Ford’s streetcar study would be costly
Report finds testing buses would be logistically difficult, unlikely to yield usable data
City and TTC staff say they won’t support Councillor Michael Ford’s request to study whether buses would operate more effectively than streetcars on Queen St., after concluding that the exercise would be costly, logistically difficult and unlikely to yield usable data. “Due to TTC scheduling constraints, it is not recommended that this study be carried out,” said a transportation department report that was made public Tuesday and is expected to be debated at this week’s council meeting, already in progress.
A spokesperson for the councillor said that Ford (Ward 2 Etobicoke North) would still urge his colleagues to vote for the study, which the report estimated would cost at least $681,100.
“He wants to make sure that this is being looked at in a wholesome light,” said Dan Jacobs, Ford’s chief of staff. He argued the city spends millions of dollars to study issues such as the proposed Rail Deck Park and the King St. pilot project.
The TTC normally operates streetcars on Queen St. But in May, the agency replaced them with buses due to a series of construction projects along Queen this summer. Streetcars are scheduled to return to most of the line by Sept. 3.
Last month, Councillor Ford sent a letter to a meeting of the public works committee requesting the TTC keep running buses for two weeks after the road work was finished, so the city could conduct a study to assess whether the vehicles perform better than streetcars under normal operating conditions. The committee approved his request.
The report published Tuesday detailed numerous logistical challenges to implementing Ford’s proposal, including the fact that TTC service and employee schedules for September were finalized months ago.
For the period in question, all 1,575 TTC buses have been assigned and roughly 33 of the vehicles would need to be redeployed to Queen St. for the purpose of the study, meaning less service on other routes.
Because TTC operators have already been assigned for the period, the additional workers to operate Queen St. bus service for longer than planned would have to be paid overtime, meaning higher labour costs.
And while most construction will be wrapped up by the end of the summer, some road work on Queen St. will continue through the fall.