Chris Livett
@chrislivett.bsky.social
Transportation Planner since 2007
Reposted by Chris Livett
An absolutely masterful explanation of the odyssey that lead Toronto from being a transit leader to a city opening rail lines slower than buses, hard comparisons against asian cities that build subways for the same prices, and a possible path forward (also puns): substack.com/inbox/post/1...
December 26, 2025 at 5:26 PM
An absolutely masterful explanation of the odyssey that lead Toronto from being a transit leader to a city opening rail lines slower than buses, hard comparisons against asian cities that build subways for the same prices, and a possible path forward (also puns): substack.com/inbox/post/1...
Reposted by Chris Livett
At the back cab of the Finch LRT you can see the speedometer, including the programmed speed limits.
It would be useful if a pair of transit advocates could film a full ride with both the view out the front and the speedometer at the back so we can document the speed limits
youtu.be/lectZKgdwTo
It would be useful if a pair of transit advocates could film a full ride with both the view out the front and the speedometer at the back so we can document the speed limits
youtu.be/lectZKgdwTo
Finch W LRT speedometer - Albion to Kipling
YouTube video by Ontario Traffic Man Clips
youtu.be
December 24, 2025 at 7:54 PM
At the back cab of the Finch LRT you can see the speedometer, including the programmed speed limits.
It would be useful if a pair of transit advocates could film a full ride with both the view out the front and the speedometer at the back so we can document the speed limits
youtu.be/lectZKgdwTo
It would be useful if a pair of transit advocates could film a full ride with both the view out the front and the speedometer at the back so we can document the speed limits
youtu.be/lectZKgdwTo
Reposted by Chris Livett
Lots of film screenings in the New Year:
Toronto, 11 Jan
Moncton NB 11 Jan
Cambridge ON, 15 Jan
Newmarket, ON, 19 Jan
Kitchener 25 Jan
Wolfville NS, 4 Feb
Guelph, ON 5 Feb
Kingston ON, 9 Feb
Cornwall ON, 10 Feb
Burlington ON, 19 Feb
London ON, 2 Mar
Info & links to register at www.housingfilm.ca
Toronto, 11 Jan
Moncton NB 11 Jan
Cambridge ON, 15 Jan
Newmarket, ON, 19 Jan
Kitchener 25 Jan
Wolfville NS, 4 Feb
Guelph, ON 5 Feb
Kingston ON, 9 Feb
Cornwall ON, 10 Feb
Burlington ON, 19 Feb
London ON, 2 Mar
Info & links to register at www.housingfilm.ca
December 24, 2025 at 5:27 PM
Lots of film screenings in the New Year:
Toronto, 11 Jan
Moncton NB 11 Jan
Cambridge ON, 15 Jan
Newmarket, ON, 19 Jan
Kitchener 25 Jan
Wolfville NS, 4 Feb
Guelph, ON 5 Feb
Kingston ON, 9 Feb
Cornwall ON, 10 Feb
Burlington ON, 19 Feb
London ON, 2 Mar
Info & links to register at www.housingfilm.ca
Toronto, 11 Jan
Moncton NB 11 Jan
Cambridge ON, 15 Jan
Newmarket, ON, 19 Jan
Kitchener 25 Jan
Wolfville NS, 4 Feb
Guelph, ON 5 Feb
Kingston ON, 9 Feb
Cornwall ON, 10 Feb
Burlington ON, 19 Feb
London ON, 2 Mar
Info & links to register at www.housingfilm.ca
Reposted by Chris Livett
TTC Planning & Engineering has been proposing and implementing exactly this type of infrastructure for decades but they face opposition from the City.
Queue Jump Lanes constructed by the TTC include:
WB Lawrence & Dufferin
EB Steeles & Don Mills
WB Finch & Yonge
EB Finch & Markham
Queue Jump Lanes constructed by the TTC include:
WB Lawrence & Dufferin
EB Steeles & Don Mills
WB Finch & Yonge
EB Finch & Markham
December 23, 2025 at 7:36 PM
TTC Planning & Engineering has been proposing and implementing exactly this type of infrastructure for decades but they face opposition from the City.
