Streets are narrow and bike lanes almost invisible! Somehow, the large double-decker buses and even articulated buses manage to expertly manoeuvre through them. In the relatively frequent instances where two vehicles meet and cannot possibly pass each other, reverse is a common direction. The subtleties of right-of-way in these circumstances are beyond me for now.
With no stop signs and only inherent yields at every corner, the pedestrian has no priority. Crosswalks (with no traffic lights) do, however, work – don’t try this at home! But, at more major streets, it often takes three pedestrian traffic lights to cross the street in its entirety! Jaywalking is almost forced upon you. There are still quite a few things to figure out before this feels comfortable, though - do trams stop at traffic lights?...
People park in both directions on either side of the street. This is not helpful when you are trying to reprogram your mind to think ‘left’. It probably involves reversing...(?) If you happen to have a small piece of land in front of your house, though, this is likely where you park your car - and not plant a garden - often blocking the door.
With no stop signs and only inherent yields at every corner, the pedestrian has no priority. Crosswalks (with no traffic lights) do, however, work – don’t try this at home! But, at more major streets, it often takes three pedestrian traffic lights to cross the street in its entirety! Jaywalking is almost forced upon you. There are still quite a few things to figure out before this feels comfortable, though - do trams stop at traffic lights?...
People park in both directions on either side of the street. This is not helpful when you are trying to reprogram your mind to think ‘left’. It probably involves reversing...(?) If you happen to have a small piece of land in front of your house, though, this is likely where you park your car - and not plant a garden - often blocking the door.
Public transit:- Hooray for trains! – they are speedy and more frequent than metros at home – 15 minutes to downtown... but which platform? Thankfully, we have not boarded the wrong train yet.
- The bus to downtown, however, was a West Island experience – it took longer than expected by the least direct route possible. The double-decker novelty managed to lessen some of the frustration.
- To put it mildly, the Underground is not ventilated. It is a vacuum – it even sucks out the air from your lungs you came in with. It is especially bad on a hot day if you require breathing to survive.
Note: ‘Subway’ signs lead to underground passageways and not the Underground.
And, here's the photo of the 'towtruck' Tom promised:
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