As comments by Ian Milligan raised the subject of an ever ongoing perception among people that use public transit in Sameer Vasta’s “Pulling Parking Perks” post, I thought about the reasons that this perception exists.  What could be responsible for people preferring rail vehicles to the bus?

Toronto has a rich history of public transit going back to the mid-1800s.  The first bus service started in the early 1850s, but streetcars have been on Toronto’s streets since as early as 1861.  They were horse-drawn originally, but they introduced electric cars in the early 1890s, starting with Church St.  Subway proposals have been floated since around 1910. (more…)

Friday’s Globe and Mail featured a prediction by Jeffrey Rubin, the CIBC World Markets economist, that damage from Hurricane Gustav and other intense storms this season could cause a sudden spike in gas prices to $1.75 a litre.

Every time there is a price spike, the media runs to the local gas station to cover the “pain at the pumps”. But does that pain translate into a change in behaviour? How much of an impact do gas prices have on the commuting public in the GTA? Do increasing gas prices cause people to make different personal transportation decisions, or are households just absorbing the extra costs?

It appears that gas prices are affecting vehicle purchasing decisions (sorry GM), but are consumers switching from private vehicles to other modes of transportation? I would love to see the research on that. (Perhaps our friends at Metrolinx have some sources they can share? If readers know of recent research on this question, please leave a link in the comments.) [UPDATE: High gas costs pushing people to use public transit, survey finds, Globe & Mail]

Surely demographic factors influence gas price sensitivity and the substitution of one mode of transportation for another. It makes sense that household incomes will affect price sensitivity, with the working poor being hit hardest. At the same time, many service workers need to use private vehicles to get to or perform their work (i.e. not the GO train Bay Street crowd) and have few alternatives. This creates a political problem that will bring calls for action.

But I also believe that there is a relationship to another familiar demographic trend with political and policy implications: Boomer parents versus their Gen Y children.

(more…)

Vaughan Mills, located north of Toronto at Highway 400 and Rutherford Road, is a shopping and entertainment complex of colossal proportions. With almost 1.2 million square feet (110,000 m²) of retail space, all on a single floor, it is the 13^th largest mall in Canada and 6^th largest in the GTA.[1] The big purple mall sign alongside highway 400 is a beacon for the countless mall-bound shoppers, and I too have journeyed to the oversized stores at Vaughan Mills in search of shopping glory. It has the world’s largest Tommy Hilfiger store, the largest Toys “R” Us in Canada, and of course, Bass Pro, an outdoor enthusiast’s one-stop shop.The mall first opened in 2004 and has been deemed a rousing success.It welcomed its two millionth visitor less than two months after its opening.[2]However, some shudder in disbelief at the short-sightedness of building this icon of urban sprawl.

Vaughan Mills was the first major shopping complex in the Greater Toronto Area since the Erin Mills Town Centre opened in 1990 [3]. The mall, located next to Canada’s Wonderland, attracts big crowds. Here, perhaps, is a grand opportunity for a New Mobility hub; one that connects various modes of transportation like walking, cycling, and transit. It has yet to achieve this, but hopefully it will evolve.

(more…)

It has been just over a week since the relaunch of this site, and we’ve seen some fantastic growth in readership (over 3,600 visits) and comments (253 and counting) with new contributors volunteering. As the online community grows, we want to make sure it is a healthy community.

This post has a few principles and tips for how to add value to the conversation. It boils down to this:

• Be real
• Respect each other
• Find solutions for the future

Read more after the jump.

(more…)

“Maybe now I can put real meat in the meatloaf…”

Those commercials are lame at best, but the underlying message is true. A post-secondary education in Ontario is very expensive, and many struggle to pay for tuition and textbooks in addition to the cost of living in the city. With this in mind, it comes as no surprise that there have been loud calls to make public transit more affordable for students attending post-secondary education across the GTHA, throughout Ontario and across Canada.

In general, only grade-school and secondary school students are entitled to use student tickets and passes. In response, several universities and colleges have negotiated discounted transit passes with the TTC and with GO Transit. At eligible schools, students can receive a discount on GO monthly and ten-ride passes, and many institutions in Toronto sell discounted Metropasses though the TTC’s Volume Incentive Program (VIP). But, while all offer a tangible benefit to users, there are some drawbacks to both programs. (more…)

Yesterday morning, the city of Toronto officially unveiled a Pedestrian Priority Phase at the intersection of Yonge and Dundas. This adds an extra opportunity for a pedestrian only crossing phase which will allow the public to cross diagonally across the intersection, as well as east-west or north-south.

