We’ve known for some time that businesses are moving to the suburban areas
of the GTA, but what’s the impact on transit commuters? To take advantage
of cheaper rents and lower property taxes, some large firms have moved
from central Toronto to the wide open spaces of York and Peel Regions.
Pearson International
Airport is one of the new boom zones, and since this column started in the
summer of 2003, quite a few riders have written about difficulty getting
to area workplaces by transit. Just south of the planes and runways, the
Airport Corporate Centre (ACC) is a good example of a regional employment
node -- and it’s having growing pains. Users of the TTC’s 32B Eglinton
West bus have complained the bus gets so caught in traffic that the
schedule often goes awry, resulting in long waits, frequent short-turns
and having to stand during the long ride to the subway.
Like in other
industrial and office parks around the GTA, not all bus stops here have
shelters, or even completed sidewalks. This has been improving slowly, but
there is a very limited budget for this public infrastructure. Because car
parking is the responsibility of the private employers, extensive lots and
parking structures were in place before the employees moved in.
You’d think this
would be overwhelming incentive to drive to work, especially considering
that transit service in the suburbs is much more limited than downtown
Toronto. Yet rush hour driving in the suburbs can be as frustrating as it
is in the city’s core, often more so. Many of the readers who contacted me
were transferred from downtown offices, and have had to learn new ways of
getting to work, often via lengthy bus trips followed by a hike across a
windswept parking lot. Many have indeed chosen to drive, not all of them
willingly.
I met with
representatives of some of the larger employers in the area, and they are
working together to give their workers more commuting options. That means
promoting carpools, vanpools and helping employees understand when and
where the buses run. Mississauga Transit (MT), which has several routes in
the area and pays the TTC to bring the 32B outside Toronto city limits,
appears to be ready to help -- but its budget is tight. In December, MT
announced that TTC riders would no longer enjoy a single-fare ride to the
ACC. Since the beginning of January, 32B users must pay a second fare to
cross the Mississauga border. Many have taken to hoofing it the extra
kilometer or more to their offices.
Currently GO Transit
bypasses the area, but a proposed bus rapid transit line across the top of
Toronto would likely go right through the airport quadrant. Another sign
of hope -- another one that won’t keep you warm at a shelter-less bus stop
-- is better coordination between the public and private sector.
In one area of the
GTA, an organization of employers is already working with governments and
transit planners to improve commutes. The Black Creek Regional
Transportation Management Association (www.bcrtma.org) is the first of its
kind in Ontario. Its usefulness in bringing the needs of commuters to the
attention of decision makers is perhaps why Transport Canada recently
announced plans to start similar associations across the GTA.
This is big-picture
stuff, and won’t immediately aid those transit users who right now venture
across municipal boundaries to work. But employers, employees and local
officials can still get cracking. Yesterday I spoke with Wayne Chan, the
Transportation Planning Manager for Peel Region. He wants to meet with
people in the ACC, “to provide assistance to commuters so that they can
have more convenient travel options to work.” I will put him in touch with
those who have contacted In Transit.
It’s a start.
Send e-mail to
transit@eddrass.com. Include address and
phone number.