While public officials struggle to create a new regional
transportation agency, transit riders have a few points to make.
Rebecca Wenman of High Park writes that a new funding and planning
authority must “address some lack of service in the suburbs and ease
overcrowding on existing high volume routes.
No
matter how much service a transit body has on the roads, surface
transport such as buses are too slow and our GTA geography is too
large. Road maintenance, accidents, and traffic volume will slow
road service to a crawl.
“Having
to transfer from one route to another -- even in optimum service
periods -- can be time-consuming and inconvenient. Even on the
larger articulated vehicles, space can be limited and one can only
imagine having to lug one's belongings, or transferring impatient,
stressed-out children between transit vehicles two or three times to
reach a destination.
“The only answer is investment in the subway and/or rapid rail
transit with a minimum of transfers. I urge the planners and the
politicians to think of those who actually use public transit -- or
else forget Kyoto, road congestion and public health. People will
stay in their cars.”
Victor
Gu commutes from Richmond Hill to Toronto. He writes, “I spend an
average of 1 hour 35 minutes taking public transit -- compared with
45 to 60 minutes in a car. Our transit authorities have to satisfy
three requirements: ‘mass’, ‘rapid’ and ‘convenient’.
“While GO trains provide mass
transit service with great efficiency, they lack convenience for
many riders. The current GO train network seems to run on the
assumption that most riders commute to downtown bank towers near
Union Station. Very few GO lines provide convenient connections to
the subway. Office close to Yonge/Bloor area? Then spend another 20
minutes taking the subway -- and pay the full TTC fare.
“Our governments, be they federal, provincial or municipal, are
always constrained in terms of budget. As a result, Toronto should
not expect to see an efficient mass transit system like New York or
London in the next few decades.
“So why not look at more cost effective ways? How about making
convenient connections between the subway and GO train lines? How
about express bus services? How about adding more commuter parking
lots in the 905 area? These initiatives should cost much less than
subway or bus-only lane expansion, yet provide immediate relief to
congestion and gridlock.”
Kevin Reidy of Toronto writes that the authority must be able and
willing to make decisions on its own -- decisions that must not be
overturned through political lobbying. He writes that project
eligibility criteria must be set ahead of time and local
municipalities have to support intensification before transit
improvements are in place.
He writes, “The authority should take a particular interest in
‘trans-boundary’ projects,” and not be forced to build equally in
all regions, simply for political reasons. He adds the authority
must get “new money”, not already-promised funds like the gas tax.