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link — Comments Off on No mandate for Ford’s transit plan
20
Jan 11

No mandate for Ford’s transit plan

A good start to today with this press release from Leger Marketing:

While Mayor Rob Ford, the Toronto Transit Commission and the Ontario government are reviewing Toronto’s transit expansion plan, the city’s residents favour keeping the current “Transit City” light-rail transit expansion program, but are open to moving more of the new lines underground. These are among the key findings of an independent survey conducted by Leger Marketing between January 12-16, 2011.

via LEGER MARKETING | Torontonians want light-rail alongside subways: Poll.

Ford has continuously made reference to his mandate to cancel Transit City. “The people have spoken” and all that. This certainly does a lot to destroy that argument.

I still have a huge issue with people phrasing it as a binary “Subways or Light Rail” question, because it way oversimplifies the real issues at play. It’s like asking someone if they’d prefer broccoli or ice cream.

The full report is available online from Leger. Some other highlights:

  • “Almost two thirds (65%) saw the TTC’s “Transit City” plan as an effective step forward, versus 18% who disagree.”
  • “Most people (62%) would oppose cancelling or changing the current plan if it means higher costs or a longer wait to get new transit.” This is a huge, important statistic.
  • “Further questioning reveals that most people agree that transit plans should not change every time that a new government is elected (89%) to ensure long term needs are met.”
  • A full 67% of respondents disagreed with the claim that we should build subways “because it’s what Rob Ford promised in the election.”
  • 76% of those polled indicated that we should keep the light rail lines, either as planned or moving more of them underground. (Having a “move more of them underground” option kind of rankles me a bit, as even diehard supporters of Transit City would love to see more underground transit, but rational people recognize that the cost is daunting and perhaps not achievable.) Only 15% of people support cancelling the Transit City light rail lines and building subways instead.

The question of the day: What kind of lousy populist panders to only 15% of the population?

link — Comments Off on GO goes electric
19
Jan 11

GO goes electric

Today’s other big news, via an article in the Globe by Kelly Grant:

The long-awaited express rail line between Toronto’s Union station and Pearson airport should be electrified, but not in time for its opening before the 2015 Pan Am Games, according to Metrolinx.

The province’s regional transportation agency is recommending Queen’s Park spend $1.6-$1.8-billion to upgrade GO Transit’s Lakeshore and Georgetown corridors from diesel to electric trains, with the air-rail link being switched over first.

via Electrify Pearson rail link after Pan Am Games: Metrolinx – The Globe and Mail.

I’ve been a bit concerned that the Clean Train Coalition, who have really played up the whole diesel-trains-will-kill-our-children thing, is too much of a NIMBY group to take seriously, but there’s no doubt that electrifying the GO lines will be a good thing for everyone. Faster trains, better service, and better for the environment.

The slow implementation timeline is concerning, though. Metrolinx and the province are far too reluctant to push for necessary investments in transit infrastructure.

link — Comments Off on Serious, structural problem with transit funding in Toronto
18
Jan 11

Serious, structural problem with transit funding in Toronto

Steve Munro’s review of the 2011 TTC capital budget is, as usual, hyper-detailed and may seem impenetrable to people who aren’t transit geeks, but the last section (“A Few Parting Words”) is an important read for anyone who cares about the future of transit in this city:

Couple this with a municipal regime whose raison-d’être is to constrain spending, the possibility of a new government at Queen’s Park, and an economic climate that makes the boomtown days of transit spending a very distant memory, and we have a recipe for very serious problems in transit financing.  Some may argue for private sector intervention.  This may address some issues, and I say “may” only because we have yet to experience a London-style meltdown of a PPP here, but it will not eliminate the problem.

via TTC 2011 Capital Budget | Steve Munro.

link — Comments Off on TTC chair Stintz: “Reconsidering these route changes”
14
Jan 11

TTC chair Stintz: “Reconsidering these route changes”

TTC Chair Karen Stintz has released a letter addressed to “My Fellow TTC Customers” dealing with the proposed service cuts in the 2011 operating budget. She released this letter via Google Docs, presumably because no one can figure out how to upload things to the TTC website.

She says:

There are certain routes realignments which have special circumstances attached to them which yourselves and Councillors have made me and the Commission aware of. We are together reconsidering those route changes. Information sessions are being held across Toronto to explain the changes and review the options that will be available to riders.

Once again, the story of the week is that everything is rushed and no one making decisions seemingly has any idea what is really going on.

See also: This week’s Glad Hand from Torontoist.

link — Comments Off on TTC points to Fall 2011 bus service improvements
14
Jan 11

TTC points to Fall 2011 bus service improvements

Me, just the other day:

I’d argue that we should demand a list of proposed service increases that are to come into effect in September before we accept any reduction in service this winter.

via Transit Cuts Deferred to February Meeting; City operates via longhand « Ford For Toronto.

In the interest of fairness, Steve Munro has been able to got his hands on a map of the proposed Fall 2011 service improvements. Not a lot of detail as of yet, but it’s a start.

feature — Comments Off on Proposed TTC route cuts impact 2,600 riders per day
13
Jan 11

Proposed TTC route cuts impact 2,600 riders per day

The TTC has started providing statistics relating to the proposed bus route cuts part of the 2011 budget. Steve Munro was nice enough to post the TTC’s numbers here. (PDF link)

After putting on my nerd pants, I converted the PDF back to an Excel document. Filtering to display only weekday cuts, the TTC’s own numbers indicate that over 2,600 riders per day will be impacted by these proposed weekday cuts. Of the 658,569 customers affected per year, 126,086 of those will be ‘lost’ riders, who will presumably replace a trip they previously took by transit by a trip in a car.

