501 Queen (TTC)
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The 501 Queen is an east-west streetcar route in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, operated by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC). At 15.4 miles (24.8 km), it is the TTC's longest route, the longest streetcar route operating in Canada, and one of the longest in North America. It stretches from Long Branch in the west to Neville Park in the east, running on Lake Shore Boulevard, in a reserved right-of-way at the median of The Queensway, and on Queen Street. The route was first instituted in the mid- to late-19th century by private operators as a horse-drawn line, was later electrified, and was assumed by the TTC upon its creation in 1921. Service is provided 24 hours a day, though the route number changes to 301 Queen late at night.
The 501 Queen is one of two routes (the other is the 511 Bathurst) regularly operated with the TTC's double-length ALRV streetcars. It generally runs at six-minute intervals, although the amount of track in lanes shared with other traffic leaves it prone to delays. The route interchanges with the Yonge-University-Spadina line at Queen and Osgoode stations.
Proof-of-payment fare system
In 1990, the commission introduced a Proof-of-Payment fare system for this route, to speed loading and improve service. Passengers who already have a valid pass or transfer may board at any door of the streetcar without showing their ticket, but are subject to random ticket inspections. Passengers who buy a fare from the driver must take a transfer to show if they are inspected.The 501 Queen is the only streetcar route where this proof-of-payment system is feasible without a larger-scale redesign of the TTC's fare system, since it is the only one that never enters the fare-paid area of a subway station; even if someone did manage to evade paying the streetcar fare, they would not be able to transfer to any other route without paying. The Commission ended the proof-of-payment system in 2000, but it was reinstated after groups such as Rocket Riders successfully appealed the decision in 2002.
Downtowner short routes
In addition to the 501 there are two additional streetcars that travel at limited times. The 502 and 503 Downtowner routes run Monday to Friday during the day. Both routes start at Kingston Road and Victoria Park Avenue. They run southwest on Kingston Road then turn west along Queen Street. The 502 Downtowner goes west along Queen to McCaul Street where there is a turning loop just north of Queen Street West. The 503 goes west along Queen Street but turns southwest at King Street and continues west to Church Street. It then goes south again to Wellington Street where it continues west to York Street. It then turns north and returns east along King Street.Former subway plans
The TTC's original subway plans in the 1940s and 1950s called for the north-south rapid transit line built under Yonge Street (the first section of today's Yonge-University-Spadina line) to be complemented by an east-west streetcar subway under Queen Street, allowing streetcars to avoid city-centre traffic, but come above ground and run on city streets in outlying areas. When the Government of Canada refused to help fund the project, the Queen line was dropped to save money, but a set of streetcar platforms were built under Queen station (see Lower Queen) to allow for further expansion. By the time the TTC returned to the idea of an east-west line, however, traffic had moved north to Bloor Street, and the Bloor-Danforth line was built there as a dedicated rapid-transit line like that under Yonge.See also
External links
- [Route 501 - The Queen Streetcar] (Transit Toronto)
- [TTC 501 Queen map]
- [TTC 502 Downtowner map]
- [TTC 503 Downtowner map]
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