TTC Apology Form To: TTC I apologize for ever not appreciating your commitment to running the subway frequently and taking 6 minute maximum headways for granted. Thank you that you love running trains so frequently they get bunched together.

Mac the squirrel :)@macsquirelera.bsky.social · 22h ago

I love a 15 minute gap in red line service during rush hour the CTA is so good

Final Toronto thought. This is a completely insane way to run a Tram system. What is wrong with the city, why don’t they even seem to care about the streetcars

A story of cause and effect: Last November, Ontario banned cities from using speed safety cameras to issue tickets. Reckless speeding immediately surged in Toronto, Ottawa, Guelph, and cities throughout the province. A 🧵 about my latest in Bloomberg (gift link)

What Happens When Speed Cameras Get Shut Off

In 2025, Ontario banned automated traffic enforcement. Now the number of drivers exceeding the speed limit has surged, according to traffic data.

bloomberg.com

First of all there are numerous intersections where they do NOT require major redesigns. Because either the space is already there but there's no island, or there even is already an island but the signal timings don't take advantage of it.

So this would be around 21 km/h. If the Finch West LRT with a similar stop spacing was this fast, it would only take 29 minutes to travel the whole 10.3 kilometers.

Messrs Chrétien and Harris are absolutely correct. Canada needs its CANDU nuclear technology and must keep foreign interlopers (🇺🇸) out of that sector. 🍁🍁🍁

Billy Bishop’s current Q400s are as noisy as or noisier than the Airbus A220 or Embraer E2-90. An A320neo on approach is the same as a Q400. So jets would not be more disruptive sound-wise for Toronto’s waterfront. Max (Approach) EPNdb Agreement 92.0 Q400 93.1 A220 91.5 E2-95 81.7 A320neo 92.3

Ryan Hassett@ryanhassett.bsky.social · 5d ago

I don't buy the common claim that keeping only props is so much better than jets though. Running E2s and CSeries at the exact same daily flight level with no increase would be an improvement. Higher volumes, higher connectivity and negligible change in noise pollution.

Sorry Holyday but expanding YTZ will not reduce traffic at YYZ. YYZ has five runways for even the biggest jets, which no island airport would ever do. Yes, the island airport could take more continental flights but is that going to reduce so much when all the oceanic and flight connections are YYZ!?

Matt Elliott@graphicmatt.com · 6d ago

"The most upsetting part about it is to call it a 'win'," says Holyday re: the outcome of the island airport fight. He says the outcome just means more flights out of Pearson, with more planes that fly over Etobicoke. He says that's a "loss" for a lot of people, and not worth celebrating.

This would be the most important local finance reform since Elizabeth I. Finally introducing local revenue sources that aren't property taxes will ensure places really benefit from local growth - more jobs and/or higher wages in a place will translate into more investment and services:

Brian Groom@groomb.bsky.social · 2w ago

Burnham plans to give England's 14 regional and metro mayors a share of income tax revenue to spend on their cities. Unclear whether this will need legislation, or whether 'equalisation measures' will be needed to prevent poorer regions from losing out.

Asked about the decision not to issue refunds for tokens, the TTC's Josh Colle said the logistics would have been complex. Because tokens were sold widely by third parties, people would have needed to physically bring tokens to the TTC for authentication first. A labour-intensive process.

this is the big reason for a battery. Most modern locomotives are electric drive, and the diesel engines turn generators, to power the drive motors. with a battery you can capture the power that's currently wasted.

The International Union of Railways has released a report confirming what we have been saying for years: transferring revenue risk to the private sector simply doesn't work, and the public is left to eat the cost anyway. 🧵 1/4 (Paywall) buff.ly/JBDCl4l

I believe the city is looking into it even though it’s not being broadcast. The best way for an opponent to defeat you is to not try. 🙂 Growing up I saw how effective continuing public pressure is. We need to see more of that like the recent push against expanding Toronto Island airport.

There are neighbourhoods all over Toronto that would be negatively affected if Ontario ever gets around to actually increasing frequency on GO rail lines. You can both sympathize and also say "you bought a house near train tracks."

