Results tagged “transit” from TWISIA

Another example of why it's not easy being a bike commuter - making legal left turns isn't easy when you're the smallest thing on the road.  Kudos to this guy for taking his legal place.  Maybe if more riders did this, cars and trucks would start looking for them on the road, instead of not paying attention to them.  However, I do understand the reluctance on the part of bikers to take the risk - it's way too easy to lose out to a much larger vehicle that just didn't see you.

Taken just beside the Village by the Grange.  I always find myself wondering if the street bends like this because it used to be two streets that didn't quite meet, or if there was some geographical feature that it used to have to go around, but now is missing.

Another shot of Queen Street at sunset. 

From Queen and John - straight out of camera. 

Getting around the city is much easier with smaller vehicles.  Every day, I see people using skateboards, roller blades, bicycles and bikes zipping around, while cars, SUVs and trucks keep getting blocked by traffic.  Why, exactly, would you drive an H3 or a Land Cruiser through downtown Toronto traffic, in rush hour?

So many questions:
What's in the buggy?
Why is he riding in the middle of the street?
What would happen if the cart got caught on the streetcar tracks?
How far does he have to ride holding on to that buggy?

These things are all over the place downtown.  I like seeing them - they give a little bit more character to the area.

Waiting for the streetcar to arrive.  Sometimes its there quickly, sometimes, it feels like it takes forever.  One of the most frustrating things I see every day is the people in the center lane of Queen Street, waiting for a break in the traffic so that they can turn left, with one or more streetcars stuck behind them.  Why would you ever try to turn left on Queen Street in rush hour?  Go to an intersection with a light, and turn left there, instead.  You'll get to the same streets. 

Braving traffic in one of these would not be my cup of tea.  It looks like a lot of fun to ride, but I'd want to be taller and more visible in the busy Queen Street traffic that this guy was braving.

The signs of spring are everywhere.  The bikers, the skaters, and the ads for trips to warm locales.  I'm so happy that it's light later on in the evening - it gives me that much more opportunity to take pictures.  

I had to run up to College and University at lunchtime the other day.  On my way there, I was waiting for the northbound Spadina streetcar to come by.  This one, heading southbound, caught my eye.  Those things get filthy on a winter day, don't they?  How'd you like the job of washing them on a regular basis?  Somebody's doing it, because there's no way that, on a day like this, something driving through the muck and slush that's all over those tracks is going to stay THAT clean for long.

I get so much more reading done, now that I'm on the streetcar instead of driving to work.  I'd forgotten, before I started taking the TTC to work again, how much I enjoyed that aspect of the commute.

It was snowing, really hard, and the city was slowed substantially.  I waited twenty minutes for the streetcar, and when it arrived, empty, it filled up with waiting commuters.  And I mean, it REALLY filled up.  I managed to snag a seat, but it stayed like this from Yonge Street all the way across to Broadview, where I escaped. 

I saw this guy while I was doing last minute Christmas shopping, on his way somewhere else.  I hope that everyone reading had a wonderful holiday, and a happy New Year. 

Note: There has been an ongoing problem with the comments and entry links here for some time, and that has now been resolved.  Feel free to comment on the photos again - it should be doable now.

Taken at the Dupont Station, as we waited to take the train home after visiting Casa Loma.

These two gentlemen ended up sitting next to each other on the Queen streetcar.  Something about the way they sat there just appealed to me.