Monday, June 23rd, 2014 An argument for Electric Trolley Buses in Toronto
I was recently given a flyer by a friend, published by Toronto's transit company, the TTC. The flyer advertised the arrival of our new streetcar fleet, being delivered between late 2014 and 2018, purchased to replace our aging fleet of existing streetcars that have been in service since the late 70's.
The new streetcars are made by Bombardier and are called "Flexity". They are made up of five pieces, separated by 4 articulating sections. With the floor only 12 inches off the ground, they should be easier to ride for people with mobility issues. An extendable ramp helps wheelchairs, scooters, and carriages on board.
The TTC has ordered 204 of these streetcars, at a cost of $1.2-billion, or about $5.8-million each. The streetcar is 98 feet long, seats 70, and can carry an additional 181 standing passengers, for a total estimated capacity of 251 people. They are powered by a pantograph system that draws electricity from overhead wires, and have a maximum speed of 70 km/h. They are expected to last 30 years.
Sounds great, right? Except, anyone who has used the streetcars in Toronto has probably noticed that the system isn't ideal. Streetcars share the road with cars, trucks, and bicyclists on most routes, and require traffic to come to a stop to take on or disgorge passengers. At other times, they are at the mercy of the traffic in front of them. During rush hour, streetcars can average less than 5 km/h.
Streetcars are also unable to navigate around obstacles in the road, such as broken-down cars, delivery vehicles parked too far into the track, left-turning vehicles, other streetcars, and more. Since they ride on a track, the only directions they may turn is where the track exists and where the mechanical switch is functional. This track network is another problem: It must be constantly repaired and maintained, at great cost. Usually, a main thoroughfare must be closed for months as the tracks are completely replaced, one rail at a time, and this work lasts only 10-20 years. St. Clair Avenue was recently upgraded to have a streetcar right-of-way, at a cost of $106-million.
Beyond the cost of the new streetcars themselves, the required infrastructure to support them is also expensive. The TTC is spending $700-million on building a new carhouse, upgrading platforms, installing curb cuts, and more. This brings the total price tag for these new streetcars to $1.9-billion.
But is there a better way?
There is. A transit vehicle exists that has a lower cost-per-passenger, much lower infrastructure costs, and at the same time, solves many of the other issues that plague streetcars. That vehicle is the electric trolley bus.
Once upon a time, Toronto had a small fleet of electric trolley buses, and a few lines on which they ran. The last of these was shut down in 1992, apparently to avoid the cost of maintenance that the electric lines required, and due to the promised efficiency of natural gas buses. Those buses have turned out to be not as promised, and the TTC has all but abandoned the natural gas-powered bus.
Electric trolley buses have been in use for many years in Vancouver, with great success. They have the energy efficiency and cleanliness of electric streetcars, but without many of the restrictions. They are able to navigate into and out of bus bays, as well as traverse both lanes of traffic, so passengers do not need to cross live lanes. They are just as friendly to people with mobility issues, featuring low-floor boarding and extendable ramps. The capacity is not as high as our new streetcars, but is still respectable: 47 seated, 73 standing, for a total of 120 passengers.
The big savings come in the form of cost. In Vancouver, a recent extension of a trolley-bus line of 3.1km cost a mere $1.5-million, or about $483,000 per kilometre. The above-road electric lines also require far less maintenance than in-ground tracks, as they are not subject to tires, road salt, plowing, and other maintenance. The single biggest line-item on savings is the cost of each vehicle, hovering just around $700,000, or over 8 times cheaper than the Bombardier FLEXITY. The cost per passenger (that is, the cost of the vehicle divided by capacity) is just $5,800, compared with $23,400 on the streetcar. And that's not even taking into account that giant streetcar $700m infrastructure price tag.
These buses are cheaper than streetcars, quieter than streetcars, can go where streetcars can't go, and don't require an expensive and limiting track network. It seems like a no-brainer to me: Toronto needs electric trolley buses!
Do I expect to see electric trolley buses on Toronto's streets anytime soon? No. It's very unlikely that Toronto will move away from her beloved streetcars, despite the many problems they inherently possess. But I'd like to at least imagine a future where traffic doesn't have to move at the speed of these giant behemoths as they lumber noisily along the street.
Monday, June 9th, 2014 Such long time since update!
Sorry about the long time since updates. I've been busy renovating and with all sorts of crazy projects, but I need to find time to post them.
In the meantime, here is a photo from January of me walking my dog across the lake.