Has the Proterra debacle been solved and spare parts and support finally become available again? Or will all the existing buses end up being scrapped almost-new? I know Phoenix Motorcsrs took their BEB bus line, Volvo Group their battery business, and Cowen Equity their charging infrastructure.

Jarrett Walker@humantransit.bsky.social · last wk.

Many transit managers have already been through hell on zero-emission, from being forced to buy buses before they were reliable from a company that then went bankrupt. Say the word "Proterra" to your local transit manager and observe the facial reaction 6/

I want transit systems that are well funded, pleasant, frequent, and efficient. Consistent fare-paying supports those goals. Every world class transit city has figured this out. Personally I think the German system is best, but there are lessons and options to take from other countries too.

Canada needs to move swiftly to introduce Enhanced Train Control. As well as providing necessary safety improvements, it could also have capacity benefits. www.transportaction.ca/topics/inter...

CN collision with Exo train attributed to lack of Enhanced Train Control

Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) investigation report (R23D0108), released on September 16, 2025, highlighted the lack of fail-safe engineering controls ensure to trains follow signal…

transportaction.ca

The Transportation Safety Board has released a report into a CN locomotive rear-ending an Exo train on Nov. 21, 2023. www.tsb.gc.ca/eng/rapports... It finds the CN train ignored a speed restriction and was going almost three times that limit.

An interested article on how real-time data was used to track buses being misused in Ireland. villagemagazine.ie/the-e1-2-bil...

The €1.2 billion Public Service Obligation-funded Heist - Village Magazine

How public cash funding Expressway shadow fleet has been exposed using the State’s own real-time tracking data

villagemagazine.ie

Every city is different mate. In bigger cities like NYC, Chicago, and even urbanized LA, transit has a lot better chance to compete on service alone because traffic is so congested on all the roads anyways.

The thing about Toronto streetcars and transit priority is you don't need to take the TTC's excuses at face value. You can just go to YouTube and search like Zurich trams to see if level boarding on island platforms creates too high a platform with a step down to the sidewalk (nope).

"Austerity or free fares." lol There is a third option where you subsidize the transit well and *also* take fare collection seriously. That option is the one used around the world to create high quality transit in rich and poor countries alike. Let's just do that instead of making it complicated.

I mean the white/yellow border of the dial - just don't recall if it was the bottom of white, the white/yellow boundary, or the top of yellow that gradually moved down. But it seems like the drivers are being more conservative than necessary.

I've had a look at the driver's instrument panel on a couple of Line 5 trips recently. The yellow bar suggests that the vehicles know there's no need to slow down for intersections - but the drivers do it anyway. So it seems to be a training issue.

Line 6 will be closed for most of August 3rd (opening 4pm) due to signalling updates by Metrolinx and Mosaic Transit Group. TTC will operate shuttle buses. I wonder if this is when CBTC will be updated with the new removed speed restrictions? Why is full closure needed? @swanboatsteve.bsky.social

One less well known side story from the Gimli incident: An Air Canada maintenance crew drove from Winnipeg to Gimli to work on the recovery. Their van ran out of gas on the way.

almost as if tax revenue in combination with fares provides good service. almost as if a moderation of reliance on fare revenue incentivizes the agency to increase ridership.

Gimli Glider’s cousin is Air Transat Flight 236 from Toronto to Lisbon (Portugal) in 2001 in an Airbus A330. Just over halfway across the Atlantic Ocean on the overnight flight, the aircraft lost power in both engines due to a fuel leak in one of the engines fuel feed pipes. A scary adventure.

JackTatt 🇨🇦@jacktatttran.bsky.social · 2w ago

If you know about AC 143, do you also know about Air Transat flight TS236?

Does everyone here know about the Gimli Glider (Air Canada Flight AC 143 plane crash) because it is a fascinating non-crash? Or must I explain the amazing story.

JackTatt 🇨🇦@jacktatttran.bsky.social · 2w ago

P.S. More people need to know about ACA143. It is an underrated airplane incident.

Some planes, including commercial airliners have landed on public roads (Southern Airways SOU242) or former repurposed airfields (Air Canada ACA143). It would be awfully funny if one were to make an emergency landing in Bar Nunn thinking it were a suitable former airport: “clear to land at Bar Nunn”