"When Toronto's streetcars hit a rare open stretch of road, the metallic grind gives way to an airy electric hum, and for a fleeting moment, there is a feeling that one is hurtling along the knife's edge of the future. Seconds later, the illusion shatters: the car grinds to a halt, at a stop or more often, in traffic."
"Mac Bauer is fast, but the city's trams, weighing more than 100,000lbs and travelling at a maximum speed of nearly 45mph, should be far faster than him. And yet as of late December, in head-to-head races against streetcars, the 32-year-old remains undefeated in his quest to highlight how sluggish the trams, used by 230,000 people daily, truly are. Some races have pushed him closer to his limits as a runner."
A Toronto runner regularly races streetcars and often beats them, demonstrating pervasive slowness and delays. Streetcars occasionally reach rare open stretches with an airy electric hum, but most trips end in stops or traffic. The trams weigh over 100,000lbs and can reach nearly 45mph yet operate far slower in practice. Routes such as the 511 are particularly slow due to turning cars and traffic signals. The runner, Mac Bauer, remains undefeated in head-to-head races, underscoring the daily impact on roughly 230,000 riders and reflecting chronic congestion and under-built transit.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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