The king cars are a little bit faster. And it's just one street so it's not the end of the world or anything. Overall it seemed to me like the effects were pret

The king cars are a little bit faster. And it's just one street so it's not the end of the world or anything. Overall it seemed to me like the effects were pretty... meh. I used the King streetcar very regularly before and after the project, and honestly, it was acceptable the whole time. I think you'd have to ask the (great, if trappy) restaurants and boutiques west of Spadina about the effect on their finances. I know a lot of their customers arrived by car before, and many by limousine or other specialty vehicle. To be clearer than the post is, they did not actually shut out cars on the King street, they made through traffic unlawful* . The distinction between these things is pretty huge. If you go by the financials given in this blog post, it is clear that the businesses have lost money on this deal. 0.3% is slower than typical gross receipts growth for these shops AFAIK. A 0.3% growth in gross receipts over about twelve months means you're losing to inflation. I know Angie Schmitt loves rapid transit just as much as all of us, but being too optimistic about transit-focused developments, and too credulous with the claims of politicians and wannabe technocrats is a sure way to ruin people's lives in exchange for phantom glory. * though taxis, as with most laws in Toronto, don't bother to follow the law because they know the police don't bother to police traffic in the city almost ever