The King St. pilot project has caused dramatic improvements in travel times and reliability on the TTC’s busiest streetcar route, according to data analyzed by University of Toronto researchers.

The statistics show that during the evening rush hour period of 4 to 7 p.m., the mean travel time for westbound streetcars in the pilot area has been cut by 24 per cent, to 17.3 minutes, from 22.8 minutes before the pilot began. The mean travel time for eastbound streetcars has been reduced by 20 per cent, to 16.4 minutes from 20.6 minutes.

The data also shows that during the evening rush, before the Nov. 12 start of the project, 19 per cent of streetcars took longer than 25 minutes to travel the 2.6-kilometre pilot area, which stretches from Bathurst to Jarvis Sts. Since the project began, only 1.3 per cent of evening rush hour streetcars are taking longer than 25 minutes.

The figures suggest a remarkable return on investment in terms of transit service for a project that cost just $1.5 million to implement.

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“From a transit perspective, and an operational perspective, the pilot is achieving, I think, the goal of providing a much faster and reliable transit route to tens of thousands of people daily,” said Steven Farber, an assistant professor of geography at the University of Toronto Scarborough, who is co-director of the Spatial Analysis of Urban Systems lab.

Nate Wessel, a doctoral candidate and assistant at the lab, said streetcar service has improved at almost all times of day since the start of the pilot, which severely limits car traffic on King St. by compelling drivers to turn right at most major intersections. All on-street parking has also been removed from the pilot area, and most streetcar stops have been relocated to the far side of intersections to allow for more efficient boarding.

“The only time where there’s not substantial improvements in both speed and reliability is (around) 4 a.m., when there’s not much room for improvement anyway,” Wessel said, adding that improvements are most pronounced during the evening rush hour.

The researchers stressed that their analysis, based on four weeks of TTC data before the pilot went into effect and 16 days after, is preliminary. The TTC is also monitoring the pilot and is expected to release its own statistics on transit service and car traffic in mid-December.

TTC spokesperson Brad Ross said it was too early to declare the project a success and noted that transit service isn’t the only relevant factor. The city is also monitoring the effect on the economy, the number of pedestrians, air quality and collisions.

But Ross said, anecdotally, the U of T data is in line with what the transit agency has been observing.

“From a transit perspective, we’re very excited about what we’re seeing so far,” he said.

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In fact, the pilot’s success is starting to pose challenges for the TTC. Ross said the agency believes ridership on King St. has increased now that streetcar service has improved. Some passengers told the Star last week they used to take other routes but have started using King because it’s faster. That’s exacerbating crowding on a route that already carried 65,000 people each weekday.

During rush hour, some passengers are still being forced to wait for several cars to pass before one arrives that has enough space to board, which risks undermining the benefits of the pilot.

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Ross said the TTC is doing all it can to increase capacity, but is constrained by delays in its order of new, larger streetcars. Bombardier was supposed to have delivered almost 150 of the vehicles by now, but as of Friday the TTC had just 51 in service.

The agency had planned to prioritize the 512 St. Clair route to receive new cars, but Ross said that will be “paused” and for now, newly delivered cars will be sent to King instead. There are already 10 new cars on King’s 514 Cherry route, and up to 44 older streetcars on the 504 King line. Starting this week, the TTC will deploy a minimum of two additional new streetcars on the 504 during weekdays.

Other changes that could improve service, such as priority signalling that would give streetcars longer green lights at intersections, have yet to be implemented.

The signalling system is the responsibility of the city’s transportation department. In an emailed statement, Barbara Gray, general manager of transportation services, said it is monitoring all aspects of the pilot but “at this point our analysis is just beginning and we have no firm timeline for the implementation of any changes.”

“Once we have the first set of monitoring data — in about two weeks — we will evaluate and begin to make any necessary operational changes, such as adjustments to traffic and pedestrian signal timings,” Gray said.

Toronto is tackling traffic with a year-long pilot project that bans motorists from driving through a busy downtown section of King Street, which started on Nov. 12. One commuter said her lunch-time streetcar ride is almost three times faster. (The Canadian Press)

The pilot is planned to last one year, after which council will vote on whether to make it permanent. It will have to weigh the benefits to transit riders against the project’s potential effects on other groups.

There are indications that for drivers, traffic on nearby streets may have worsened slightly. In an informal test during the morning rush hour last week, a Star reporter recorded average driving times on Adelaide St. W. that were about 50 seconds longer than before the pilot began. Before the pilot, it took about eight minutes to drive on Adelaide from Spadina Ave. to Jarvis St.

Some drivers who take King are still adapting. Const. Clinton Stibbe told the Star that Toronto police issued 508 tickets on King between Nov. 20 and Nov. 26 to drivers who contravened the new signage.

The provincial offence carries a $110 fine and two demerit points.

There is also opposition from some business owners who claim the pilot project is hurting their bottom line.

Al Carbone has owned King St. W. restaurant Kit Kat for 30 years. He told the Star that foot traffic to his restaurant since the pilot project took effect is “almost zero.”

“What we’re trying to do, or what we have to do now, is get the attention of the city that this is hurting small businesses and killing jobs,” Carbone said. “We don’t have the time, and we can’t afford, the daily losses.”

Councillor Joe Cressy (Ward 20, Trinity-Spadina) said the city has worked closely with local business associations and individual owners, and will continue to do so.

“We will be evaluating the factual retail or business implications,” Cressy said. “But the bottom line is, we’re working closely with them, and there’s a period of adjustment, but we’re committed to improving it.”