Streetsblog USA reports one
year after Toronto, Canada turned King Street in a transit- and
walking-priority street, streetcar ridership, biking and walking are way
up. (King Street Transit Pilot: July & August Update: http://bit.ly/2DD7fKG)
The project, which cost just $1.5 million, has produced an 11% increase
in average daily ridership, and as much as 34% at peak hours. Once the
street was closed to cars, about 20,000 additional streetcar riders
materialized practically overnight. Biking, meanwhile, is up by as much
as an astounding 440%, according to city estimates. Toronto will decide
before the end of the year whether to make it permanent. There remains,
however, a certain amount of discontent among some business owners.
Toronto reports business receipts are up along the corridor as well,
albeit a tiny 0.3%. The rest of the city was up 3.8% over the same
period. http://bit.ly/2DEKTbH