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-- Forget Tearing Down The Gardiner...
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| Originally posted by DigiNut Of course it is, but only rapid transit is relevant when discussing alternatives to driving. Very few people with the means to own a car would take buses instead - and making it more difficult to own a car is only going to piss off motorists, not get them out of their cars. People who live downtown or on campus don't understand. There's this tiny little bubble that's really easy to move around in, with a few short appendanges snaking out into the actual GTA. Unless you happen to be in the bubble or on one of the limbs, most parts of the city are either inaccessible or terribly inconvenient without a car. So yes, smuncky, there is "only" the subway system. People don't take buses from Markham unless they absolutely have to. And for anyone who's itching to scream "LRVs!", light rail is not true rapid transit - especially not the light rail that Toronto wants to do which is practically just a streetcar. I've seen no viable plan to expand rapid transit into the parts of the GTA where most cars actually come from. For a city seriously bent on becoming "world class", that should be priority #1 for transit. |
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| Originally posted by Dave Akermanis Drive your car to the nearest GO Train Station and STFU. |
man i just used the ttc tonight to get to 2 useful places! 
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| Originally posted by smuncky man i just used the ttc tonight to get to 2 useful places! |
Fire chief says St. Clair is safe
Critics accuse Stewart of backpedalling on report on emergency services, TTC right-of-way
Jun 21, 2008 04:30 AM
Tess Kalinowski
TRANSPORTATION REPORTER
Critics of the St. Clair W. streetcar right-of-way are accusing the fire department of backtracking on its report that claimed the dedicated transit lane is unsafe for fire trucks.
Fire Chief Bill Stewart held a press conference with TTC officials yesterday to stress that St. Clair residents are safe in the event of a fire.
Stewart's comments came two days after the release of a report saying fire trucks are in danger of crashing into streetcar power poles in the middle of the right-of-way, damaging tires, snagging equipment, even crashing into streetcars.
His comments suggest "a huge whitewash of what was ... an unambiguous, extremely thorough report," Councillor Cesar Palacio (Davenport) said in a release. "Obviously political direction has been given for staff to change their tune."
Palacio is asking council next week for a work stoppage on St. Clair and a legal report on whether the city has breached terms of the environmental assessment. He's also asking the auditor general to review the fire department report.
"We are talking about a delay in response time and that's extremely important to all of us," as the TTC plans to build seven new Transit City streetcar lines, he said.
But there's plenty of time to make sure those lines are designed with emergency vehicles in mind, said TTC chief general manager Gary Webster, who walked with Stewart on St. Clair yesterday. Meantime, the TTC will tweak St. Clair to fix variances in the curb heights.
"We have a list of areas (on St. Clair) we are going to take a look at. They're not going to cost a lot of money," he said, adding repaving in 2010 will address many problems.
Stewart denied that his comments were at odds with the report.
"I'm not backpedalling. We've said right along St. Clair was safe," he said.
"In fairness, that report was written in April. There's alterations that are going to occur with TTC and we'll make a plan work for Toronto. The issue for us is we'll operate on the curb as we have and will continue to do so."
The report was a surprise to senior TTC officials, though Stewart said his department had been in discussions with TTC planners.
But one St. Clair area resident said the TTC and city have long failed to listen to the concerns of emergency service providers and residents.
"How is it that we're here in 2008 and the fire department is so frustrated at getting nowhere with the TTC they write this report?" said St. Clair opponent Margaret Smith. "It's now public and (the TTC is) saying, `We'll make some minor modifications, we can do some curb cuts, it's safe.' Is it?
"Public transit trumps public safety. We're not saying they should rip up the right-of-way...We're saying they should build the design they promised and committed to and they should make the modifications necessary to satisfy all the emergency response folks."
http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/447135
If the Star said so, it must be true.
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| Originally posted by DigiNut If the Star said so, it must be true. |
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| Originally posted by DigiNut If the Star said so, it must be true. |
I'm surprised some of you are actually defending Toronto's transit system, as well as defending David Miller.
Lastman may have had his flaws, just like all people have flaws, but he did more visible things for the city than Miller has ever done.
Spending by Toronto city council has increased tremendously since Mel Lastman left office and since Miller entered office. Has Toronto improved considerably as a city in that timeframe? Certainly not.
Mel Lastman pushed for the Sheppard subway line. Criticize it all you want, but it was the first new subway line in decades.
Lastman at least was actually BORN in Toronto, not like Miller who was born in San Francisco. Being born in the city that you are mayor of helps a lot in terms of understanding the city.
Miller in the past year or two introduced his "inner council" system where key decisions are made by the Mayor and his people BEFORE being brought to full attention of city council. That limits public discussion and input into many key decisions, and is certainly not what I would call democratic.
Yes Miller has achieved more cash for the TTC from the federal and provincial govermnments, but Toronto would have got that cash *anyways* if another mayor was in place, and Toronto may have gotten more if Lastman was still around.
The city of Toronto has had budget problems for the past few years that Miller has been in office. His ideas and decisions have for the most part been shortsighted and poorly though-out. Miller's decision of offloading some of the property tax burden from businesses to homeowners is an example of such kinds of decisions. That decision was made in a foolish attempt to attract new businesses and keep current business in the city. Tax breaks alone unfortunately are not going to do that.
Toronto tourism has been declining for years, and Miller has done nothing to reverse that.
As with regards to the TTC, nobody is saying it's useless. Obviously the TTC is not a useless transit system as it's better than nothing. The argument though is that is a lot less useful than transit systems in many cities around the world. Toronto is Canada's largest city, yet the transit system is woefully inadequate for a city of this size and population. Also compared to other cities around the world of similar size and population, our transit system also falls short.
Even worse, the TTC and surrounding GTA systems are not 24 hours. The TTC offers some limited 24 hour service, but it is indeed quite limited. The subway for example is not 24 hours. Many cities around the world have 24 hour transit systems.
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| Originally posted by Dark_Archonis Yes Miller has achieved more cash for the TTC from the federal and provincial govermnments, but Toronto would have got that cash *anyways* if another mayor was in place, and Toronto may have gotten more if Lastman was still around. |
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| Originally posted by Dave Akermanis You sure that money wouldnt have gone to one of his pals instead? |
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| Originally posted by smuncky Fire chief says St. Clair is safe Critics accuse Stewart of backpedalling on report on emergency services, TTC right-of-way Jun 21, 2008 04:30 AM Tess Kalinowski TRANSPORTATION REPORTER "Public transit trumps public safety. |
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| Originally posted by DigiNut Not only does GO have extremely limited coverage, but most of it is by bus and that is not rapid transit. There's no rational reason for anybody to drive to a GO station instead of just driving to their destination. |
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| Originally posted by Dr. DAS I'm sorry, what? |
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| Originally posted by Pett Most GO bus routes are BRT bus rapid transit and use the highway whenever possible. The core GO ridership are people who drive to the stations and take the train the rest of the way to avoid the dvp and gardiner, 401 ect. |
I think then we could justify more rail lines and increased service to perhaps one train every 10 minutes. Wouldnt that be nice? 
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