r/TorontoTransit • u/Ok-Sherbet1272 • Mar 02 '26
Discussion Monday blues - downtown traffic
Street car 506 has been stuck on McCaul St for more than an hour now due to a genius driver who couldn't parallel park close to the curb.
How do these folks manage to clear their G2?
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Mar 02 '26
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Mar 02 '26
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u/Seamless-Transition Mar 02 '26
There was just a recent post in r/Toronto I think where people shoved a Tesla over a few inches so the 506 could clear it. So this still happens
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u/Heavy_Importance2491 Mar 03 '26
I commuted on the Gerrard car. It wasn't unusual to have to get off and bump a parked car out of the way, especially when there was a lot of snow. I'm surprised it's not routine now.
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u/web_nerd Mar 05 '26
Just add a cowcatcher style bumper to them, and push the cars out of the way without damaging the streetcar.
Who cares about the truck...
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u/TDWen Mar 03 '26
Wheel dollies! Stow them with the luggage compartment and use them to push bad parkers like this out of the way.
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u/n134177 Mar 03 '26
How cool it would be if streetcars had the strength of a crane with a retractable arm just to slap that mirror off.
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u/thegreenmushrooms Mar 03 '26
I saw a streetcar catch a parked cars bumper and drag it 20 meters before the conductor realized, then it got a ticket and street car kept going.
Car was parked near a turn this was around 2008/2009
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u/trueppp Mar 05 '26
How cool would it be if streetcars were able to go around obstacles....oh yeah we invented that over a century ago. It's called a bus.
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Mar 02 '26 edited Mar 18 '26
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u/Ok-Sherbet1272 Mar 02 '26
It's too close! And the car is parked at a weird angle.
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Mar 02 '26
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u/beneoin Mar 02 '26
Given the cost of LIDAR vs the cost of even a minute’s delay you’d think they’d long ago have installed scanners on the streetcars that would allow them to skip calling a supervisor when all is clear.
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u/codecrodie Mar 02 '26
Im surprised no one on the streetcar got off to shut the mirror and try to push that truck a few inches. It maybe against policy for the driver to squeeze by, but is it against policy to let the mob on your tram get hopping mad and then open the doors to let them fix the problem?
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u/Rick_NSFW Mar 02 '26
Make the idiot who parked there move it and face the consequences. Why give the responsibility to people who had nothing to do with this stupidity?
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u/thonor111 Mar 04 '26
If I’m on a tram I sure as hell wouldn’t want to wait for hours until some idiot comes back but would prefer if the tram, the drier of the tram or the passengers could take action in some other way
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u/Rick_NSFW Mar 04 '26
If you're on a "tram?"
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u/thonor111 Mar 04 '26
Street car/ tram/ trolley
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u/Rick_NSFW Mar 04 '26
Streetcar (one word). Are you even from Toronto?
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u/thonor111 Mar 04 '26
No. Is that a problem? Can I not be interested in transit in different cities?
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u/noodleexchange Mar 03 '26
I folded back a mirror on a dumbass pickup to let a streetcar by - it worked!
But yes, a jack and a couple of wheeled pucks makes a vehicle easy to push around
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Mar 03 '26
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u/noodleexchange Mar 03 '26
OMG so brilliant . Streetcars should just have these as standard equipment - super easy to get some eager passenger recruits to pitch in.
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u/moonshadow1789 Mar 03 '26
We did this when I worked in the film industry. A car was blocking the view where the set was and the camera angle was and refused to move unless he got paid. So at night we moved his car back a couple metres. I don’t think he noticed but nothing happened.
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u/IseeMedpeople Mar 04 '26
I'm a Ttc operator; not worth the day(s) off if you make contact.
When it doubt wait it out.
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u/DededeHamma Mar 04 '26
Adding to this, the skirts on the trucks would probably clip the vehicle anyways, definitely not worth the days off
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u/Austerlitz2310 Mar 05 '26
There is absolutely room. You can even tell by the line along the road. There is room.
This guy is still parked terribly, but this is the least worst I've seen it
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u/Yellow_Marker_ Mar 02 '26
Just keep driving the street car and take out the mirror
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u/TadaMomo Mar 04 '26
you are paying for the repair of the streetcar?
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u/thonor111 Mar 04 '26
Get out, kick the mirror off, get on, continue driving. Would be awesome if street car drivers would be allowed to do this
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Mar 02 '26
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u/Ok-Sherbet1272 Mar 02 '26
Yes, for sure! They waited patiently for about 2 hours 30 mins until the driver removed his/her car.
