How-Sen

It doesn’t matter if it’s natural gas, gasoline, coal, or garbage: What’s happening to our climate will not get better until we stop burning things to produce energy.

Yes we do.

This is Toronto right now. We need to stop the burning of fuel for energy.

Love it! MORE PLEASE!

It’s funny how, when faced with the obvious reality that streets predate cars by literal millennia, the “but streets were built for cars!!” people immediately switch their messaging to “but older things are always worse”. How many of them are “Make X Great Again!!”, I wonder?

Human societies have had public streets that prioritized commerce, public gathering, and public transportation for literally thousands of years before the invention of the private automobile. It’s past time to prioritize cars on *every* street.

The main difference between car traffic today and car traffic with automated robotaxis is this: Instead of roads being jammed by cars with just 1-2 people in them, roads will be jammed by cars with just 0-1 people in them.

Give any thought past “Toronto could use a second airport” and it becomes clear that Billy Bishop cannot be that airport. There’s simply no space. Compare it to Pearson, which is served by a train, two major highways, and several square kilometres of parking. #topoli

It’s important to note that almost every one of those cars has just one occupant in them (or is an Uber with one or zero passengers).

@paulmaqz Totally agree that the bunching problem needs to be dealt with. That being said, this photo is not of the Bathurst cars being bunched up because of how it’s zoomed out.

@HowSenChong This screenshot isn't an argument for bus lanes, it's evidence the 511 is broken. Six bunched cars means riders are stacked on one vehicle while gaps open behind it. Net capacity: worse. TTC paused Bathurst's Bunching & Gapping program last November. System needs fixing. #topoli

Why we need bus lanes. Here’s 6 Bathurst streetcars NB to Line 2 at rush. Those riders in their own cars or ubers at 20km/h would form a line nearly 8km long. That’s the distance from the lake to Eglinton. At 40km/h, it would be 13.8km. That’s the lake to Sheppard. #topoli

@M_Chasis @Michael56297223 This is correct. Rush hour is when every public transit vehicle is the most full. Rush hour is also when private cars are the most empty (except for the 95% of their lifespan when they’re just parked and empty)

@Michael56297223 @HowSenChong During rush hour yes, more often than not they’ll operate at or near capacity

@jonnim Here’s a long list of predictions made by Elon about autonomous vehicles since 2013. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_p…

@HowSenChong And where would the cars go? Sounds like you aren’t ready for self driving vehicles which will hit the city before 2030

Streetcars and buses deserve their own lane. If everyone in this streetcar were driving, the line of cars would stretch well over a kilometer long. (One kilometer is the distance between College and Bloor streets.) #topoli

@Michael56297223 Actually, cars are the most expensive way to get around. In Canada it costs over $1000 per month to own and operate a car. And cars spend 95% of their time parked and doing nothing.

@HowSenChong Streetcars are the most expensive form of transit! And lack flexibility

@Michael56297223 Average car has about 1.5 occupants per vehicle, which includes the driver. That math is already accounted for in the calculation. During rush hour, average private car occupancy is closer to 1.1, so during those times, the distances should be multiplied by 1.36.

@HowSenChong That’s the wrong logic to use. The “8–14 km of cars” claim is made-up math that assumes 1 rider = 1 solo driver, ignores induced demand, and uses congestion it created to justify locking narrow streets into slow, inflexible, overpriced streetcars.

@Michael56297223 Actually, streetcars pre-date cars by several decades. As do trains. So technically, it’s private cars that are the 20th century technology.

@HowSenChong Streetcars Toronto style are 20 century technology . Why clog up the road system for these dinosaurs moving slower than a glacier. Dedicated lanes don’t help. But do create additional road congestion.

@LibertyCdn The reason is that the streetcar lines were bought up by oil and gas companies, car companies, and companies who want to sell tires in the early 20th century. A lot of cities are now installing LRT/Streetcar systems again.

@HowSenChong There’s a reason most cities have abandoned street cars

@listenntalk @integrity_to More than 4x

@integrity_to One streetcar needs to pass and it will carry 4x the people in those cars. Just because your car takes up a lot of space and creates traffic doesn’t mean it is efficient. Also, where was all the hate when a lane was dedicated to parking???

On a Sunday afternoon in May, cars are gridlocked and idling as far as the eye can see - while a red lane that emits toxic fumes sit empty. Every driver in the city should remember this at the ballot box in October. 🗳️

By the way: these calculations all assume that the average number of occupants per car is 1.5 (including the driver) During rush hour, the average is closer to 1.1 occupants. So you all those final distances should be multiplied by 1.36

Here there are about six Bathurst streetcars going northbound to Line 2. At 20km/h all those riders in their own cars lined up in one lane would be nearly 8km long. That’s the distance from the Lake to Eglinton. At 40km/h, it would be 13.8km. That’s the Lake to Sheppard.