[PM] 5 things Toronto could learn from Vienna

[25er]

5 things Toronto could learn from Vienna

Vienna must be doing something right--the Austrian city regularly places near the top in lists of the worlds most liveable cities thanks its low crime rate, excellent public transportation, and tourist attractions. Toronto occasionally makes an appearance on these types of list, but Vienna is a perennial contender.

Like Toronto, the Central European city public transit system relies heavily on trams and buses. The Austrian surface rail network is one of the largest in the world, but it appears to avoid many of the pitfalls that hamper streetcar service in Toronto, like traffic, narrow streets, and slow boarding times. Instead of favouring drivers, the road rules are more democratic, giving priority to the masses aboard public transit.

Unlike Toronto, Vienna has found a way to build a large subway system over the last 40 years and discovered that staying up until 6 a.m. on the weekend isn't such a bad thing, especially when it's planned correctly.

Here are 5 things Toronto could learn from Vienna.

How to operate an attractive, world class streetcar system
Vienna has 29 urban tram routes that spiderweb out from the city centre to the inner suburbs. Thanks to a strictly observed set of rules, Vienna's more than 1,000 trams are kings of the road: private vehicles must yield to public transit at all times and in many cases trams have right-of-way over cars. Like in Toronto, road vehicles must stop to allow riders to safely board and disembark, but the passing of a stopped tram, even one with its doors closed, is only allowed at a crawl.

The widespread availability of reliable public transit is a boon for the people who ride it and an incentive to those that don't. A single fare works out slightly more expensive than the TTC equivalent, but monthly and annual transit passes in Vienna are heavily discounted. Unlimited travel on buses, trams, and subway costs $48.20 a month or $520 a year. As a result, the car ownership rate in Vienna is low--roughly 385 in every 1,000 people owned a car in 2013. In Toronto, that figure was around 470 in every 1,000 in 2003.

Best of all "delays are rare."

Get mathematical about bike sharing
It might not seem like it, but planning a successful bike share network requires some serious number crunching. As Eric Jaffe writes at City Lab, the problem can be likened to the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears: too few bikes in a station and not everyone can ride, too many and there's no space for returning cyclists. The number needs to be just right.

The world's top mathematicians are working on algorithms to control the surprisingly complex distribution of shared bikes, Jaffe writes, including Günther Raidl from the Vienna University of Technology. Raidl has produced a set of dizzying equations that, despite their complexity, are only able to provide "approximate" solution for the Austrian city, which locates its bike stations at or near public transit stops (an idea Bike Share Toronto should borrow.)

Develop a subway expansion (and financing) plan
Since the 1970s, Vienna has been building out its modern era subway (U-Bahn) at an impressive rate. As of 2013, thanks to regular, predictable investment, the network recently surpassed the TTC subway in terms of ridership and physical size: 80 kms of route over 5 lines and 104 stations. In 2010, the daily ridership of the U-Bahn was 1.46 million, considerably more than Toronto's 902,000 in 2013, despite the city having roughly a million fewer inhabitants.

The city's subway and tram networks are geared towards the common goal of moving people conveniently and on time. "The combination of all modes creates a customer-friendly and attractive public transport network," Vienna's city councillor in charge of transit, Maria Vassilakou, said in July while announcing a fresh 10-year expansion plan.

Go 24-hour, even if it's just on the weekend
In Austria's capital (which doesn't exactly have a reputation as a party city,) bars and clubs are allowed to serve alcohol until 6 a.m. As a result, the transit system also stays up late to ensure everyone to get home safely. The U-Bahn runs through the night on Fridays, Saturdays, and public holidays alongside the city's night buses. Right now, the TTC runs until 1:30 a.m., an annoying 30 minutes before last call.

Embrace massive outdoor markets
Perhaps in fear of unpredictable winter weather, the majority of Toronto farmer's markets tend to retreat indoors or shut down completely during the winter months. Vienna doesn't benefit from a tropical climate (snow is common and the temperature regularly dips below freezing in winter) yet the world-famous outdoor Naschmarkt stays open year-round.

The 1.5 km strip of restaurants and fresh food stands is the largest in Vienna, and on Saturdays the produce vendors give way to a massive, unpretentious flea market. The official website boasts "antique weapons, records, china, clothes and ... books." Like the food market, things start early, around 6:30 a.m. Surely with Canada's world famous winter culture Toronto could do more outdoors when the weather gets cool.

http://www.blogto.com/city/2014/09/5_things_toronto_could_learn_from_vienna/

[W_E_St]

Hmmm... teilweise richtig, übersieht aber das eine oder andere Problem, vor allem die Finanzierung der U-Bahn.

[13er]

but it appears to avoid many of the pitfalls that hamper streetcar service in Toronto, like traffic, narrow streets, and slow boarding times.

Ähm, davon haben wir alle drei... es gibt in Wien de facto keine Tram-Beschleunigung (erst kürzlich wieder in einer TU-Studie unterstrichen), wir haben mehr als genügend enge Straßen und die boarding times sind dank des fehlenden central closings ( ) an vielbenutzten Stationen sehr lang.

Der Artikel erwähnt schon auch einige richtige Punkte, aber das gehört nicht dazu. Das ist eher die Außendarstellung, wie es die WL wünschen, aber wenn man wirklich effizienten(!) ÖV besichtigen möchte, von dem man etwas lernen kann, dann sollte man doch lieber wo anders hinfahren.