The Billy Bishop Airport

My friend Marcia and I rode the Bathurst streetcar to Fleet Street, so that we could visit the NEW pedestrian tunnel to the Billy Bishop Airport.

The above artist rendering is courtesy of Urban Toronto.
Apparently, the 800 foot tunnel cost 82.5 million dollars to build. 

So here is the entrance to the tunnel that takes you under the Western Gap.

There are four moving sidewalks.....

And two sets of four huge escalators to take folks to and from the airport.

Once we arrived at the top of this, the last escalator, we were treated to a virtual mini museum of Billy's history.

Once we covered everything there was to see, we decided to do the return trip on the ferry.

This is us on the deck of the Marilyn Bell1, which was actually christened by Marilyn Bell herself in January 2010.

Marilyn looks like she is having a great time dumping Champagne on the ferry.

The Trillium

Last month, when Marcia and I were returning from a trip around the Toronto Islands, we were treated to a ride on the Trillium.
I was excited to be below decks and watch the steam works of this double-end, double deck ferry.

It was launched into the harbour in 1910, and served as a passenger ferry along with three other "flower ferries" - the Primrose, the Mayflower and the Bluebell.
The last time I rode any of these ferries was when the cost was only a streetcar ticket (2 1/2 cents).
The Toronto Historical Board plaque on the deck wall tells some of its story.

Eventually, all of the paddle wheel ferries were replaced in 1952 by faster diesel-powered ships. She was retired five years later and left abandoned in an Island lagoon for 17 or 18 years.

 This photo is from the Toronto Archives (Fonds 1244, Item 0261)

Several years, and one million dollars later (thanks to Tommy Thompson) a restored Trillium returned to the Queens Quay docks at the foot of Bay Street.
It should be noted here that they had to retro-fit the docks to accomodate her wider berth.
  

Cable Cars

I was browsing through Spacing Magazine's web page and happened upon an article about cable cars as a form of transportation, here in Toronto.

The title was "It's Time for Toronto to Get Cable Cars".

Apparently, there is a planner who thinks that cable cars, rather than streetcars are the answer to the T.T.C. problems.


Some people have grasped the idea, and it may very well FLY (pardon the pun), sometime soon.

The naysayers, of course will believe that it is more expensive and will become problematic in winter.

But, there a number of gondolas, cable cars, aerial lifts (whatever you want to call them) throughout the world in areas that are snow covered year round.

Banff is a good example, as well as France and Switzerland.

Probably the most famous lift is the Vanoise Express that links La Plagne with Les Arcs in France.

It was officially opened in December of 2003, but has had a few safety problems since.





I personally like the Sky Train in Vancouver.
It is the longest (49.5 km) automated rapid transit system in the world, and carries 271,000 passengers daily.






I would rather see this type of train linking the airport with the city, than an extension of the Yonge University subway line.

But then, that's just me.

As the capital of Chile, Santiago has had almost two decades of uninterrupted economic growth.

This has transformed the city into one of Latin America’s most modern metropolitan areas, with extensive suburban development, dozens of shopping malls, and an impressive high-rise architecture.

The city also boasts some of the most modern transportation infrastructure, such as the growing Santiago Metro.

The above image is from Wikipedia, and is copyright. The copyright holder allows anyone to use it, for any purpose, so long as the copyright holder is properly attributed.

So this image is held as copyright by Antoine.

The subway system in Santiago is a network of five lines with 106 stations (24 of which are under construction).

It began operations in December 1975 and carries around 2,500,000 passengers per day.

Not only does this system function as a mode of transportation, but it has a cultural and artistic value as well.

Here we see the Universidad de Chile Station, and the giant mural, created by Mario Toral.

It represents the history of the country in detail.

This is another shot of the station near the University.

By all accounts, the Metro is fast and clean. It certainly looks cleaner than our transit system. In fact, all three of these systems look much cleaner than the TTC.

São Paulo is the fifth largest city in the world, and the largest in Brazil.

Not only is it the capital of Brazil, but it is also the richest city.

With a population of 19 million (11 million in the city proper), its metro system is relatively small (61 km. of track) when compared to its European or North American counterparts.

The first line, Norte-Sul (North-South), later renamed the "blue line" or Line 1 – Blue, was opened in 1972.

