As the TTC announces the completion of the first phase of transit signal priority improvements on Line 5 Eglinton and Line 6 Finch West, it likely won’t be until the end of May when riders may feel a noticeable improvement to trip times.
In a news release issued by the TTC on Wednesday, officials said crews have changed the traffic light ordering at all Line 6 at-grade intersections and at several Line 5 intersections.
Under the first-phase changes, left-turning vehicles will now proceed through an intersection at the end of a traffic-light cycle, rather than at the beginning, allowing LRT trains to move through an intersection seconds sooner after a light turns green from red. The second and third phases involve the retiming of traffic lights and adding technology that will allow approaching trains to trigger light changes
“As the operator of Lines 5 and 6, we are listening to our customers when they tell us they want to see their trip times sped up as part of broader improvements,” TTC CEO Mandeep Lali said in the statement.
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“This first, new phase of transit signal priority is going to bring real, measurable, incremental improvements upon which we can continue to build, bringing with it an enhanced experience for the City, the region and our customers.”
CityNews recently went end-to-end along Line 5 Eglinton and Line 6 Finch West to see how travel times have been improved.
During a mid- and late-afternoon journey on the Eglinton Crosstown LRT corridor on Wednesday, it took more than an hour and five minutes to go west between Kennedy and Mount Dennis stations. A similar trip right after opening in early February took around 55 minutes, which is around the average time stated by TTC staff for the initial phase of service. While there were unexplained pauses on the western end of the line, there weren’t any published service alerts affecting the line at the time. A return eastbound trip on a different train took just over 54 minutes with a brief, unexplained pause waiting to enter Kennedy station.
On Monday evening, it took almost 46 minutes to go westbound to Humber College station from Finch West station — roughly a minute quicker compared to a trip CityNews took in December shortly after opening. A return eastbound trip on a different train took more than 43 minutes and 40 seconds. According to a Metrolinx website on the Finch West LRT project, light rail vehicles were initially projected to take approximately 33 to 34 minutes to travel end-to-end.
CityNews contacted the TTC (the operator of Lines 5 and 6) and the City of Toronto (responsible for changes to traffic signals) to ask about the projected time savings for each phase of transit signal priority improvements, the projected timeframe for implementation, efforts to ease areas with speed restrictions, and the projected trip times once all of the changes are in place. Officials answered some of the questions posed.
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“From the TTC (operator) perspective, trip times are improving although they vary from trip to trip when things like customer volume and light cycling can vary,” a brief statement from the transit agency’s media relations office said.
Ashley Curtis, the City of Toronto’s general manager of transportation services, said in a statement phase two — when traffic lights will change in real time as trains approach to green if necessary — will be in place on Lines 5 and 6 by the end of April.
“These changes significantly reduce the chance of trains getting stuck at red lights,” she said.
Curtis said phase three, which involves “other measures, including signal re-timings” should be done by the end of May” and that it “will continue to improve transit runtimes as the City and TTC gain data from the operating system.”
On Line 5 Eglinton, TTC officials previously said it’s anticipated the speed limit in the tunnelled portion will increase to 80 km/h from 60 km/h at some point after operating crews get more familiar with the system.