The Scarborough RT was a constant fixture of my life growing up in Scarborough. Spanning a sizable chunk of the borough, the RT was for the most part an unreliable transit line, always loud and rickety. It was shut down permanently in 2023.
There’s a few conclusions you can draw from the RT’s failure, both in engineered systems and in public transit:
- The RT used unconventional rolling stock, which used linear induction motors. At the time of the RT’s introduction, this was new technology and the first in the world to use it. While other cities began adopting it later down the line, it’s an important reminder that being the first adopter of technology is often a hard gamble and doesn’t necessarily pay off.
- I’m thinking of Dart/Flutter developers who staked their careers on the language and framework, and how this didn’t pan out at all.
- Conversely, understanding what systems are popular or the industry standard helps us understand the best tool for the job. Our systems may be maintained by people long after us, so choosing future-proof systems is important.
- Regular maintenance of systems is important. Our technology isn’t infallible and after regular use and greater frictions building up over time, it is prone to fail or be exploited (think about how security vulnerabilities build up). Releasing patches and providing long-term support is important.