Nearly two weeks into the King Street pilot project, the CEO of the TTC says he’s pleased with the so-called new normal on the downtown arterial road.
“It was often quicker to walk and that’s ridiculous,” Andy Byford said while aboard a 504 streetcar on Thursday morning.
“It was embarrassing.”
As of Nov. 12, drivers became prohibited from using King Street as a thoroughfare between Bathurst and Jarvis streets. The new rules, which will last at least a year, are aimed at reducing gridlock for the some 65,000 people who use the city’s busiest streetcar route daily.
Those who violate the rules could face a $110 fine and two demerit points.
While there are some exceptions – taxis can use the street hassle free between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. – the designated portion has become practically car-free.
“The main issue was that cars turning left held up the line of streetcars, that was always going to be an impediment, but also the sheer volume of traffic on King did mean that the cars tended to bunch up and took far too long getting through the key, core central areas,” Byford said.
“I defy anyone to say that the previous status quo was working. It clearly wasn’t. King Street was grinding to a halt.”
It will be another few weeks before the TTC is able to provide hard data on how much faster the streetcars are moving since the new initiative, but Byford said that it appears commute times on King have been reduced.
And, so far, customers seem to agree.
“It comes more consistently and faster,” one rider told Byford while riding the King streetcar on Thursday morning.
“Streetcars come more frequently, which is good,” said another.
Other riders acknowledged that it’s been a lot easier for them to get to school or work in the morning since streetcars have taken priority on King Street.
But the changeover isn’t squeaky clean.
Some passengers told Byford that they’re finding that, despite increased efficiency, the streetcars are still jam packed during rush hours.
Back in October, the TTC confirmed that about a quarter of all their surface routes exceed crowding standards at some point each week. At the time, TTC spokesperson Stuart Green said the delayed delivery of new streetcars is partly to blame.
Initially, the TTC’s contract with Bombardier called for 145 streetcars to be in service by now but only 48 of those are on Toronto’s roads.
Byford said he’s aware of the overcrowding complaints and said the route is currently pushed to its limit.
“Right now, we're at the cost of the whole fleet,” he said. “We’re using every streetcar we have available to use.”
His critics, meanwhile, have set their sights on the impact the changes are having on Toronto’s drivers.
City councillor and mayoral candidate Doug Ford intends on making the King Street initiative a 2018 election issue. He called the pilot project a “car exclusive zone” that should be “blamed on the mayor.”
Byford says he hopes city hall gives the pilot a fair shot before judging its effectiveness with a “kneejerk reaction.”
“I think my main plea to council is to give it time. The whole point of a pilot is to see if it has the desired effect not only for transit customers, and that’s who I’m prioritizing, that’s who I’m advocating for, but you also need to look at the impact on businesses and traffic,” he said
“I know not everyone will be supportive of this but a calm, measured, proper evaluation should happen once we have the facts and once we have the data.”
Byford, who announced earlier this week he would be stepping down from his position in Toronto to lead New York City’s public transit system, remains focused on long-term improvement.
“This is about making King Street work better,” he said. “This is about putting transit and people first.”