The present system consists of four colour-coded lines: Blue, Green, Red and Lilac. The Yellow is currently under construction and is due to start operating in late 2009.

The São Paulo Metro carries some 2,800,000 passengers a day, but does not cover the entire urban area in the city. Another company, Companhia Paulista de Trens Metropolitanos (CPTM), works along the metro system and runs a light rail service. Metro and CPTM are integrated through various stations, and have received awards in the past as one of the cleanest systems in the world.

The Metrovias serves the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina.

It was inaugurated on December 1^st, 1913, making it the oldest metro system in Latin America, the Southern Hemisphere, and, indeed in the entire Spanish-speaking world.

It is a privately owned company that took over operations in January 1994, as part of a railway privatization during the presidency of Carlos Menem.

This picture from Wikipedia; it is of the Vintage Line "A" entrance way on Avenida de Mayo(or May Avenue).
This street or avenue extends 1,500 metres in a west-east direction, and is often compared with those of Madrid, Barcelona and Paris due to its sophisticated buildings of art Nouveau, neoclassic and eclectic styles.
The decree 437/97 of the National Executive Branch declared the Avenue a national historic site in 1997. As a result the aesthetics of the buildings could not be changed, including billboards and marquees.

Here is some subway art from four different stations on the system.

The fare is 90 Cents (about USD 0.28) and in fact is actually cheaper than the city buses.

Riders purchase either single-use or multi-use cards (called SubtePass) with a magnetic strip or use “Contactless” cards called SubteCard which can be rechargeable with cash or linked to a bank account for automatic debit.

Now why do we not have something like this on our transit system?

The current network comprises six underground lines (labelled "A" to "E" and "H"), and is further identified by different colours, covering a total track length of 52 km.

The Miami-Dade Rail is the system built for this city.

I do not recall seeing any shots of this system on CSI – Miami.

It was opened in 1984 – the year Apple introduced the Macintosh computer.

Notice the pink triangle on the logo.

The information on Wikipedia is short and boring, but, Miami itself has many Art Deco buildings.

Since we are in the transportation mode; let’s look at the Greyhound station, at night.

Cool!

Then there’s the Breakwater Hotel.....

and the Argyle..................



then there's the Plymouth Hotel.............

So this is not so boring after all.

The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority or MARTA as it’s called was first put into service in 1979.

Nice view, eh?

MARTA has never received any operational funding from the State of Georgia, making it the largest public transportation agency in the United States not to receive state funding for operational expenses.

Gee, does this sound familiar?

The Metrorail in Washington, D.C.

Built in 1976, it was designed with the vision that it would be a regional transit system, since most folks live outside the core.

This subway is twice the length of our TTC, and is the second busiest in the United States.

The Metrorail, as it’s called, has a zero-tolerance policy of food and trash on the system. This philosophy also extends to the use of station restrooms. The Transit Police have a reputation for enforcing these laws rigorously. One widely publicized incident occurred in the year 2000 when police arrested a 12 year-old girl for eating chips in the Tenleytown Station.

Only in America, eh?

In Baltimore, Maryland, we find the Metro Subway, or Baltimore Metro, whichever you prefer.

Despite its name, less than half of the line is underground; most of the line is outside of the central city is elevated or at grade.

When the Metro Subway finally opened in 1983, it was only a single line. This was mostly due to the exorbitant construction costs and less federal money available, at the time.

Again, it seems that these North American systems do not have any interesting qualities – not like the European ones.

Did you know that Cairo has its own subway?

The City of Baltimore is much more colourful than a silly old train.

So I am putting a night picture of the skyline here instead………….

The SouthEastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority operates trolley, light rail, bus and commuter rail in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

SEPTA is a quasi-public state agency that serves 3.8 million people in five counties in the region. It is the fifth largest transit system in the United States.

The Subway–Surface lines are remnants of the far more extensive streetcar system once operated by the Philadelphia Transportation Company. They were converted to a modern light rail operation with trains operating underground through the city centre. The system is comparable to Boston's Green Line and San Francisco's Muni Metro, which uses longer, articulated LRT vehicles.

In October 2006, Penn's class of 1956 funded the construction of an innovative portal for one of the eastbound entrances of the 37th and Spruce Street Station: a replica of a Peter Witt trolley.

