How Transit Signal Priority works in Toronto
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- čas přidán 8. 09. 2024
- How and why TTC streetcars and buses receive priority at traffic signals. Animations by Sclerae - / @sclerae426
2020 update: I'm still working on the followup videos for this series, but it's taking a while because I'm learning animation in order to display the concepts more clearly.
Music by me (reaperexpress).
You indicated your next video would be a follow up to this, but it doesn't look like that was posted. Do you still plan to do this video, or have I missed it?
Yeah, sorry, Part 2 of this series has been sitting half-finished for over a year. I've been very slow to produce my traffic signal videos since I already spend all day working on traffic signals, and generally want to do something different in my free time. I plan to make time over the winter break to finish up that video as well as another video on Dutch signals (comparing the red clearance time calculations to those in Ontario).
@@OntarioTrafficMan not rushing you! Just curious if they'd ever come. Look forward to that in future, take your time though!
I just really liked this video. You may not recognize it, but you've made a video describing a topic that I don't think anyone else has. It's super handy for explaining to lay people (like myself ironically) why prioritization is important.
@@PSNDonutDude Indeed, part of the reason I started this video series is that there seems to be a lack of videos which explain Transit Signal Priority in a way that can be understood by the general public.
Sure there's videos from municipalities and transit companies that say that it exists, but they don't really provide any good explanations.
"Make lights turn green for you" sounds like a perfect ad slogan to attract bus/tram drivers :D My city should implement that system, we got too few drivers.
Very interesting, looking forward to the next video :)
This is really well produced! I like that clock animation, and the narration was spot on. I knew TSP existed, but I wasn't aware that it could do so much. I think Barrie (where I live) only has it on a couple of intersections, with dedicated transit lights.
The animations were made by my friend @sclerae426 and they came out better than I could have imagined!
It was my understanding that while this technology is built into the lights, the Toronto Transportation Authority has disabled it on most lines. Their mandate is car traffic and they basically have to have their hand forced (as was done for the King Pilot) to enable the signal priority for transit.
The blame falls on the City of Toronto for this one. I talked with some conductors and they said the city just won't prioritize transit over left-turning vehicles.
It's so pathetic, especially for the corridors where they've invested millions on a dedicated corridor yet the vehicles are only as fast as a bus.
Yes, in order for streetcars to avoid delays due to left turn phases, the TSP system needs to be allowed to use phase insertion (introducing an extra transit phase before a leading left turn phase, or after a lagging left turn phase), or phase rotation (moving the left turn phases to another part of the cycle). Toronto's current TSP system can take either of those actions, but the City never permits phase rotation, and typically only permits phase insertion where it is absolutely necessary (e.g. where the streetcar can only cross the intersection with the assistance of a dedicated phase).
There are currently 2 intersections where phase insertion is used to avoid delays due to left turn phases: St. Clair & Dunvegan, and Spadina & Lakeshore (shown at 1:12 in this video). In fact, the green light you see at 1:12 is an extra green light that was inserted by the TSP system. Normally at that intersection, the left turn phase is immediately followed by the eastbound green (the north-south left "lags" after the north-south thru phase, unlike most other intersections where it "leads" before it). Unfortunately phase insertion is the only action that TSP is allowed to take at that intersection, so streetcars can still face very lengthy delays if they arrive during other parts of the cycle.
Around here we recently got variable priority systems for buses. To my understanding the buses use a microwave radio protocol and send out not only their route, but also their current route delay. This way the system can be adjusted. On minor intersections basically every bus get's priority but on the major ones only those with larger delays get priority. There where issues with several bus stops which all had a signaled pedestrian crossing. When a bus was on time the driver would obviously wait for passengers on the other side to cross and enter, but they could not because with the old system the signal for buses was held green. Now the radio signal is only sent once the doors are closed (or on manual request).
2:39 i love the look of those old Trams
Extremely well done. Great b roll shots. Thanks for the information
Haha thanks. It turns out it's really tedious to go out filming traffic with the hope of randomly capturing a particular event that I'm trying to illustrate... Fortunately streetcars are extremely frequent so I got a lot of attempts without too much standing around.
reaperexpress no problem! Looking forward to what you put out next
Thank you very much for the concise and clear expalanations.
Very nice video! I never knew that the streetcars had some control over traffic lights before. I'll be sure to watch the next video!
2:40 that driver needs a ticket. Well put together, keep it up!
Good thing there was signal priority to keep the light green for the streetcar while the Subaru completed its U-turn!