Features: Air conditioning, cruise control, power locks, remote keyless entry, power windows, power mirrors, adjustable steering, heated seats, heated side mirrors
Fuel consumption city/highway: 11.5/7.8 L/100km
Fuel tank: 64 L
Colour: Metallic Silver
Mileage: 184,000 KM
Headlamps: Two-bulb high-end headlamps
Fog lamps: Yes
MAINTENANCE DATA
Oil changes: All performed on time, most recent one just before sale.
Timing belt: Replaced at 155,000 KM
Head gasket: Replaced in 2012 (both sides)
A/C compressor: Replaced in 2012
Undercoating: Fall 2012
GENERAL CONDITION
Car drives beautifully. No problems.
Minor cosmetic issues such as scuffs and scratches
The last DriveClean check was last year and it passed with a perfect score in each category.
ADDED FEATURES INCLUDED IN SALE
Viper car alarm with remote start. Includes two remotes with 2-way communication and 1-mile range.
Auto-dimming mirror with HomeLink garage door opener
Nordic winter tires and rims included! (In addition to the summer tires)
Alloy wheels with Nokian 3-season tires
New Optoma Yellowtop battery purchased in 2012
4x rear parking sensors in rear bumper, with on-dash distance display and warning alarm.
Headlamps upgraded to xenon-arc HID, 6500K
Fog lamps upgraded to xenon-arc HID, 6500K
2x rear-view camera installed, however not connected.
OEM Subaru rear spoiler installed
OEM Subaru bumper protector
OEM Subaru rubber trunk liner
LED strip lights in interior
LED strip lighting in trunk/cargo area
High-wattage 12V constant power socket in trunk
Pioneer Premiere series audio deck with MP3, USB, available aux-in, and iPod/iPhone interface
All four door speakers upgraded with JBL 6 1/2" GTO-62
Additional tweeter speakers in front doors
All-season OEM rubber floor mats
K&N air filter with included cleaning/recharge kit
Can of factory-matched touch-up paint
Ready for amp install: a 2-gauge power wire runs from the battery directly to the underside of the cargo floor.
Monday, July 22nd, 2013 Scuba Diving in Tobermory this past weekend
I went scuba diving in Tobermory the past few days. Brrrr, it is COLD! My computer registered the bottom temperature at 2.2 C (36 F for you Americans)... cold cold cold!!
Still, some pretty awesome scenery. Enjoy the video.
Thursday, March 28th, 2013 Alpha Sign Library updated to 1.1
I've updated my Alpha Sign Library to version 1.1 with a lot of stability fixes.
Since Taiga, my dog, entered into my life, it's been an interesting ride. From the horrible lows at the start to the greatest highs, I wouldn't trade the last three years for anything. Taiga and I have become a unit, very close even when we're apart.
Taiga recently had a seizure. I wasn't sure what to make of it at first, and I didn't worry myself too much. The vet said it was most likely epilepsy. He said it was common in dogs in general and huskies / mals in particular. Taiga is also at the right age for it to set in.
I still thought, no, this couldn't be, Taiga's been perfectly healthy and perfectly fine and has never had a problem. I put it off. I hoped that the 2nd seizure would never come; that it had been a one-time thing.
This morning, Taiga had his second seizure. It was about the same as the first, perhaps a bit longer, and Taiga seemed even more dazed and confused after it. He whimpered and whined during the last 15 seconds of the seizure and I could do nothing but hold him gently and wait for it to end.
It seems pretty confirmed that he does indeed have epilepsy.
It's a new world going forward... I'm not sure how I'm going to do, which is why I'm making this post. Taiga and I both need the support of our friends to get through this. I'll keep you updated.
Here's a photo of Taiga sleeping, taken yesterday afternoon:
If you've not heard of these, it's an inexpensive (relatively) set of xmas lights with addressable bulbs. That is, you can individually set each bulb to any color. A set of 50 bulbs is about $70 here in Canada at Costco, and they are very very easy to hack. Just two wires to get an Arduino talking to it.
The plastic bulbs pop off easily, exposing the bare LED. I bought some aluminum channeling and cable-tied them into this.
Then I mounted them to the back of my TV: $$$SPECCODE-INP@@@1fc064d80dcad014629d1f138b21af45@@@$$$
I used the excellent, free, open-source software Amblone to control the lights with a simple Arduino program. And voila! $$$SPECCODE-INP@@@1c62c084b2b810ecc5f4b5275f43cd1e@@@$$$
As you can see they work quite well. But not well enough -- they only offer 12-bit color, which is only 4096 colours, quite low. A computer monitor offers 16.7 million colours by comparison. So, stay tuned for version two!
The card is so dead.