Queue Jump Lanes constructed by the TTC include:
WB Lawrence & Dufferin
EB Steeles & Don Mills
WB Finch & Yonge
EB Finch & Markham
Queue Jump Lanes constructed by the TTC include:
WB Lawrence & Dufferin
EB Steeles & Don Mills
WB Finch & Yonge
EB Finch & Markham
Reposted by Chris Livett
bus-only queue jump doing its job on eglinton, letting buses glide past long lines of left turning cars to enter cedarvale station.
sometimes its short, focused transit priority treatments like this that make all the difference!
sometimes its short, focused transit priority treatments like this that make all the difference!
December 21, 2025 at 1:09 AM
bus-only queue jump doing its job on eglinton, letting buses glide past long lines of left turning cars to enter cedarvale station.
sometimes its short, focused transit priority treatments like this that make all the difference!
sometimes its short, focused transit priority treatments like this that make all the difference!
Reposted by Chris Livett
That this is happening so quickly shows that this could have been done right at the beginning.
But this is still good – the public pressure worked.
But this is still good – the public pressure worked.
just took line 6 this evening, two weeks since opening. a smooth 8 min to jane, and then an 8 min ride back (faster than scheduled).
-dwell times average 20s per stop
-in both directions, my train never hit a red light except at jane st
-green transit phase insertion/rotation being tested
1/2
-dwell times average 20s per stop
-in both directions, my train never hit a red light except at jane st
-green transit phase insertion/rotation being tested
1/2
December 22, 2025 at 4:55 AM
That this is happening so quickly shows that this could have been done right at the beginning.
But this is still good – the public pressure worked.
But this is still good – the public pressure worked.
Reposted by Chris Livett
skytrain detractors say it's bad bc it's "costly proprietary technology". in the grand scheme, that's irrelevant.
vancouver got metro service for cheaper capital costs which allowed continuous expansion (a north american outlier), more ridership than chicago, & cheap operations bc it's autonomous.
vancouver got metro service for cheaper capital costs which allowed continuous expansion (a north american outlier), more ridership than chicago, & cheap operations bc it's autonomous.
It’s amazing reading anti-SkyTrain talk in Vancouver.
“This gives modern LRT a tremendous flexibility in operation and is the main reason why it made SkyTrain (ALRT) obsolete in the mid-1980s.” (2018)
“This gives modern LRT a tremendous flexibility in operation and is the main reason why it made SkyTrain (ALRT) obsolete in the mid-1980s.” (2018)
SkyTrain vs LRT | Watershed Sentinel
Vancouver has missed the Light Rail train and done less with more by favouring a costly proprietary system. Here’s why and how that happened.
watershedsentinel.ca
December 17, 2025 at 4:02 AM
skytrain detractors say it's bad bc it's "costly proprietary technology". in the grand scheme, that's irrelevant.
vancouver got metro service for cheaper capital costs which allowed continuous expansion (a north american outlier), more ridership than chicago, & cheap operations bc it's autonomous.
vancouver got metro service for cheaper capital costs which allowed continuous expansion (a north american outlier), more ridership than chicago, & cheap operations bc it's autonomous.
Reposted by Chris Livett
This piece by @chittimarco.bsky.social is a must-read for any Transport Planner
Too often I've seen travel time get ignored, despite being the primary determinant of mode choice and travel behaviour
For transit to be successful, it needs to be competitive
marcochitti.substack.com/p/speed-matt...
Too often I've seen travel time get ignored, despite being the primary determinant of mode choice and travel behaviour
For transit to be successful, it needs to be competitive
marcochitti.substack.com/p/speed-matt...
Speed matters
Of time, life and space. Or why transit speed matters.
marcochitti.substack.com
December 17, 2025 at 4:06 AM
This piece by @chittimarco.bsky.social is a must-read for any Transport Planner
Too often I've seen travel time get ignored, despite being the primary determinant of mode choice and travel behaviour
For transit to be successful, it needs to be competitive
marcochitti.substack.com/p/speed-matt...
Too often I've seen travel time get ignored, despite being the primary determinant of mode choice and travel behaviour
For transit to be successful, it needs to be competitive
marcochitti.substack.com/p/speed-matt...
Reposted by Chris Livett
Speed Matters.
Some thoughts about transit and speed, life, space and time.
open.substack.com/pub/marcochi...
Some thoughts about transit and speed, life, space and time.
open.substack.com/pub/marcochi...
Speed matters
Of time, life and space. Or why transit speed matters.
open.substack.com
December 17, 2025 at 12:09 AM
Speed Matters.
Some thoughts about transit and speed, life, space and time.
open.substack.com/pub/marcochi...
Some thoughts about transit and speed, life, space and time.
open.substack.com/pub/marcochi...