Councillor Kyle Rae, councillor Glenn De Baermaeker, head of the city’s works department and Gary Welsh, general manager of the city’s transportation services were all on hand to address the public and field questions from the media.

Check out in-depth coverage from BlogTO and Spacing as well as my own gallery of images.

I stepped on the bus and left my whole life behind. Showed my student i.d. card and dropped a dollar twenty-five into the change box. Proceeded down the aisle past the factory workers and kids heading to the mall, towards my favourite spot at the back of the bus: always (when available) the seat closest to the window, last row. Whether I chose the right or the left side didn’t matter at all, it was rather dependent upon availability and occasionally determined by which way the sun was shining and of course whether that suited my mood. I liked sitting in that little tucked-in corner, the final statement on a row of about three or four two-seaters lining one side — a long single row of seats facing diagonally across on the other. There was always a spot to put my feet up; this small comfort made up for the rattle and clang of the windows that shook in their frame. I don’t know whether the roads were much bumpier then, nevertheless even the smoothest of drivers couldn’t help the high-decibel clamour that accompanied every ride.

(more…)

photo by natashlcd

Every Wednesday, we’ll be featuring a image from the Metronauts flickr group. If you have any pictures you’d like to submit, feel free to join the flickr group and add your photos. On occasion, we may even grab your photos for a post.

During the Metronauts event in Toronto in April 2008, one of the ideas that caught my attention was the possibility that public transit vehicles and the public transit system more broadly can be considered as a potential space for cultural activities.

Shortly after Metronauts Toronto, I came across an example of public art on public buses which seems to bring to life this possibility. In Winnipeg in the spring of 2008, artist Cheyenne Henry launched Trans Regalia, which is described on the Arts Building Community website as “an act of Indigenous cultural and political reclamation.” The site describes that in this artistic intervention,

Artist Cheyenne Henry reclaims the public transit system in Winnipeg to launch education about urban Aboriginal issues into the public sphere. People dressed in traditional Aboriginal regalia step onto city buses and share personal stories of reclaiming their culture and identity in an urban context. The lines between participant and performer are blurred as both become viewer and viewed, sharing a common experience, a bus ride into Winnipeg’s core. This act of transit reclamation opens possibilities for dialogue and understanding in the inner city.

(more…)

It seems as though the TTC may be reading your comments. At least halfway.

In the previous post about commuter lots, many of you remarked that instead of building more parking lots or investing time and money into parking, transit systems across the Greater Toronto Area should instead “provide viable alternates like well-served feeder bus routes” and more.

The TTC seems to be taking half your comments to heart: tomorrow’s Commission meeting will feature a vote on eliminating free parking perks to Metropass holders. Instead, Metropass holders would have to pay the daily parking fee — which can range from $2-6 — like everyone else.

It’s obvious that $6 is much cheaper than the surrounding lots that charge almost three times that amount, but I’d argue that the change won’t do much to eliminate the crowding that’s already happening at the lots. What it will do, I’m guessing, is increase the amount of cars driving in to the downtown core.

(more…)

As those of us who rely on the TTC as our primary means of transportation know all too well, the legal strike of late April 2008 hit the city by surprise. Surprise quickly turned to anger, and the blogosphere and media erupted with calls for the union to not only be legislated back to work, but to permanently forfeit their right to strike. Quickly legislated back to work in a historic Sunday sitting of the Ontario legislature, the two sides have been negotiating behind a press blackout while people continue to call for the TTC to be declared an essential service.

On Friday, to much fanfare across the blogosphere and the newspapers, both the TTC and the Amalgmated Transit Union (ATU) local 113 spoke out against being declared an essential service.

Yet what I find fascinating is the quickness by which progressive transit activists turn against the right of organized labour to carry out a labour disruption. In this post, I’d like to quickly run down the historical roots of this antagonism, and then argue that in a liberal society – one in which many rights have been conceded by modern trade unions – we have to be willing to tolerate disruptions in the interests of both human rights and liberal democracy. This all speaks to a central question: Should the TTC be declared an essential service?

(more…)

This was the scene crossing Dundas Street at Yonge last week. It was a Wednesday, early afternoon, quite a bit of pedestrian traffic. According to our friends at Spacing, Toronto will see its first Scramble intersection by the end of the month. So instead of crossing north to south, as pictured above, or east to west, you’ll be able to cross the intersection in any direction.