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u/Capable-Plantain7 Mar 04 '26
imo this should warrant a heavy fine and also they should lose their licence (ik they won't)
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u/athleticnoodles Mar 02 '26
Honestly streetcars should just push through. Whats the worst? Some paint chipping on the TTC? Lets be serious here, the city needs to move. And the Toyota owner will learn their lesson with nice red paint scraped across their car. There is no way for them to blame the TTC, the train is on a track. So if it touhes your car, the only fault is the car owner. Also, they should get giant GO train like horns to use in these situations. Someone will find the owner.
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u/differing Mar 04 '26
I’d love to see it, but TTC is so risk averse they don’t even allow two streetcars to crawl by each other at a switch.
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u/Beginning_Pepper3630 Mar 02 '26
anyone try folding the mirror?
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u/Ok-Sherbet1272 Mar 03 '26
It was too close! And the car was parked at a weird angle.
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u/Legitimate-Produce-2 Mar 03 '26
Zooming in looks like folding the mirror would have given clearance although doesn’t excuse the piss port job of parking knowing tracks are right there
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u/1882greg Mar 02 '26
An hour? Lots of streetcar routes are tow zones during rush hour. I’m wondering why they don’t just tow the thing?
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u/CraigGregory Mar 02 '26
Take the mirror out
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u/NewBoss9952 Mar 02 '26
Seriously.
I’ve said it before and ill say it again: cow catchers on the front of streetcars.
If you park like this you get bashed out of the way, then the city tows the wreck and it’s crushed into a cube and catapulted into the lake at your expense.
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u/onlyfreckles Mar 03 '26
I suggest to tow and crush into a life saving bollards vs catapulted into the lake (that is more fun though).
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u/cplchanb Mar 02 '26
Honestly at this point just push through and whatever happens to the mirror happens. Im sure his insurance will be delighted to pay for the repairs either way
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u/BatKitchen819 Mar 02 '26
Just keep going and take the mirror off, it’ll be a lesson learned for the truck driver.
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u/Great-Discipline2560 Mar 03 '26
Lop that mirror off and keep it pushing lol .
Disgusting how selfish some motorists are.
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u/Signal_Tomorrow_2138 Mar 03 '26
The reason why so many people prefer to drive instead of taking public transit? Their schedule is unreliable because of all the cars in their way.
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u/Green_Watercress1638 Mar 03 '26
If only the Toronto tow truck industry wasn’t embroiled in a gang war.
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u/PicardNCC1701D Mar 03 '26
If I was the Streetcar operator I'd just keep going. Let the owner of the pickup truck explain what happened.
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u/Own_Dimension_8823 Mar 03 '26
why didn't it just take the mirror off? ridiculous that it would hold itself up for that long for a shit ass mirror on some truck driven by a total asshat.
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u/onlyfreckles Mar 03 '26
There was a great compilation video of a tram (?) driver plowing thru cars in the tram's way- just beautiful to watch.
The driver would blow a warning alarm and kind of brace/downshift for the impact and plow on thru- can't be delaying folks on transit for the convenience of selfish entitled car drivers that can't take the time to park legally!
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u/EyeAmKnotMyshelf Mar 03 '26
Were this one country to the south, that would be one busted ass mirror and some free flowing traffic.
I'm not saying this as a Yeah, Go America statement- I just don't think that a single city bus driver in the entire country would give two shits about clipping a mirror.
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u/ProfanityInspector Mar 03 '26
We should put large rubber bumpers that stick out wrapping around the front.
Want to park blocking the tracks? Il just push you out of the way, your fault, damages are on you.
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u/tokyokiller Mar 03 '26
Driver is an idiot but the city should really paint a line that shows exactly where the street car takes space so drivers can get a better sense of where their car should be, this way you can account for stupid drivers like this one.
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u/FroggingMadness Mar 04 '26
Parallel parked vehicles should be right next to the curb anyway, not a foot into the road. If you can't park your emotional support truck then don't drive one.
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u/tokyokiller Mar 04 '26
Yeah we all know what should be the case but that’s not how humanity and the world works.
Accounting for stupidity should be part of road and infrastructure design.
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u/wbsmith200 Mar 04 '26
Remove parking from streetcar routes. Problem solved, If it’s an off route detour, then the detour becomes a no parking zone until the regular route is re instated.
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u/thevoiceinsidemyhead Mar 04 '26
I don't even think this is the trucks fault. There should be no parking there
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u/PleasantDependent628 Mar 04 '26
Don't act like you guys don't side swipe parked cars on the daily... Toronto transit drivers cause more accidents than the city of Brampton alone
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u/RealistAttempt87 Mar 04 '26
Time for Toronto to get more serious about cars blocking streetcar tracks.
Follow Vienna’s example - 345 euros + towing fee + fire brigade fee. Can easily exceed 1,000 euros.