Highly recommend this video on Canadian high-speed rail
Lots of great information on what’s going well as well as the more questionable decision to go with a P3 with a long monopoly for the HSR consortium
Let’s learn from Spain and create a HSR legacy we can be proud of!
youtu.be/eOcxuGvf1uY
Lots of great information on what’s going well as well as the more questionable decision to go with a P3 with a long monopoly for the HSR consortium
Let’s learn from Spain and create a HSR legacy we can be proud of!
youtu.be/eOcxuGvf1uY
What Canada can learn from Spain about high-speed rail | CBC Creator Network
YouTube video by CBC
youtu.be
December 13, 2025 at 2:37 AM
Highly recommend this video on Canadian high-speed rail
Lots of great information on what’s going well as well as the more questionable decision to go with a P3 with a long monopoly for the HSR consortium
Let’s learn from Spain and create a HSR legacy we can be proud of!
youtu.be/eOcxuGvf1uY
Lots of great information on what’s going well as well as the more questionable decision to go with a P3 with a long monopoly for the HSR consortium
Let’s learn from Spain and create a HSR legacy we can be proud of!
youtu.be/eOcxuGvf1uY
Reposted by Chris Livett
A lot of people think basically all traffic laws are a fundamentally illegitimate pretext to harass and fine motorists at random, rather than regulations designed to prevent injury and death.
Striking that opponents of automated enforcement so often cite something easily fixed in policy design as a reason to reject the whole idea. For example fretting that local governments will use ATE as a money-printing machine when you can just stipulate the revenue go to specific purposes.
December 12, 2025 at 11:00 PM
A lot of people think basically all traffic laws are a fundamentally illegitimate pretext to harass and fine motorists at random, rather than regulations designed to prevent injury and death.
Reposted by Chris Livett
So, apparently the TSP of the SRB Pie-IX is a real joke.
Canada loves to spend millions to build transit in dedicated RoW...and then waste all the advantage in non-existent signal priority.
Canada loves to spend millions to build transit in dedicated RoW...and then waste all the advantage in non-existent signal priority.
Oh my god. If I'm reading this correctly the TSP basically does nothing at all.
It seems the TSP only allows the green to be extended by 5 seconds. I really hope I'm misreading this. But it seems to indicate the green time for the bus phase (8) is minimum 82s (normal), maximum 87s (TSP)
It seems the TSP only allows the green to be extended by 5 seconds. I really hope I'm misreading this. But it seems to indicate the green time for the bus phase (8) is minimum 82s (normal), maximum 87s (TSP)
December 9, 2025 at 3:11 AM
So, apparently the TSP of the SRB Pie-IX is a real joke.
Canada loves to spend millions to build transit in dedicated RoW...and then waste all the advantage in non-existent signal priority.
Canada loves to spend millions to build transit in dedicated RoW...and then waste all the advantage in non-existent signal priority.
Reposted by Chris Livett
Opening of Finch West LRT was very exciting. I love seeing the new infra, beautiful trains & people excited to ride! But we're clearly not done yet. Scheduled travel time of 46 minutes & often over 50 mins in reality just isn't okay when the local bus was scheduled at 38 off-peak and 53 at peak. 1/
December 8, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Opening of Finch West LRT was very exciting. I love seeing the new infra, beautiful trains & people excited to ride! But we're clearly not done yet. Scheduled travel time of 46 minutes & often over 50 mins in reality just isn't okay when the local bus was scheduled at 38 off-peak and 53 at peak. 1/
Reposted by Chris Livett
I promise, it's the last time I post about it. But the before/after is just too good to not share.
Source: comune di Bologna.
Source: comune di Bologna.
December 2, 2025 at 2:59 PM
I promise, it's the last time I post about it. But the before/after is just too good to not share.
Source: comune di Bologna.
Source: comune di Bologna.
Reposted by Chris Livett
The new standard bus stop poles of Lombardy spotted out in the wild.
They are part of a broader effort to harmonize transit wayfinding across the region between all providers.
They are part of a broader effort to harmonize transit wayfinding across the region between all providers.
November 22, 2025 at 9:00 PM
The new standard bus stop poles of Lombardy spotted out in the wild.
They are part of a broader effort to harmonize transit wayfinding across the region between all providers.
They are part of a broader effort to harmonize transit wayfinding across the region between all providers.
