FFS, Short Turn the Lead Car

I may have mentioned this before, but I don't actually live within the boundaries of LEAFS SUCK Proper (i.e. the City of LEAFS SUCK pre-amalgamation) but in an "inner suburb" referred to as Eglinton East - in central Scarborough.

I commute by intra-city heavy rail now, so I spend precious little time on the TTC.  And as I am walking distance to Kennedy subway station, you might think I have some thoughts regarding the subway extension.  I do, but those will have to wait for another time.  This rant is going to be about another issue I have with our lovely transit system - the 501 Queen streetcar.

501 Queen is infamous for short turns and delays.  Not really surprising - Queen St. is pretty messed up and there are more than a handful of junctions and nodes that can really screw up traffic even without construction.  It is understandable that sometimes streetcars will bunch up and that the line supervisors would have to short turn a few.

Here's the problem - you get three, four, maybe more streetcars all jammed together and need to re-route all but one of them back into the line to help address whatever problem is screwing things up.  You're doing this on eastbound vehicles at Kingston Road.  Which of the streetcars gets to continue on to the scheduled end of the line at Neville Park loop?  Well, if you are the TTC - it is the first one.

WHY?!?!?  FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY?!?!?!?


Here's what happens - the lead streetcar goes through, the next three or four or whatever then dump their passengers and we all wait for the next streetcar going to the end of line to come along.  Remember that TTC short turns cars because there's some sort of problem with the line.  Often this next streetcar isn't for half an hour.  I have actually been dumped by a short turn and waited close to an hour to continue my trip.  Considering that there's only about 2.5 km of line east of Kingston Road, I could very well have walked to the loop before the streetcar got there.  Me and the dozens of folks who weren't lucky enough to be in the lead car.

And right at the start of that wait, we're all watching the lead car disappear off into the distance.  At Kingston Road, the short turn cars actually stop right beside the going-through car, so folks on the second car often get the wonderful opportunity to watch the lead car close its doors and depart while they are waiting for the doors on their car to open.  WHAT. THE. FUCKING. FUCK.

So what does that teach riders?  To get on the lead car.  No matter what.  Boarding at Yonge and Queen - that lead car is packed to the gills.  Exceeding crush capacity by a non-trivial margin.  People will be contorting so that they can hover over the exit stairs without standing on the plate which prevents the doors from closing.  And still people will try to jam on.  The driver will mention that there's a streetcar right behind them.  Sometimes there are multiples.  And they are all there with open doors.  There may even be seats available on the second or third car, but that lead car won't be able to continue for a couple lights because people are trying to jam themselves on despite the vehicle actually bulging out around the middle like it was some sort of cartoon.  Which I am sure is great for alleviating the scheduling problems you've got with the line.

WE DO THIS BECAUSE YOU TTC FUCKNARDS REFUSE TO SHORT TURN THE LEAD CAR!!!!  It's not a "there's another car immediately behind this one" issue - it is a "the lead car is the only vehicle for the next hour or so that's going to my stop" issue.  The TTC's management of the 501 has conditioned riders to behave in a way that makes the problem worse.  JUST FUCKING SHORT TURN THE FUCKING LEAD CAR FOR FUCK'S SAKE!  THIS IS NOT RED ROCKET SCIENCE!!!  WHAT ARE YOU, ASSHOLES OR IDIOTS?

zomg.