I’d like to
reach into the electronic mail-bag one more time, to hear what
riders are hoping for this year. The first e-mail is from Randi
Williams of Toronto. “Your recent column encouraged TTC users to
write and state what we would like to see in 2005. Here is my list:
1. Many, many more polite drivers. 2. No personal cell phone use by
bus operators. 3. Planners and supervisors who know their routes, so
that buses or streetcars filled to capacity are not short-turned. 4.
Announcements on board vehicles that people are to remove their feet
from the seats. That's my list -- it has been the same for several
years. The exception is that this year I am looking at buying a
vehicle.”
Melanie
Levenson of North York writes, “I would like to know why the
various transit systems cannot integrate so there is one GTA transit
commission that works cooperatively and seamlessly. The inefficiency
of the current system never ceases to amaze me.
I wait for a bus
each morning at Drewry/Cummer and Yonge. I will frequently stand and
watch two or three York Region buses, one or two GO buses, and
several TTC Steeles express buses fly by me and my fellow
travellers, before a TTC Yonge bus will trundle along to pick us up.
The regional buses are almost always virtually empty!
“In the
meantime, two or three Cummer buses will have whizzed around the
opposite corner from me, and the Drewry bus motors along every 15
minutes or so. They are ALL headed to the same destination -- Finch
station on the Yonge line. It makes zero sense to me to leave us
standing there waiting, particularly when half-empty Yonge express
buses drive by and refuse to stop. I knocked on the window of one
that was stopped at a red light and he wouldn't acknowledge me at
first -- until he finally shook his head no.”
Reader I.
Anderson writes, “The passengers commuting on the Markham 102 bus
routes pay the same fare as all other TTC riders, but for the last
three years we have not had any air-conditioned buses during the
summer months. I have ridden other routes, such as Bathurst, Yonge,
Steeles, and all of their buses are air-conditioned -- and new.”
Cam Nhan of
Toronto writes, “I think TTC should be run as an independent
business. It should own lands, condo buildings, department stores,
restaurants, and shopping malls along the subway line. That is how
the transit system in Hong Kong operates.
“One of the
things I like (about Hong Kong’s system) is how commuters pay their
fares. The transit company issues commuting cards that are used as
debit cards. A commuter swipes the card when getting on a bus or
subway then swipes again when getting off. The fare is calculated by
the number of stops traveled and deducted from the card. Commuters
can deposit more money to the card at cash machines.
“There are some
advantages: the cards can be reused for a long time; no transfers,
tickets to be printed, nor tokens to be made and accounted for; less
staff is needed and more commuters are attracted. Short distance
commuters would (be more) likely to pay a small fare for one or two
stops, instead of walking or driving.
“There may be
some disadvantages that I do not know of. However, if Hong Kong
transit can be successful, we should learn from them. A good transit
system should be more convenient, and attract more commuters. Only a
profitable transit system can make continuous improvements, and not
depend on tax money to survive.”
Send e-mail to
transit@eddrass.com. Include
address and phone number.