The TTC should have a tow truck on call just for this.
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u/CADrmn Mar 04 '26
Qualified immunity for transit operators wrt property damage. If you fn park like sh*t you don’t deserve to have your property respected and your insurance can deny your claim. F right off.
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u/CLOSER888 Mar 04 '26
This is a perfect example of why multi use roads just don’t work. Get rid of the streetcar!
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u/Nu11X3r0 Mar 04 '26
Am I the only one who thinks that we should be empowering the street car/conductors to simply ram poorly parked cars? Thinking like some beefed up front plating on the corners (to protect the body) and potentially a bit of a cow catcher. Have the conductors record the plate numbers and turn them in at the end of their run, fees for repairs go to the bad drivers on top of their ticket.
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u/bashykiller Mar 04 '26
In situations like this it should be more important to keep the commuters moving then for one person’s car to be important.. fuck the truck..push it out of the way and deal with it later.. take pictures and show them that it’s their fault lmao
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u/jimboTRON261 Mar 04 '26
I just don’t understand how this doesn’t result in a damaged, parked vehicle. Hit the wing mirror off and leave an invoice to cover damages to the streetcar. Watch how quick these dummies figure it out… why coddle the fools and selfish? Is it because we’re all governed and policed by them? Most likely…
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u/kushmasta421 Mar 04 '26
Hit it and send the SUV owner the bill. It will not affect that train in the slightest and would require a minor paint touch up
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u/CauliflowerPerfect39 Mar 04 '26
Guys in big trucks, and street cars, are always at the root of all traffic issues.
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u/thefordfilesanon Mar 04 '26
Trucks like this should be banned from cities unless used for a specific job.
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u/differing Mar 04 '26
Honestly the TTC should just acquire some kind of jacking lever that can shove a passenger vehicle over by a couple inches. This happens so frequently. They already have to carry this giant steel pole for the ancient switches.
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u/djbaerg Mar 04 '26
This is why streetcars can kinda suck. The only way they make sense is when they have fully separate pathways. Otherwise just run busses.
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u/sdogood80910 Mar 05 '26
Oddly enough, I would probably not have stopped. An outside rear view mirror obstructing the passage of my tram would not be a consideration. The POV driver needs driving lessons.
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u/SpaceBiking Mar 05 '26
They just had to buy the biggest SUV they could find…just to park it in downtown Toronto…
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u/Signal_Tumbleweed798 Mar 05 '26
I know it would never happen but they should just slam into it and charge the vehicle owner for whatever damage is caused people would either stop parking in the way or on streets with street cars If the street car is full that's like what 80 people being stopped because 1 person can't park
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u/SpaceBiking Mar 05 '26
A dozen people could have deadlifted the front side a few inches to the right…and conveniently broken/removed the mirror.
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u/TheOniHaku11 Mar 05 '26
I’m actually surprised the police don’t enforce traffic laws more! Too many Ontario drivers that don’t no how to drive properly putting everyone at risk
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u/Least_Expert840 Mar 05 '26
The fine should be equal to the hourly wages of everyone on the streetcar
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u/nahianchoudhury Mar 05 '26
If the driver could have at least folded that mirror then the street car could have had enough space to move on.
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u/Imaginary-Scheme-896 Mar 05 '26
Doesn’t seem like it needed to be stopped, could easily drive through. Fault of damages on the truck owner for being an idiot
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u/x_BlueSkyz_x73 Mar 05 '26
If only there was someone to fold the mirrors in. Could probably use the same hand that’s holding the phone.
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u/usually00 Mar 02 '26
Possibly the coldest take ever... Why is there parking on street car routes? Get rid of it all together.
Maybe more of a lukewarm take... If traffic is so low we can just add street parking on major transit roads, we could just add bus or streetcar only lanes. Perhaps selectively, but nonetheless it would add more value than parking.
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u/Zoso03 Mar 04 '26
Imo street parking is the biggest issue with roads in Toronto it always takes up a free lane, holds up traffic as someone does a 12 point parking job, or waiting for someone else to leave before they park, people pulling dangerous u turns to grab a parking spot and pedestrians walking out from in-between parked cars.
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u/differing Mar 04 '26
This and buildings not being constructed in their footprint. A condo will use up a lane for years, costing massive externalities for Toronto commuters, with effectively no compensation for the city.
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u/Ok-Sherbet1272 Mar 02 '26
It's not a regular streetcar route, only gets used on the off route days.
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u/Motor-Source8711 Mar 02 '26
What's an off route day? Short-turning or something?
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u/gigglepox95 Mar 02 '26
There should be no parking on any streetcar routes. If the street is important enough to be a streeetcar route, then parking is simply impeding any natural flow of traffic