Now, I’m pretty sure I’m not a minority on this one, but the October/November experiment of “splitting” the 501 Queen Street car was a resounding success… and now it’s gone.

In the past, the TTC has tried lots of different experiments, some of which were very successful, and yet seemingly dissolved into nothing… like many people, I’ve assumed it was just the Kafka-esque bureaucracy of the TTC at work (on not at work as it were). However, with the recent “crowd control” experiment at Yonge station on the Bloor-Danforth subway line, the TTC has somehow managed to turn their experiment into a full-time rush hour implementation.

How is it then, that another successful experiment like the streetcar split seemingly dies in the water? Is it union issues? Red tape? Political reasons?

I’ll admit, my evidence of the streetcar split working is anecdotal at best: I regularly take the streetcar from Woodbine to McCaul and back again, with the occasional trip from the core to out west. And during the time of the “split,” I have to say that it was the fastest, most efficient traveling experience I’ve had on the TTC in a long time.

Sure, when I was trying to catch a trip home, I’d have to wait for a Neville or Victoria Park car when it seems like only Parliament cars were passing by, but at the same time, I was almost never “Short-turned” once I got on the car headed east. Unlike now, when streetcars are routinely shafting it’s passengers at say, Greenwood or Kingston road.

The split just made sense: The Queen line is just too long to expect regular service from one end to the other. All you have to do is take the streetcar out to Long Branch one day, and you’ll understand how they can get so delayed. Same goes for the beaches.

As for the people who for whatever reason live in Parkdale and take the streetcar out to the Beaches during rush hour; I wonder where you get four hours every day to make the trip.

On another note; nothing bugs me as much as the TTC’s “average wait time” stats system: The way they figure this out, is that they calculate the number of “Seats” that pass by a certain point per specific amount of time. That’s great and all, except for the fact that streetcars work like this: They almost always travel in packs of threes, with the first one going really slow because it’s stuffed with people who take forever to get on and off because of the packed nature of the car. It’s usually tailed by a second car, which has easily caught up because it hasn’t been picking up any passengers 1 minute after the previous car arrived. So as the second one catches up and slows down, you’ll likely see a third. You’ll wait for that one and get on because it’s always empty, and you can get a decent seat… but without fail, that one will short-turn and dump you on the street about 4 stops away from your destination. So when you average it out like the TTC does, let say when 3 streetcars pass a certain point in half an hour, they will report that you only wait 1o minutes for a car, when in reality, those three cars likely passed you all at once, and if you missed it, you’ll probably wait 25 minutes for the next set.

Apparently riding the streetcar for Toronto city councillor Sandra Bussin (yes that Sandra Bussin, *sigh* my representative at city hall ) was such a unique, once-in-a-lifetime experience for her she decided to tweet about it. This is a good example of why the TTC sucks: our city leadership doesn’t ride it. (Noted from her twitter: 10 people traveling from the Beaches to Long Branch at 1:30 in the afternoon? Really?)

If you agree with me, please call and let the TTC know! Here’s the number: 416-393-3030. They’ll “report their findings” at a future meeting, which means they need to hear from us!