Latest news with #MacBauer
CBC
a day ago
- Entertainment
- CBC
This man keeps racing Toronto streetcars and winning
Mac Bauer and his wife were heading home from a friend's house in Toronto one day when they had an all-too-familiar experience. The streetcar they were on was chugging along at a snail's pace, and the 12-kilometre journey took well over an hour. "My wife and I are pretty active people and like to run," Bauer told As It Happens guest host Rebecca Zandbergen. "We just both looked at each other and went: 'We could outrun this, no problem.'" Turns out, they were right. Bauer has now raced five Toronto streetcars, on foot, and beat them all — usually by a sizeable margin. He says his victories, which he's documented on Instagram, are emblematic of the fact that the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) isn't keeping apace with growth in the city, where public transportation often finds itself pitted against traffic from cars. The TTC did not respond to CBC's request for comment. The first race in the series, which Bauer calls "Man Versus Machine," saw him take on the 509 Harbourfront, which runs from Exhibition Loop on the city's waterfront, to Union Station downtown, a journey of roughly 3.1 kilometres. Bauer took off at the same time as the streetcar, and arrived at his destination in 14 minutes. The streetcar pulled up 7 minutes and 32 seconds after that. A week later, on a brutally hot July day, Bauer started running from Bathurst Station while his friend hopped on the 511 streetcar. A sweaty Bauer reached Exhibition Loop, 4.7 kilometres away, in 18 minutes. His friend, looking much more dry and relaxed rolled up on the streetcar 22 minutes later. From there, the streak continued. He beat the 510 Spadina by 10 minutes, even though that streetcar has a designated lane, so it doesn't have to compete with traffic. He won his gruelling 13-kilometre race from Broadview Station to Dundas West Station against the 504 King by 18 minutes. And, finally, he beat the 505 Dundas by 13 minutes on a quiet Saturday morning, and even had time to stop at Tim Hortons. Lest you think only a seasoned runner could take on a Toronto streetcar so effectively, in late July, Bauer raced the 509 again, this time with a CityTV reporter in tow, and the duo beat it together. "It shows that it's not only trained athletes that are able to beat this streetcar, but it's your everyday person that can," he said. Bauer admits there are benefits to taking the streetcar, which can be a more leisurely experience than booking it on foot as fast as you can. The streetcar's timing, he says, also varies depending on the time of day, how much traffic there is, and how many people are getting on and off at each stop. Bauer, on the other hand, doesn't have to stop at all, save red lights and catching his breath. Still, he says he's confident that almost anyone in Toronto could get where they're going faster on foot than taking a streetcar during 5 p.m. rush hour. While the experiment has been fun, Bauer says the results of his races are, ultimately, kind of a bummer. He says the city just isn't keeping pace with the growing population of the downtown core. "When I was younger, the streetcar was great. I loved taking the streetcar. So cool to be on these trains that just run through the city. But now the experience is just horrible," he said. "If we're not going to upgrade the infrastructure, people are just going to continue to turn to cars, which in turn is going to make the TTC an even worse experience." His next challenge, he says, is the 512 St. Clair, which has a designated traffic lane and, he says, a reputation for clipping along at a decent speed.
CTV News
7 days ago
- Sport
- CTV News
Toronto man who races TTC streetcars on foot keeps on winning
A Toronto man appears to have answered a question that those stuck in traffic have been asking themselves since time immemorial: can I get to my destination faster on foot? Mac Bauer is a data scientist by trade but has recently taken to racing some of the TTC's most popular streetcar routes to see if he can beat them. So far, he's 5-0. 'When I was younger, you know, I took the streetcar a lot, when it was the older-style streetcar,' he told CTV News Toronto in a recent interview. 'I don't know why, but my memory of it seemed to be better. But switching to the newer streetcars, I'm really surprised at how slow they are.' Bauer is no amateur runner, and says his favourite race is the half-marathon. This year, as he works through an injury, he's taking on shorter distances, like 5 and 10-kilometre runs, to build up his volume and found himself reflecting on one painfully slow streetcar ride across the city. 'This (idea) kind of came from one time we were visiting some of our friends in the west, near High Park. So we had to take the College streetcar (back) from pretty much Roncesvalles all the way to Leslieville, and we were just shocked on how slow it was,' Bauer recalled. 'And I remember saying to my wife, 'You know, this is maybe 10 kilometres, and it's going to take over an hour. Like, I can easily run faster than this.'' Since then, he's teamed up with a friend, who specializes in content and video creation, to document his so-called 'Man vs. Machine' races before posting them to social media. Bauer maintains that he obeys all the rules of the road during the races and waits for red lights and doesn't jaywalk. Run #1 - 509 Harbourfront For the first race, Bauer took on the 509 Harbourfront, a roughly 3.4-kilometre run from Exhibition Loop in the west to Union Station in the east. 'This summer, I'm settling the ultimate Toronto transit debate: What's faster — running or the streetcar?' Bauer asked in a video posted to TikTok, which has since been viewed more than 14,000 times. Bauer actually ran this route twice, beating the streetcar on both occasions and finishing with a time of 14 minutes on the first attempt – seven minutes and 32 seconds faster than the TTC. Run #2 - 511 Bathurst Next up, Bauer took on the 511 Bathurst, a 4.7-kilometre trek from Bathurst Station to Exhibition Loop. The temperature reached a scorching 31 C on the day of the run, but Bauer said he had more than enough time to cool down and wait for the streetcar at the finish line, reaching his destination in just 18 minutes vs. the TTC's 40. Run #3 - 510 Spadina The runner had the odds stacked against him for this roughly 3.5-kilometre race. Because the streetcar departs from the bottom of Spadina Station, Bauer said he had to move quickly up the stairs to meet the train at street level, where the 510 has its own dedicated lane of traffic. However, he was able to handily reach Queen's Quay with a time of 16 minutes, nearly 10 minutes faster than the TTC. Run #4 -504 King In what he described as his 'biggest challenge yet,' Bauer raced the 504 King, a grueling 12.9-kilometre journey from Broadview Station to Dundas West Station. The run was plagued by heat and delays, but Bauer still beat out the TTC with a time of 58 minutes, including 5 minutes of waiting at red lights. The streetcar pulled into Dundas West Station at one hour and 16 minutes. The video of this run has been viewed 57,000 times at time of writing. What 2 things Bauer says the TTC could do better Following his latest run, CTV News Toronto asked Bauer what message he hopes he's getting across in posting his races to social media. 'I run a lot, and running, let's say a four-minute kilometre, isn't necessarily a thing that everyone can do, but by showing how much I beat it (the streetcar), I want to show that when you're walking, let's say, from Spadina to Yonge Street, maybe the streetcar isn't the fastest way.' As for what he thinks the TTC could be doing better, Bauer says reliability and safety are his top concerns. 'Their responsibility is to get you where you're going in a reasonable amount of time and to get you where you're going safely. And both of those, I don't think, are necessarily true anymore,' he said, adding that better signal priority would go a long way in improving travel times. The TTC and TTC Board Chair Jamaal Myers did not respond to CTV News Toronto's request for a comment on Bauer's runs in time for publication. Which streetcar will he race next? Bauer said he plans to race the 505 Dundas on Saturday before taking on the College and St. Clair streetcars. He said the 'final boss' will be the full distance of the 501 Queen, a whopping 24-kilometre journey, later this summer. He also plans to race the Eglinton Crosstown LRT when it (hopefully) opens later this year.
