Each week we will be focusing on blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. We’ll be on the lookout for websites outside the country that approach themes related to urban experiences and issues.
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• At least 45 cities across North American “are seriously considering implementing new streetcar networks” according to research conducted on Infrastructurist.com. The website, which defines streetcars as “distinct from light rail because they share their rights-of-way with automobiles”, provides a comprehensive list of all cities in Canada and the U.S which currently rely on streetcars as well as those which seem likley to implement them.
• An ongoing bike-lane-battle in Brooklyn New York just got more heated as two “vigilante” cyclists were arrested for repainting lane lines that had only days before been sandblasted away by the city. The feud began after city officials agreed to remove the lane due to complaints from the local Hasidic community that cyclists were causing a “safety and religious hazard” in the neighbourhood.
• An ambitious new initiative proposed in Saskatoon’s City Hall calls for the creation of a two-year public engagement process that would both inform citizens and gather their opinion on the future of the city. According to the Star Phoenix, the citizen engagement plan would involve “gathering community vision through numerous public forums, online discussion groups and a speaker series”. The project’s end goal is a document outlining “what matters to Saskatoon” which would then become council’s guiding document.
• Design Boom recently featured some of the the most stunning and unusual subway stations from around the world. Check out the amazing photos. From Moscow’s classic 1930s Komsomolskaya Station (featuring chandeliers, vaulted plaster ceilings and arched walkways) to geometric green light sculptures in Tokyo to Barcelona’s ultra modern all white Srassanes Station.
• The New York Times Magazine released their 9th Annual Ideas Issue last week, looking back over the past year to find the most “innovative ideas from around the thinking world”. Bike highways, banning cul-de-sacs, man-made greenery and artificial car noise are among the notable ideas that made the cut this year.
photo of Komsomolskaya Platform by Simon Lee
6 comments
I’m interested in what the top story said about pointing out the difference between street cars and light rail in that streetcars share the road with traffic. While the TTC only wants to build new streetcar lines on exclusive right of ways, surely it wouldn’t hurt to build mixed traffic streetcar lines too? It would be great to see some streetcar routes restored that were lost after the mass abandonments of the 50s and 60s. A few streets I can think of would be Bay, Parliament and Dufferin. Dufferin I could see being a prime candidate, considering the bunched up parades of crowded buses I see on that street.
Thanks.
-Jordan
OMG, streetcars over separated LRT? Because stepping into traffic, waiting behind a string of cars turning left, and brought down on my bike by the tracks in the road in Toronto works so well?
It is important when looking at that long list of cities to distinguish between heritage systems and local circulators (often combined in one route), as opposed to major transit lines such as the Dufferin bus.
When that distinction is added to the mix, the TTC’s preference for some form of LRT makes more sense (even though I think that they are a tad too doctrinaire at times on the subject).
Surprised to see that the blurb above about the Design Boom site neglected to mention that the list included a subway station in Toronto!
Some of the streets Jordan mentioned would be good candidates as they aren’t treated like highways to elsewhere (Dufferin being the exception). Better signalisation for left turns would also help. Not riding your bike into the tracks is also recommended. And James, at least you don’t have to worry about the old storm sewer grates in the curb lane anymore where bike wheels used to routinely fall in and you’d do a header off the bike because the slots were parallel to the curb and your wheels.
@Jordan – TTC are not favourable to expansion in mixed traffic. Considering the Western Waterfront LRT is pushed out to 2029, it should be a long time before they have a chance to consider any such expansion.
I would like to see better exploitation of existing rails once the Flexities arrive, such as the extension of service on Bathurst as far as St. Clair West.