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A Toronto man challenged the newly-opened Finch Light-Rail Transit to a race — and he won.
The Toronto Transit Commission’s Line 6 was riddled with service disruptions and disappointment from commuters during its opening week, particularly as advocates and councillors called for signal priority and faster trips.
Mac Bauer, who regularly races TTC vehicles, decided to take it upon himself to see if the new line truly was as slow as people described it to him.
“People started sending me articles of it taking 55 minutes, 60 minutes to go 10 kilometers,” he said. “This shouldn’t be happening.”
Bauer started racing TTC vehicles approximately one year ago, once he and his wife realized how long it took them to get to Roncesvalles from the east end of the city. That’s when he started making videos under the username 514runner on Instagram.
While he has outrun many streetcars, he didn’t know if he’d be able to win against the new line.
“It was icy, it was cold, it was tough,” Bauer told CBC Toronto Sunday. “I was pretty surprised when I got out there and it was as hilly as it was.”
Yet, he still beat the Finch LRT by 18 minutes.
Mac Bauer said he noticed a variety of issues with the LRT during the race, including a lack of signal priority and too many stops within a short range. (CBC)
Line 6 of the TTC, which includes 18 stops, connects Finch West station to Humber Polytechnic’s north campus.
After its grand opening last Sunday, a CBC Toronto reporter rode the entire 10.3-kilometre line from east to west Monday, finding it took roughly 55 minutes to complete. The reporter’s eastbound return trip was closer to 47 minutes.
Bauer said he noticed a variety of issues with the LRT, including a lack of signal priority and too many stops within a short range.
“When the LRT was able to go and the stops [were] a little bit further apart, it was able to make some headway on me,” he said. “But as we got closer to Finch West, it seemed like the stops were getting closer and closer together and it just really bogged everything down.”
The newly unveiled Finch West LRT has faced mechanical and operational hiccups throughout its first week. Bauer said that’s unacceptable.
“This is a generally underserved part of Toronto,” Bauer said. “That’s a pretty big disservice to this group of people that really thought something good was going to happen.”
In a statement to CBC Toronto, the TTC said Line 6 is in a soft opening phase.
“The TTC, Metrolinx and the City are all committed, and working together, to speed up trip times through various initiatives like transit signal priority, as well as capitalizing on the experience and lessons learned during this soft opening phase,” spokesperson Stuart Green said.
WATCH | CBC reporter rides Finch LRT from east to west, trip took 55 minutes:
Finch West LRT enters first rush-hour test
The new Finch West LRT officially opened to passengers on Sunday after four years of delays and budget run-ups. CBC’s Haydn Watters breaks down how the line is performing with its first rush-hour commute.
He added the TTC is “confident” speeds will increase by spring, when the LRT is fully operational.
CBC Toronto reached out to Metrolinx for comment, but did not hear back in time for publication.
Andrew Pulsifer, executive director of transit advocacy group TTCriders, said he’s a big fan of Bauer’s.
“He does great work and really shines a light on the slowness of our surface transit network,” he said. “Not a surprise that he’s able to outrun the LRT.”
Pulsifer told CBC Toronto Sunday he’s hoping to see signal priority, which would allow TTC vehicles to go through a light without having to wait for left-turning vehicles, installed across the system.
“People who take transit, they’re making the right decision,” he said. “They do deserve to have priority.”
Bauer said the whole system is “struggling.”
“I pay a lot of taxes and I want the transit to be good,” he said. “As a growing city, we really need to be doing better when it comes to our transit, especially with people being called back to work.”