don't like! Thank-you to Mr. Clawson - keep up the good work.

4 comments:

N. Clawson said...

Hi - Thanks-you for posting this. You've improved the way the numbers are displayed.

PS - aren't you a bit presumptuous with the 'Mr.'?

J. Albert said...

My apologies Ms. Nicole, Nellie :-). I guess most people writing about this are male. I guess I'm not supposed to know for certain.

Good luck with your blog!

James Bow said...

I hope this comment finds you well and enjoying this autumn. I saw my name and thought I'd stop by. I remember some of the debates we had. Although we did argue quite strongly on this, I hope that my recollection that we remained relatively respectful through it is, indeed, true. I'm sorry if you felt that I cut and run, but from my recollection, it had become clear that neither of us was going to sway the other to their side, and so further debate between was unproductive. As I recall, you disputed the carrying capacity of streetcars; I responded by providing technical specifications; you disputed the technical specifications citing your own research and experience, and I disputed your disputes citing my own experience. In the end, I thought it was more productive to agree to disagree. Transit Toronto is only a hobby of mine, and I have only have so many hours in a day to devote to it.

Yes, I am a passionate supporter of the streetcars, for the reasons I've given, which you've already questioned, and I'm not going to change. I hope that we can continue to agree to disagree on this. I may be a fan of public transit in general and rail transit in particular, but that doesn't mean I'm blind to the fact that the TTC could be improved. And the same holds true with Steve Munro. If you check out his blog, you'll see that he'll admit that while the idea of putting St. Clair's streetcars on private right-of-way is basically sound, the way the City of Toronto has implemented the plan has left a lot to be desired. And we both acknowledge that the current streetcar design can be improved. I myself much preferred the PCCs, which were significantly lighter than the CLRVs. And I believe that you yourself acknowledged that a new LRT design, such as what operates in Europe or the United States, could significantly improve public transit in this city.

If you want to see some of the stuff I'm getting up to, you're welcome to check out my own blog. Our previous argument aside, there are other things we could talk about, perhaps. I'm certainly willing to hear other opinions and learn. I might surprise you.

J. Albert said...

I haven't kept up on your (Mr. Munro's) blog recently. (I saw the post about the swan boats.) Family takes precedence over blogging - and sometimes it's just better to take time out to write something a little different.

I haven't seen much posted on Mr./Ms. Clawson's space.