Friday’s headlines

10 comments

1. the excitement over igor’s arrest has really been something to see. i live near his “shop”, so last night i wandered by to see if it had been defaced yet. to my surprise, at 12:30am, there was a crowd of gawkers observing a team of police who were searching the premises (you could see them with flashlights through the second floor windows). everything had been piled in a heap on the sidewalk, which isn’t far from the status quo there anyway. the most delicious irony of all: the police involved were all bike cops.

2. There’s some extreme ignorance in that relatively new comments section of the Star. Especially in that article on the streetcar plan.

3. AR:

   The Star’s new commenting option on almost every story is a real disappointment. Much like the Globe, the comments are full of ignorance and intolerance of other ideas.

   I think we’re lucky to have such a respectful commenting section here on Spacing. Its possible the larger the publication is the quicker the quality of comments degrades.

   I actually think they shouldn’t have comments on regular articles, but open up to comments on opinion pieces.

4. If the Star’s reader comments are anything like the Moan & Wail’s I’ll pass. And if that ignorant cacophony bears any resemblance to the human chorus God supposedly hears we should start building an ark.

5. Most questions about Toronto bike theft can be answered here. Featuring Igor.

   http://playlistor.com/play.php?pl=Dx3hp9H7wzut9i9

6. A lot of ignorant comments on the Star site (and the Globe) regarding streetcars? They certainly seem to offer another perspective from what one generally finds here but I don’t particularly find them that much more ignorant then some of the comments posted here. Truth is a lot of people can’t stand streetcars based on the congestion they see being caused along College, Queen and King by these vehicles. The “experts” say they are more environmentaly friendly than a bus… but that’s only if you don’t bother to factor in all the added car exhaust from the congestion of the vehicles trapped behind a streetcar. For the most part, these machines only environmentally friendly if they have their own right of way. As for the King/Queen routes, someone at the Star’s comment site… and also on this site a few weeks ago, suggested that if these streets were made one way (at least west of parliament) you would have room to build dedicated streetcar lanes, move lots of people quickly along a route where density has increased tremendously in recent years…and hence give many people who are taking the car a viable transit alternative. Of course, I don’t think that’s likely to happen any time soon.

7. Get your bike back!
   On July 19th, 2008 jamesmallon (not verified) says:

   http://torontoist.com/2008/07/recovering_from_clinical_dep…
   The cops have the bikes at one location for a look-see. Take some kind of proof.

   I took photos of mine, and registered them today at: http://www.bikeregistrycanada.com/registerbike.html

   1/2 price if you use ‘MEC’ as the promotion code (Mountain Equipment Co-Op).

8. One has to keep in mind that every streetcar reduces congestion by reducing the number of cars on the road. If those riders were to drive or take cabs, the congestion would be far greater, as would the pollution. The reduction is greatest when the streetcars are packed at rush hour. It is ignorant to claim that streetcars cause congestion, when they are a far more efficient use of road space than single occupancy cars which make up the majority of cars.

   You want ignorant? Here’s some that I still remember:

   -The DRL would allow us to eliminate many east/west streetcar lines.
   -American cities got rid of their streetcars decades ago for environmental reasons. It’s time for us to do the same.
   -The person(s) who assumed that Transit City was a collection of downtown-style streetcar routes.
   -Streetcars are an old concept. It’s time to get the “next best thing” (buses)
   -With hybrid buses, there are no environmental advantages of streetcars.

   Basically any denigration of streetcars garnered plenty of “agree”s.

9. Sorry, streetcars bite. I have a half dozen photos of lined-up streetcars on College, all from different days. The record was THIRTEEN cars in a row. Ummm… a bus could have gone around the problem.

   A streetcar ROW, if the ROW is well designed to allow drivers to switch track to by-pass problems, is going to be better than buses in many ways: lower emissions, higher passenger capacity… That ain’t the streetcars Torontonians see, or are likely to get. An issue I ahev with higher passenger capacity than buses (say, double) is that the TTC will simply send vehicles half as often. Do you enjoy waiting in sleet?

   Streetcar-heads have to get over their romanticism. Streetcars could work better than buses, and do in civilized N. European cities, but this is just Toronto. The best system for the lowest-political-denominators in this city is buses: whether diesel, gas, hybrid or trolley.

10. Streetcars don’t bite but buses do suck.

    Streetcars are a lot cleaner. Sure it would be better if they all had their own ROW but it’s wrong to blame them for the emissions of individual motorists who have other options. Oh and, there are plenty of streetcars in use in “civilized N. European cities”.