Toronto’s new longer streetcars won’t stop for passengers as often as their predecessors, if a new plan by the Toronto Transit Commission goes forward.

The TTC hopes to eliminate dozens of streetcar stops all over the city, with the aim of reducing service time and improving passenger safety. Under the proposed requirements, stops will have to be between 200 and 400 metres apart, and any stop not next to an intersection or a crosswalk will be relocated.

Eighty-one stops, including 42 Sunday stops — a concept that dates to the 1920s, when Toronto’s churches were more regularly attended — face an uncertain future. An additional 20 stops are under review.

“This is all about improving transit, improving safety and improving efficiency. If we’re stopping at every 100 metres or so, that’s not really an efficient use of people’s time.” spokesman Brad Ross told the Star. “With the new streetcars coming online, the opportunity was ripe for this review.”

Since motorists are already required to stop at traffic signals, boarding a streetcar at a signalized intersection with crosswalks is less dangerous, the proposal says.

But some councillors disagree.

“If you want to have most of them at crosswalks and intersections, that’s a really good goal, but it shouldn’t be a hard rule,” Ward 30 Councillor Paula Fletcher said. “I think letting 50 people standing on a street corner waiting for a streetcar is way more unsafe than having a stop midblock.”

Fletcher and three of her colleagues have raised concerns about several stops that have been slated for removal by the TTC. Eliminating those stops, they say, would ultimately hurt commuters, and in some cases, businesses.

“I think they need to consult with business improvement associations,” Fletcher said. “The streetcars stops have been there for a long time, and businesses rely on people coming on and off from those stops.”

The TTC points out that reducing the number of stops would lead to faster transit times, something the city desperately needs. And fewer stops wouldn’t necessarily lead to congested sidewalks. The new 251-rider-capacity streetcars, they say, have multiple doors for boarding, which means passengers will spread along the sidewalk, not converged on a single spot.

Still, Ward 28 Councillor Pam McConnell believes that shorter commutes aren’t everything.

“It’s more than just getting there on time,” she said. “The fastest way to get on time is to never open the door.”

For McConnell, streetcar stops should reflect passengers’ wants and needs. If a stop draws a lot of people yet fails to meet the TTC’s new requirements, then it shouldn’t be removed, she says.

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“It’s not about engineering, it’s about customer service,” she said.

TTC’s board is to vote on the proposal Wednesday.