Before the holiday
break, I asked riders to come up with their transit wishes for 2004 -- the
ways that public officials can improve commuting in the GTA. First, let’s
hear from Metro readers, and then we’ll find out what government and
transit representatives are actually planning to do.
Al Smith of Toronto
writes: “I wish that I would have to wait only 10 minutes for ONE
streetcar, instead of 30 minutes for THREE of them.”
Jeffrey Kay of Toronto
writes: “My new year's resolution for transit executives: That the TTC
will release statistics on how well their busy routes are operating.
“Surely they cannot
be happy with the way streetcars and buses get bunched up, and get
short-turned. Please give us some numbers about the current service --
then as schedules are fine-tuned, we can measure how the service
improves.”
Ian Kellogg of Toronto
writes: “Over the next 10 years, the City should progressively eliminate
all free parking. Parking meters should be installed over time, in the
following priority: at ‘power’ or ‘box’ stores, strip malls, regular
malls, parking lots beside stores, and finally on all residential streets.
Parking enforcement staff should be hired to a level where fines just
cover the cost of the staff. The revenue from the new parking meters could
then be earmarked for public transit.
“This move would
discourage automobile use and encourage local intensification. Expanded
transit would further encourage a decline in the use of private autos.
“The City should also
lobby for a province-wide ban on free parking in shopping malls. Without
such a policy, Toronto residents with cars would likely drive out of the
city to malls with free parking and so perpetuate the innumerable ills
associated with private automobile use.”
Wendy Fabrizi of
Toronto writes: “I am a regular rider on the TTC. I do not have a license,
so I go everywhere by transit. I work in the Jane & Hwy. 7 area of Concord
and it costs me an extra fare everyday to get to work. My wish list would
be:
“1. The buses that go
into Vaughan should run more then every 15 minutes. When I go to work I
rarely get a seat on the bus, and there is even more construction
(underway near my workplace). A new Sam's Club is also going in, so the
buses are going to be more crowded.
“2. That the buses
try to keep on schedule. Every day my bus after work is late or early. My
bus is supposed to be at my stop by 4:47 p.m. For the past 2 weeks, I am
lucky to see a bus at that time. I usually arrives anywhere between 4:52
to 5:05 p.m. I feel that if we have to wait for 15 minutes between buses,
then the buses should be at the stops when they are supposed to.
“3. Where I catch the
bus after work, we have no shelter or place to sit. All around us are
one-storey buildings and in the winter we have no shelter from the winds
or snow. We have to wait longer then anybody in Toronto to catch our bus
yet we have nowhere to sit or stand to get out of the wind.”
Warren Stark of
Toronto would like the TTC’s Sunday and Holiday service to be the same as
Saturday service. On Sundays, the subway doesn’t open until 9 a.m., three
hours later than the rest of the week. He says “The TTC should start early
in the morning. Since we allow Sunday shopping, the workers need to get to
work. Presently, a taxi must be hired to get to work in the morning
hours.”
Send e-mail to
transit@eddrass.com. Include address and
phone number.