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Toronto's subways

the journal of Michael Werneburg

twenty-seven years and one million words

This may sound insane, but I think that Toronto's small subway system is actually more overloaded than Tokyo's. Today, while I tried to remain standing despite the crowding, it occurred to me that there are just way more people jammed onto the subway in the mornings than there are on the JR in Tokyo.

I don't know if there are too few subway lines, or too few subway cars, or too few alternates in this rapidly growing city, but something has to change.

And I have a few cheap changes to recommend for the TTC. Install shelving racks above the seats so that people can set down their bags. These work wonders in Tokyo's system, allowing people to get their bulky bags out of each others' way.

And the TTC could remove the short seats that run across the cars (blocking passage through the train car, removing standing space, etc). Having the walls lined with seats that face into the car gives Tokyo's riders more room to stand, and the desperate shortage of space in Toronto's subways has to be alleviated.

There. I have spoken.