I took this streetcar everyday for about a years and it forced me to move downtown so I no longer had to deal with the following list of annoyances:
- The dreaded shot turns
- No streetcars followed by 5 of them bunched up
- Overcrowding (sometimes had to wait for 3 streetcars to pass before being able to squeeze on to the 4th)
- Broken heaters during the winters and lack of AC in the summer
- Broken streetcars during extreme winter conditions
- The smell of homeless people who pee'd themselves and sneaked onto the streetcar through the back doors
Positives:
- Get to travel through Queen West
- People watching
I recommend riding a bike or walking if you can and if you can't then do what I did and move closer to your destination and avoid the 501 line.