Last week, TTC riders wrote about a lack of bus shelters in a wind-swept
business park in Mississauga.
Simo Lhsaini of
Toronto writes: “The 68 Warden TTC bus takes off from Warden subway
station to its last stop around 50 metres north of Steeles Ave. inside the
Town of Markham. I have to take this bus when heading south to Warden
station and I sometimes almost freeze to death. I finish work and wait for
half an hour, but there is no shelter. Last winter was the worst in my
life.”
York Region Transit (YRT)
officials report that they were not planning to install shelters at any
stops near Steeles Avenue, which is the boundary between Toronto and the
Region of York. However, based on your request, this stop has been added
to the list of locations to be considered for a bus shelter. But brace
yourself -- it’s the list for 2004.
There are around 720
shelters at 3,500 transit stops in the area served by YRT. 50 of these
glass and metal huts are installed in an average year, about half of which
replace old shelters. 20 customers per day must board buses at a stop
before it is considered for a shelter, and I am told that customers of YRT,
TTC, and GO Transit are considered equally.
Philip Share of
Toronto writes: “I fought long and hard with GO Transit for a shelter on
the southbound platform at the Bloor GO train station (near Dundas West
subway station). After more than six months, we finally have a shelter,
apparently at a cost of $60,000. There is definitely some truth about the
squeaky wheel getting the grease -- I just kept up a regular bombardment
of e-mails until they gave in on a new shelter and a phone.”
GO Transit’s Heather
Burnett says this particular shelter cost around $30,000, and that “We
welcome customer comments and take them into consideration when planning,
but we make decisions based on the greatest need.” She says ten new
enclosures are to be installed across the rail system this year, based on
ridership numbers. Ms. Burnett adds, “The only station in the GO network
that doesn't have a shelter is Georgetown and that's because this is where
the trains lay over, so essentially the trains are the customers'
shelter.”
Jack Joseph of North
York writes: “For some odd reason, the TTC has an unused shelter located
on the southeast corner of the Allen Road and Sheppard Avenue West (near
the Downsview station). As far as I know, there is no bus route along
(this section of) the Allen Road!!”
The Mystery of the
Unused Bus Shelter may be solved by the little-known fact that for a short
period very early each morning, subway service does not reach Downsview
station, but ends one stop to the south at Wilson. Allen Pinkerton of the
City of Toronto says that for a brief time, some bus routes that normally
travel to Downsview do indeed use the Allen Road on their way to and from
Wilson, and may pick up riders along the way.