rfmcdonald | [URBAN NOTE] Yay to the Queen street streetcar improvement plans! (Reply)

Thanks to

sonjaaa for linking to the CBC news coverage of the TTC's plans to overcome the many problems facing the TTC's venerable Queen Streetcar, route 501. Christopher Hume wrote in December at The Toronto Star about the route's joys and challenges.

The venerable 501--known as the Queen car--has made National Geographic's list of the world's top 10 trolley rides. It's a distinction shared with streetcar routes as far-flung as Melbourne, Seattle and Lisbon, part of the contents of the coffee-table book Journeys of a Lifetime: 500 of the World's Greatest Trips, published in October.

"Throwbacks to an earlier age, the great trolley routes we selected let you jump on and off with the locals while riding through some of the most scenic and historic districts of each city," wrote National Geographic editor Larry Pogue of the selections.

According to the book, the Queen streetcar made the list because it is one of the longest routes in North America while showcasing "lively downtown Toronto."

The 48.9-km. line stretches from Long Branch on the Mississauga border to the city's easternmost streetcar loop at Neville Park.

"It is a wonderful route," said TTC spokesperson Marilyn Bolton. "What I love about it is the interesting, shops, buildings and architecture you can see."

Along with being the city's longest route, the 501 has a reputation for being among the most troubled. The TTC's estimate of 43,500 riders each weekday in 2006 is down from 63,000 in 1981.

Delays, unannounced route changes, and overcrowding on the route are so unpopular that earlier this month, the Rocket Riders advocacy group held a "Fix the 501" forum at Metro Hall that attracted dozens of disgruntled riders.

Speaking for myself, back when I used to live in the neighbourhood of Queen Street, I used to love taking the Queen Street streetcar for the diversity of sights that it offered. I just as surely as I took buses whenever possible because, even when it was on time, it added at least fifteen minutes to my work communte. It would be nice if pleasure and utility could be reconciled, at least there.