A $1.5-million pilot project that gives priority to streetcar traffic on King St. between Bathurst and Jarvis Sts. marks its one-year anniversary Monday with the city’s latest data showing a spike in transit ridership, cyclist and pedestrian travel and a slight improvement in customer spending in the busy downtown corridor.City of Toronto data for July and August shows double-digit increases in streetcar ridership during the morning and evening commutes on King St. during the period compared to ridership before the project began last Nov. 12, with average all-day ridership jumping by 11 per cent to roughly 80,000 boardings per day.The next “key metric” update, for September and October, is to be published on the city’s website soon while a decision on whether the pilot will be made permanent is expected by the end of the year.Restricting car traffic and eliminating parking along a portion of King St., the project has reduced streetcar and car travel times while pumping up cycling volumes on King at Spadina Ave. by 440 per cent during the afternoon commute in July, with a similar trend observed in pedestrian traffic, the city data shows.“King St. wasn’t working for anyone,” Mayor John Tory said during the summer.“We had 65,000 people inching along King St. on the street car each and every day. You could walk faster. We also had car drivers stuck in terrible traffic,” he said, adding that the project has resulted in more than 20,000 new daily riders on the pilot route.Read more:King St. pilot project saves riders $11.5 million in time per year: Ryerson studyOpinion | Steven J. Hoffman: How King St. pilot project is improving our healthKing St. middle finger ‘best investment I ever made.’ Man behind sculpture has never been shy about serving up penne and his thoughts “The King Street Transit Pilot demonstrates that we can move a larger number of people on the city’s busiest surface route, ...
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