The TTC estimates that many of these impacted riders will walk to other routes, but how much of that will happen remains to be seen.  Steve Kupferman at OpenFile Toronto makes some good points about why simply walking further to access transit can be daunting for some late night riders.

Meanwhile, Munro concludes:

The TTC’s analysis shows the hallmarks of something pulled together quickly as a way to satisfy a demand for cuts without taking care to look at what is happening or to validate the accuracy of the calculations.

via The “Ooops” Factor in Planned Service Cuts | Steve Munro.

“Pulled together quickly to satisfy demand for cuts” is kind of a recurring theme this week.

Postscript: Via Jonathan Goldsbie’s twitter account, this from Royson James is particularly relevant to this discussion:

“[Late-night and weekend service] were introduced as valued, credible transportation options and alternatives to driving a car. They were to help people adopt transit as part of their lifestyle. We clearly said they would not generate huge ridership or carry huge volumes but they would allow citizens to count on transit wherever and whenever they need it.”

And that’s what they have done. Off-peak ridership is growing faster than rush-hour service and accounts for more riders. “We achieved what we set out to do,” [TTC  Manager – Service Planning Department Mitch] Stambler said.

via James: TTC choking on its success – thestar.com

link — Comments Off on Trading transit for highways
13
Jan 11

Trading transit for highways

The 407 is a toll highway owned by a private conglomerate. There are plans on the books to expand the highway. Expansion is necessary, one Oshawa resident quoted in an article by The Star’s Carola Vyhnak says, to give Oshawa “a kick start to get back on its feet.” Sure.

But okay. This is not a Toronto issue and I am nothing if not a Toronto-centric blogger. The relevant part comes as a result of the recent news from Transportation Minister Kathleen Wynne that the highway would be built in phases, with the second phase currently unfunded.

This has prompted a firestorm of protest. And this bit of craziness, from Oshawa Mayor John Henry, a steel driving man, in a letter he wrote to the premier in December:

A two-phased approach [to 407 construction] will have crippling impacts on Durham and Peterborough. Furthermore, if government expenditures are a concern, we request you consider the reallocation of the $8.15 billion that may not be used for Toronto’s LRT to extend the 407 project to 35/115 as planned.

via Oshawa Mayor John Henry’s Open Letter to Dalton McGuinty.

I’m not suggesting there’s any chance we’d see a wholesale transfer of currently committed funding for transit onto a highway project, but I did think it important to point out that there are numerous people in high-ranking places in this province who don’t see the value of transit. They care about highways.

Case in point: this comment from Conservative MPP Christine Elliott, who promises to make the 407 construction one of the biggest issues of this fall’s provincial election:

“It’s not just the people of Columbus who are affected, it’s a widespread concern,” she said. “We need the 407 for our economic growth and our ability to travel.”

via Durham residents fuming over plan to build ‘half a highway’ – thestar.com.

The vast majority of planned provincial transit money doesn’t come into effect until 2015. Keep that in mind as the provincial election rhetoric kicks up this year.

link — Comments Off on Transit Cuts Deferred to February Meeting; City operates via longhand
12
Jan 11

Transit Cuts Deferred to February Meeting; City operates via longhand

David Nickle with InsideToronto:

The Toronto Transit Commission has voted postpone plans to slash off-peak service on 48 bus routes across the city.
The controversial plan emerged earlier this week, as TTC staff hurried to put together operating and capital budgets for the city’s 2011 accelerated budget process.

via InsideToronto Article: TTC delays decision to cut off-peak service on some city bus routes.

What they don’t mention in the article is, as revealed in a tweet from Councillor Josh Matlow, the amendment was deferred via a handwritten note. Which leads me to wonder if they actually were using an old-style overhead projector for this meeting or if they actually scanned in the handwritten note. In either case: damn.

The deferral is welcome news, as I’m convinced these cuts were not well thought out. I’d argue that we should demand a list of proposed service increases that are to come into effect in September before we accept any reduction in service this winter.

link — Comments Off on Setting a standard for transit
12
Jan 11

Setting a standard for transit

Natalie Alcoba, reporting on statements from Councillor Adam Vaughan at today’s special TTC budget meeting:

[Vaughan] said people who can’t take a bus to work late at night won’t take it for the other leg of the commute.

“Next year you will have a whole new host of underperforming routes,” he said. “Part of the way to find the way around it is to take a blind leap of faith is to grow the system and not shrink the system.”

via TTC urged to reconsider cutbacks to bus services | Posted Toronto | National Post.

People can make easy rationalizations for cutting low-performing routes, and maybe some of them are justified. The problem I have is two-fold:

First, this kind of strategy defines transit as a convience rather than the vital cornerstone of city building. The city could save a lot of money on road repairs by shutting down poorly used roads, but they’d never consider that. And for good reason — because, over time, underused roads become well-used roads. Cities change and evolve and grow.

Second, depending on who you ask the cuts are either a) being done to save money or b) not cuts at all, as the resources will be shifted to other routes in September.

Councillor Gloria Lindsay Luby spins it as the former in Alcoba’s article, saying “We are in tight times. No choices are good choices. I know that.” But the official line is still that these are not cuts but rather adjustments – how can they have it both ways?

link — Comments Off on Finding money all over the place
12
Jan 11

Finding money all over the place

[blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/JoshColle/status/25183967284043776″]

Posting to test the WordPress plugin Blackbird Pie for embedding Tweets into posts. And also because this tweet from Councillor Josh Colle (Ward 15 – Eglinton Lawrence) is pretty great in light of yesterday’s “Let’s save money with our magic blue pen” TTC budget report.

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