Now to Cedarvale, soon to be formerly Eglinton West, Station
November 16, 2025 at 7:57 PM
Now to Cedarvale, soon to be formerly Eglinton West, Station
It’s time to check out the Toronto’s newest transit station
November 16, 2025 at 5:48 PM
It’s time to check out the Toronto’s newest transit station
Reposted by Chris Livett
WATCH: If you REALLY want to understand a BIG reason why cycling [aka riding a bike] is so dangerous in North America, and one of the biggest villains in the origin story of our unsafe status quo, invest some time watching this one, by NOT JUST BIKES (aka @theurbanistagenda.com here). Then share it.
This is Why Cycling is Dangerous in America
YouTube video by Not Just Bikes
youtu.be
November 11, 2025 at 11:04 PM
WATCH: If you REALLY want to understand a BIG reason why cycling [aka riding a bike] is so dangerous in North America, and one of the biggest villains in the origin story of our unsafe status quo, invest some time watching this one, by NOT JUST BIKES (aka @theurbanistagenda.com here). Then share it.
Reposted by Chris Livett
It makes me sad that an instructor for several major Canadian universities would assert something so verifiably false.
People ask why we build weird, bad projects, well part of it is people learn a version of the world that isn't real.
People ask why we build weird, bad projects, well part of it is people learn a version of the world that isn't real.
November 15, 2025 at 4:09 AM
It makes me sad that an instructor for several major Canadian universities would assert something so verifiably false.
People ask why we build weird, bad projects, well part of it is people learn a version of the world that isn't real.
People ask why we build weird, bad projects, well part of it is people learn a version of the world that isn't real.
Reposted by Chris Livett
Caltrain's electric trains run faster and smoother - and people LOVE it. Make service better, and riders will come, which means more people will vote to support transit.
We love good news! 🤭
Survey Says: Riders Love Caltrain! Read more: https://www.caltrain.com/news/survey-says-riders-love-caltrain.
Survey Says: Riders Love Caltrain! Read more: https://www.caltrain.com/news/survey-says-riders-love-caltrain.
Survey Says: Riders Love Caltrain | Caltrain
2025 Customer Satisfaction Survey shows widespread exuberance over electric service
www.caltrain.com
November 5, 2025 at 7:44 PM
Caltrain's electric trains run faster and smoother - and people LOVE it. Make service better, and riders will come, which means more people will vote to support transit.
Reposted by Chris Livett
I've done something that I don't do very often. I wrote a short, quick polemic post. It was prompted by a discussion in here.
It's about why I'm still skeptical about ALTO's HSR project and why there is no way around transparency in public projects.
open.substack.com/pub/marcochi...
It's about why I'm still skeptical about ALTO's HSR project and why there is no way around transparency in public projects.
open.substack.com/pub/marcochi...
Why I’m still skeptical about ALTO’s HSR project
A reality check and a plea for transparency.
open.substack.com
November 5, 2025 at 7:22 PM
I've done something that I don't do very often. I wrote a short, quick polemic post. It was prompted by a discussion in here.
It's about why I'm still skeptical about ALTO's HSR project and why there is no way around transparency in public projects.
open.substack.com/pub/marcochi...
It's about why I'm still skeptical about ALTO's HSR project and why there is no way around transparency in public projects.
open.substack.com/pub/marcochi...
Reposted by Chris Livett
An Air Canada flight right now
November 2, 2025 at 1:38 AM
An Air Canada flight right now
Reposted by Chris Livett
Around 15 years ago, I was arguing that this a terrible design and it shouldn’t be built. Now they’re shutting it down. Hate to be proven right this way! Listen to the technical transit advocates – they are always right, even if you are too allistic to see it.
October 10, 2025 at 7:10 PM
Around 15 years ago, I was arguing that this a terrible design and it shouldn’t be built. Now they’re shutting it down. Hate to be proven right this way! Listen to the technical transit advocates – they are always right, even if you are too allistic to see it.
Reposted by Chris Livett
Happy to have written this with Reece and Narayan. There are more details to this but the point is that Spadina can be so much better with a little political will.
A piece in the Star today along with Jonathan English and Narayan Donaldson on fixing the very slow, but very high potential Spadina streetcar.
www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...
www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...
This is how we fix the terminally slow Spadina streetcar
We don't have to spend billions to fix one of Toronto's most important transit routes.
www.thestar.com
September 17, 2025 at 4:13 PM
Happy to have written this with Reece and Narayan. There are more details to this but the point is that Spadina can be so much better with a little political will.