Operated by the Philadelphia Transportation Company until 1956, these trolleys brought university students to the campus and to Centre City, Philadelphia. Routes 11, 34 and 37 ran through the Penn campus on Woodland Avenue and Locust Street for nearly 65 years.

In 1956, the trolley route was buried to enable the university to unify its campus. Woodland Avenue and Locust Street became pedestrian walkway.

This is the Locust Walkway, as seen in winter.

According to to Wikipedia, this New York has the most extensive public transportation system in the world.

But the Tokyo Metro boasts itself as the cleanest and most extensive with 168 stations, 21 lines, and 183.2 km of track.

Whereas NYC has 468 stations, 26 routes and 1056 km. of track; I’d say NYC has it hands down.

This is the 125th Street station the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line of the New York City Subway.

Located at the intersection of 125th Street and Broadway, where Morningside Heights meets Harlem, it is served by the 1 train at all times.

It is the only station on the short elevated Manhattan Valley Viaduct, which bridges the Manhattan Valley from 122nd to 135th Streets. The viaduct allows the trains to remain relatively level while traversing the valley. Stairs and escalators lead to a mezzanine under the tracks that allows access to both uptown and downtown trains from either side of Broadway.

Downtown Boston’s streets are not organized on a grid, but grew in a meandering pattern early in the 17^th century.

This city is home to a mega-project called the Big Dig.

The construction plan was supposed to replace a heavily-used central elevated artery that ran through downtown Boston, and replace it with an underground tunnel. The project was fraught with criminal arrests, escalating costs, death, leaks, and charges of poor execution and use of substandard materials…..whew!

Here we see South Station, where Amtrak, commuter rail and bus service converge.

Now, about the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA):

The Orange Line is so named because it used to run down Orange Street (now lower Washington Street); the Green Line because it runs adjacent to parts of the Emerald Necklace; the Blue Line because it runs under Boston Harbour; and the Red Line because its northernmost station used to be at Harvard University, whose school colour is crimson, in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

In 2010 Vancouver and Whistler will host the 2010 Winter Olympics.

The last time I visited this city was in 1986, for "Man and His World".

Vancouver currently has the second largest trolley bus fleet in North America after San Francisco.

TransLink, the Metro Vancouver Transportation Authority, is responsible for roads and public transportation within the region.

It provides a bus service, B-Line Rapid Bus Service, a foot passenger and bicycle ferry service (known as SeaBus), a two-line automated metro system called SkyTrain, and the commuter rail, known as the West Coast Express.

This is a super picture, from Wikipedia, of the San Francisco Bay Bridge that connects Oakland to East Bay.

Of course, no visit to this city is complete without a ride on the famous cable cars of Nob Hill.

The BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) began regular passenger service in 1972, reporting more than 100,000 passengers in its first 5 days.

The Transbay Tube opened 2 years later (1974), thus linking each of the four branches extending to Daly City, Concord, Richmond, and Fremont.

The 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake gave BART an unequalled opportunity to shine as a star and major hero during this catastrophe.

Transportation between San Francisco and Oakland was drastically affected with the breakage of the bridge and the near total destruction of the Cypress Street Viaduct. Within six hours of the original earthquake, BART trains were operational, effectively becoming the sole mode of transportation throughout the area.

Kudos!

The Moscow Metro spans almost the entire Russian capital, and is one of the world's most heavily used systems.

It is a state-owned enterprise, which was built under the 1930’s Moscow general plan and designed by Lazar Kaganovich.

The length of the route is 282.5 km in total, with 12 lines and 173 stations.

It is well known for the ornate design of many of its stations, which contain beautiful examples of socialist realist art.

Like this.......................

On a normal weekday it carries over 7 million passengers!

Each line is identified by an alphanumeric index (usually consisting of just a number, or a name, and a colour).

On all lines, travelers can determine the direction of the train by the gender of the announcer: on the ring line, a male voice indicates clockwise travel, and a female voice counter-clockwise. On the radial lines, travelers heading toward the centre of Moscow will hear male-voiced announcements, and travelers heading away will hear female-voiced announcements (a good mnemonic rule here is: ‘your boss calls you to work; your wife calls you home’).