Why Toronto's 'love affair' with streetcars continued in 1979
Newest model, the Canadian Light Rail Vehicle, was powered by electricity, but also generated it
"Toronto has always had a love affair with streetcars," said George McLean when hosting The National on Sept. 29, 1979. And that year the city got a new model to love: the Canadian Light Rail Vehicle.
It seemed as if the North American romance with cars was "cooling off," McLean said.
More bicycles than cars had sold in the United States in the previous 10 years. And as fuel prices continued to rise, more people could be expected to turn to public transit.
In Toronto, the streetcar had long been an essential component of the public transit system.
The safer way
Reporter Michael Vaughan took a trip through the history of Toronto Transit Commission streetcars while riding an early model, which he called the Witt, with local historian Mike Filey.
Introduced in 1923, the Witt "amazed" riders for its "refinement and comforts," noted Vaughan.
"For one thing, it had heat — electric heat," he said. "No more stoking a coal stove."
Its "all-steel body" was also an improvement over its predecessor, as Filey explained.
"It's a lot safer," he noted. "If you've ever seen a photograph of a wooden streetcar in a collision with an automobile or a truck ... they literally splintered into pieces."
'Comfortable and economical'
The PCC streetcar came next, in the mid-1930s, said Vaughan. And there was a reason why the TTC adopted it.
"Transit companies wanted a new vehicle that would be more competitive with the automobile," explained the reporter, as a PCC streetcar could be seen rolling along.
Former transit manager John Inglis, seated inside for the ride, explained why.
"Clean, quick, safe, comfortable and economical," Inglis said, outlining the "chief requirements" of a TTC streetcar at the time.
The transit authority had originally paid $60,000 for each PCC streetcar and was now retiring them, selling them at a price of $20,000 each to transit companies in Cleveland and Alexandria, Egypt.
The latest model: the CLRV
Enter the TTC's new streetcar, the Canadian Light Rail Vehicle (which Vaughan mistakenly abbreviated to "CLVR.")
"It's smooth, quiet, energy-efficient, and half a million dollars each," said Vaughan.
Like its predecessors, the CLRV was fuelled by electricity. And there was something new about it, too.
"When it's decelerating, it produces electricity," said Vaughan.
"With this latest purchase, Toronto expects to continue its love affair with the streetcar into the next century."
The last CLRVs rolled through Toronto at the end of December 2019. According to CBC News, the last day for the CLRVs was 42 years to the day since the first ones had arrived on TTC property.
