jandro

I used to take that streetcar from Roncesvalles years ago and the ones that go down King and Queen. I think I had to allow about an hour to get downtown. The streetcars are way out of date compared to what you see in European cities.

DigitalGhost

Apparently, it is the only remaining commuter street car service in Canada and one of the few left in North America. There is a reason for that I think.

MarylandNed

Yes but only in name - there are still many urban, above-ground "light rail" systems in use today. So a single "streetcar" has evolved to become a longer "light rail" vehicle (e.g. with 2 or 3 cars connected together).

Many cities in North America and Europe have installed/expanded light rail systems in recent years. I've seen them in places like Baltimore, Dublin and Manchester - and Manchester is still expanding by adding more lines.

Some light rail systems run above ground off streets on dedicated rails, some run on streets (like streetcars), and some do a mixture of both. Some function underground in certain areas and emerge above ground in others (Toronto has a streetcar that does this down near Harbourfront).

DigitalGhost

Don't even get me started on that thing. That particular racket was one of the reasons why I decided to come to Canada in the first place.

babsi

I wouldn`t rely on the 504 in rush hour. I am not 100% sure about the morning commute but coming back you will probably be having to let some go as there is no space at all to get on. The other problem with streetcars is if one breaks down it messes everything else up behind it causing even more delays.

sonnyjames

Thanks for all the replies guys. I'd imagined allowing 15 minutes or so extra, but not an extra 40 minutes! Sounds like the streetcars are going to be ace fun.

(hunts telephone numbers for nearby bike shops).

Ben W Bell

If you're going to live all the way in Roncesvalles village the rush hour streetcars can get a bit crowded that late in the morning. Between 7-8 it's not so bad, but after 8 it's very packed (Torontonians are late risers for some reason.)

I'd recommend instead going up to Dundas West station and getting the subway to St George and changing there to go down to St Andrews station or whichever is closest.

Oh and the real trick to getting space on a streetcar in the downtown core, if you are getting on at a subway station, walk a block back and get on there. It's the subway stations that really fill them up quick.

Novocastrian

There's one just around the corner at the foot of Roncey on King. (Second hand stuff, well priced i.e. stolen). I used to use it a lot. I say no more.

wizzard

The thing that makes the street cars archaic in Toronto is that they share the road and so, as mentioned in several posts, you are held up by cars turning in the same lane, you exit the street car into traffic and hope it stops etc.
LRT is different in that it is designed to operate on its own right of way just like a regular train but 'light' so it can do city streets etc. The right of way on St Clair is kind of psuedo LRT in that it is a dedicated line that does not share with traffic but it operates regular street cars. The new streetcars that come into service in coming years will be an improvement, but true LRT is a step up from that.
I live in Corso Italia, Dufferin/St Clair W neighbourhood and the right of way line there is a huge improvement, both over the old cars which, much like the downtown lines on Queen, King, College etc. were frequently slow due to traffic interaction, and the bus service that ran temporarily during construction which was really slow.
Now the timing of the cars is more predictable as they are only held up by traffic lights and the time to get to St Clair W subway station (or where ever) is more reliable.
I don't think the traffic is any worse when I drive down St Clair (not very often) as you no longer have street cars interfering wih traffic, but there are down sides with it being harder to turn left etc. but you know what, if you are driving in the city you have to expect it not to be a relaxing experience like in a small town, suburbs etc.
The Eglington cross town should be good. Already there is expanding development along St Clair due to improved accessability from the ROW line so the same should happen to Eglington, which needs some renewal I think.
Obviously as mentioned above having the whole line underground is the ideal solution as far as usability goes for transit and cars etc. but then having it be a subway would be even better, having personal helicopters that fly you to your destination would be even better again, but what limits that is prohibitive cost (among other things). The additional cost of putting the whole line underground is out of touch with the benefit gained, as a dedicated ROW LRT line on the wide stretches of Eglington would have minimal impact on cars. I drive Eglington every day from Dufferin out to near the airport and there is loads of space for an LRT line, apart from the core part which was always going to be underground.
The money saved by doing that is much more effectively spent on improving other transit issues, adding additional LRT lines as in the original Transit City plan so that you get decent reliable transit for large areas of the city lying outside the downtown core, rather than a really good, but really expensive solution for one small (relative to the whole city) area.
Same with putting a subway extension on Sheppard instead of an LRT as originally planned. Crazy expensive and not really neccessary.
Ford has effecgively spent the entire Transit City budget, including everything from the Province, on burying the Elgington Crosstown and now has no money left for his subway and all the other plans like extending the crosstown to the Airport (majorly needed), putting LRT on Finch, or up Jane etc. etc. are no longer even on the table.
Even if you are going to go crazy and spend all your money on a subway then they should at least build the downtown relief line that has been recomended since the 60's, instead of extending the part of the exisiting subway that hardly anyone uses.