It is CRAZY that LA light rail, Charlotte Gold line and KC Street at don’t have this system. WONDERFUL video, thank you
The LA light rail system does have a strong TSP system. Charlotte's Blue Line definitely does as well, but the TSP doesn't seem to be very good on the Gold Line. The KC Streetca also seems to have an ineffective TSP system (if any).
@@OntarioTrafficMan I can say with certainty that the LA Metro E Line does not have effective an TSP
@@travelsofmunch1476 painfully true
We need TSP at ALL streetcar and rapid bus lanes in the city!
@reaperexpress
Did you end up making more videos on transit signal priority? I’m from Vancouver and we don’t have any TSP except for 2 random stand-alone signals outside of Vancouver. I’m so interested in learning more from you!!! Especially in regards to how compensation is made for other road users! Please let me know if you plan to make or are in the process of making more videos on TSP! :)
Thanks for your interest! I am indeed planning on doing a part 2 on the details of TSP actions (extension, truncation, insertion, rotation) and a part 3 on compensation (offset correction, split balancing, etc). But due to my other obligations recently I have no particular timeline for completing them. At the moment part 2 is filmed, but I haven't started on scriptwriting, editing or animations.
In the meantime, if you're looking for more details on TSP here's a pretty good lecture available from Professor Peter Furth.
czcams.com/video/K2g0trGAfgo/video.html
My video will cover some of the same content, but also some different content, and will be in a much more time-efficient format.
reaperexpress sweet! Thanks for the link! I look forward to seeing those 2 videos! :)
1:41 Damn, I wish the company who operates KW's ION light rail understood this fact. Thought it was just a me problem this whole time. The Route 7 bus serves more stops and is still faster on average 😂
Great video. My city (Santo Domingo) is about to implement TSP and I was curious about how it works. Do you have an estimate of how much faster is a TSP corridor vs a non-TSP one??
TSP is not a yes/no characteristic. There is a full spectrum, ranging from very weak TSP systems which have almost no effect on signal timings, to very strong TSP systems which guarantee a green light for the approaching bus.
One example of the difference is in the maximum amount that a green light can be extended. If the traffic department chooses a maximum extension of 5 seconds, then the green light will only be extended for buses less than 5 seconds away at the time the light would normally end. If the bus is 6 seconds away, it will still get a red light. That doesn't help much. If they allow an extension up to 30 seconds, then far more buses will get a green light. In addition to the maximum extension time that the traffic deparmtment chooses, some systems have built-in restrictions (such as a strict maximum cycle length) which can limit the maximum green extension.
Another example is whether or not the system is allowed to affect the signal phase order. With a strong TSP program, the phase for the bus will always be served as soon as possible once there's a priority request. If necessary, an extra phase will be inserted into the cycle, or the order of the phases will be changed. But in a weaker program, the signal may still follow its normal phase sequence even though there are other phases first, causing buses to wait longer than necessary.
Typically, traffic departments prefer TSP systems to be weak, since that makes them easier to operate, and less likely to cause complaints from road users. So unless there is political pressure specifically to provide strong priority, then the TSP system typically will not be very effective.
@@OntarioTrafficMan Thanks for that answer man, now everything makes much more sense for me. Precisely today, I used the new corridor implementing the TSP system for the first time. I did notice some improvement in the time needed to get to my stop compared to the previous system, but not a huge difference, so as part of several local groups advocating for reliable and efficient transit in my metro area I'll keep pushing for BRT.
@@rickc.9664 In addition to pushing for BRT, you could push for stronger TSP. It is typically possible to reduce bus delay simply by changing parameters and other minor changes to the TSP system
where is the 1.2 person per vehicle statistic from? ive been trying to find some but they arent very easy to find online.
TSP is practically non-existent in the suburbs, but there's literally buses everywhere on the road.
As a suburbia commuter, I'd rather have smooth flow of traffic than priority to buses.
I wonder if Eglinton Crosstown will has TSP on the whole line.
Well maybe traffic would flow smoother if more people were encouraged to take the bus rather than driving...
@@OntarioTrafficMan damn right, sadly that's not gonna happen, unless we get BRTs or LRTs separating transit from road.
Of course TSP isn't going to single-handedly solve congestion, but giving signal priority to late buses would allow service to be much more reliable, which would attract more people to the service and increase the useable capacity of bus lines by reducing bunching. And if we have more political will, we can paint reserved bus lanes on busy bus routes to both maximize the effectiveness of TSP and reduce the impact of traffic.
@@OntarioTrafficMan No signal priority lmao.
Do more TTC related stuff lol