Derek Ellis

[Derek Ellis @deellisd]

@_ChanFace Those are all green arrows, are they not?

[Derek Ellis @deellisd]

@ttcdoors @oliviachow @ausmalik Have you ever been on any of the water taxis..?

That is the front, which you are normally not allowed near unless the boat is docked.

[Derek Ellis @deellisd]

@JonFraserTF @Carneys_Elbows How does this compare to the slippery slope of right-on-reds?

...or Yield signs?

[Derek Ellis @deellisd]

@BudrinoPolitics Please feel free to spend the same amount of time and energy admonishing these drivers for failing to recognize the clearly delineated cycle track and crosswalk.

[Derek Ellis @deellisd]

@TTCSwitches Those are all fundamentally independent.
- Eliminating operators doesn't mean a controller shortage can't happen.
- Automated operation does not simplify controller jobs.
- Centralization could happen regardless, but why would we want to outsource that..?

[Derek Ellis @deellisd]

@mirgray @bpellerin I also personally find it hard to be cynical about how "temporary" these are because they restored all of these trips over March break while school service wasn't running.

The intent to bring these trips back is very much there.

[Derek Ellis @deellisd]

@mirgray @bpellerin They did. The spring schedule would normally have included them, but they were omitted for the time being.

[Derek Ellis @deellisd]

@EricDLombardi @GraphicMatt Whether it's jumping the hurdles to contact to the signalling system, or mounting the trains with the same kind of GPS units that the streetcars use.. it's more than just being restricted from accessing it.

I mean, why can't the TTC publish data for their own subways?

[Derek Ellis @deellisd]

@EricDLombardi @GraphicMatt This is a red herring. The arrival times are estimates on data from the signalling system. Even if the TTC had access to it, I wouldn't count on them being able to publish it.

There's no data for Line 5, Line 1, or in fact ANY urban rail system in Canada (minus the streetcars)

[Derek Ellis @deellisd]

@JakeLandauTO It sounds very silly, but a surprising reality is that no rail system in Canada publishes real-time train positions *sourced from their signalling systems*.

So forget Finch West, why can't the TTC publish the locations of their automatically controlled subway trains..?

[Derek Ellis @deellisd]

@MrBBeard OC Transpo makes the raw data publicly available so you can at least build the dashboard yourself, like the folks at Better Transit Ottawa did.

https://t.co/GPAdMQPWIi

[Derek Ellis @deellisd]

@StephenWickens1 None of the issues that could be (tenuously) classified as "brake issues" in Ottawa have any effect on top speed.

Ottawa's trains still regularly run up to 80km/h.

[Derek Ellis @deellisd]

@GoldeViolets @JakeLandauTO @MassJumbo Sure, Montreal has also had its share of projects that didn't go anywhere.

But I'm only talking about things that are actively under construction and that is, again, far more than can be said of any other part of Montreal's regional network.

[Derek Ellis @deellisd]

@GoldeViolets @JakeLandauTO @MassJumbo The half-hourly service we have now is already better than every other Exo line, with no concrete plans for them to improve.

The REM is great, but GO expansion is happening. Exo expansion isn't, and there isn't a second REM happening (anymore).

[Derek Ellis @deellisd]

@JakeLandauTO @MassJumbo But that's more or less it for the foreseeable future.
Compare that to what the future of GO looks like and it's a pretty stark difference in investment.

[Derek Ellis @deellisd]

@attainablehome4 @bmptrsn Montreal has a good transit network. Toronto has, by all means, a good transit network.

But only Toronto has a slate of projects chugging along. You can believe it when you see it, but there's not much else to see in Montreal from here on out!

[Derek Ellis @deellisd]

@attainablehome4 @bmptrsn I don't mean that Montreal's transit system is bad, but the dismissal of Toronto's transit and growth as if it can't compete with Montreal's just doesn't make sense.

We don't need to tear ourselves down to build ourselves up, least of all when there is *so much happening*.