As I sit on the GO bus from work, I have become very concerned about the state of transit as of late. The tanking economy and resulting cost-cutting pose a huge threat to the survival of Metrolinx – which does not currently have a source of revenue independent of the province. The Ontario government announced this week that it will be running a fiscal deficit for the upcoming budget and that it will be decreasing spending in order to balance the books. The draft RTP – which will eventually require $50B to build – will stick out like a sore thumb to politicians looking for a place to draw funds.

What makes the situation worse is that transit riders do not have a unified voice. Although the general thrust of government policy favours transit (sometimes explicitly, as in Places to Grow), it is easy for politicians to ignore the hard decisions when the transit community spends much of its energy debating the minutiae of subway construction instead of engaging the public and grilling the leaders. As important as it is to choose the right technology, we should be focusing on the larger issue. It’s like arguing over the best way to cut up not enough pie, instead of ordering a bigger pie altogether. Furthermore, while Metronauts are naturally well-informed, there is a larger consensus outside of our little community that “transit is important.” Think of all those university and high school students who have become accustomed to transit and wish it didn’t “suck so much.” There is a huge opportunity out there now for focusing the public consensus into informed, intelligent, and vocal advocacy.

I am calling on the Metronauts community come together and make a difference. The creation of a transit advocacy organization is a lot of work, but we can help improve the quality of life in the GTHA. I encourage Metronauts to discuss the key tasks and roles such an organization would take on, but I will list a few of the overall goals that I think are important after the jump: (more…)

Source: ITS America

Imagine sending a cell phone text message with your location and destination, and instantly getting back region-wide information on real-time traffic conditions, travel time, best route, and next bus or train. This could soon be a reality in the Greater Toronto Area.

Metrolinx has proposed one of the eight “Big Moves” to be the creation of a regional transportation information portal that is accessible online and by telephone, email, or PDA that provides travellers with easily accessible, standardized information on the full-range of transportation alternatives available to them.

BIG MOVE #6: Create an information system for travellers, where and when they need it.

Here are the features, in order of importance, that I think a transportation information system should have:

1. Real-time (GPS) display of next bus/train at major station stops
2. Information portal covers ALL transit systems across region
3. Information is user-friendly and accessible using a wide variety of methods
4. Portal compares all transportation alternatives
5. Amenities offered on-board transit systems (e.g. wi-fi access on buses)

What are your priorities for a traveller information system?

Do you think this is a Big Move?

Have you been to a place in the world that has a great traveller information system?

I encourage you to leave a comment. I’ll summarize the comments and pass them on to Metrolinx.

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Have you heard the ongoing story of PickupPal yet? PickupPal is a Google Maps-based networking site with about 15,000 registered users in Ontario that helps people find carpool buddies. Sounds pretty useful, right? Only problem is… most of the carpooling going on at PickupPal is illegal. You see, in Ontario it is illegal to carpool or rideshare with someone unless you meet ALL of the following criteria:

• You can only travel from home to work  (no rides to schools, hospitals, daycare, etc.)
• You cannot cross municipal boundaries (no driving to the adjacent municipality for a GO station, TTC subway, airport, etc.)
• You must ride with the same driver each day (no exceptions, sorry).
• You must pay the driver weekly only (bring a calculator).

Ergo, if you arrange to have your boyfriend pick up your cousin Louis at the airport — you have broken the law. If you travel with a friend and give her $5 for gas money — you have broken the law.

Here’s an excerpt of the current law, off the “Save PickupPal” blog: “No person shall arrange or offer to arrange transportation of passengers by means of a public vehicle operated by another person unless that other person is the holder of an operating licence authorizing that other person to perform the transportation.”

This little jewel has essentially allowed the claim to be made that allowing money to change hands between consenting individuals for inter-municipal trips makes the site illegal — in essence, that it makes PickupPal a bus service. On Oct 15, PickupPal had their day in court and presented their case to the OHTB. Now, we all await the verdict. Hopefully, the OHTB will see the light, and a more reasonable carpooling policy will arise as a result.

But in the meantime, no wonder those “carpool” lanes on the 403/404 are mostly empty. You practically have to break the law to use them.

Update, Nov 23, 2008: The OHTB made their ruling several weeks ago, in which PickupPal was charged and fined for facilitating a ride from Toronto to Montreal for $60. Although PickupPal was not involved in any financial transaction involving the incident, they were fined $11,336.07 for facilitating it. (This fine does not include the cost of legal fees.) Due to public outcry over this matter, the Ontario Government has started a legislative process to introduce changes to the Public Vehicles Act, although it is uncertain how long it will be before these changes to allow practical ridesharing are made law.

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With the Metrolinx draft RTP out, lots of improvements to GO Train services are all over the map, including extensions, new lines, and express service improvements.  Such improvements are welcome, but as important are improvements to service along existing lines.  With the exceptions of Barrie and Lincolnville, GO Transit has been focused on adding stations to their existing lines instead of expanding to new lines or extending existing lines; Rutherford, East Gwillimbury, York University, Centennial, Mount Joy, Mount Pleasant, Lisgar, and Kennedy are all recent additions to the existing GO network, without extending the lines.  This focus that GO Transit has diligently been exercising over the last decade is a practice that should not be abandoned.  Creating a denser built-up region through adding stations to existing lines to provide greater service coverage within the current network is a strong tool against sprawl and its impacts, as GO service is attractive when it’s running.  Imagine if it ran frequently throughout the day.

In the case of the TTC with the Portlands, there is an expensive investment being made for brand new TOD neighbourhoods, as new infrastructure and entire communities are built from scratch.  This is necessary in an age where we are trying to create environments that are not dependent on the automobile.

GO Transit has the advantage of holding the opportunity of accomplishing similar for a comparatively low investment, as its lines are existing.  It’s not pennies, but it’s not a fortune either, and this is the psychology behind GO Transit’s original service concept in the first place… it’s also why they don’t own the tracks on most lines, but nevermind that (with any luck, that will partially change).

Transit has a lot of catching up to do in restoring mode competitiveness, which has been monopolized by the auto through the expressway network and the decommissioning of several rail lines around the region, of which Barrie was almost a victim.  This greatly hampers the ability to compete with the door-to-door advantage held by the auto.

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First of all, I urge you to check out a Metrolinx Regional Transportation Plan public meeting and open house if you haven’t already had the chance to. It’s your chance to see details of The Big Move up close, give your feedback directly to the agency, and even chat personally with high-ranking Metrolinx staff members. Information about upcoming meetings are available on the Metrolinx web site.

At the public meeting at the International Centre on Tuesday, I found myself in a small, diverse discussion group giving and listening to feedback on the RTP. One of the members of the group was a representative from the Weston Community Coalition, a group primarily opposed to the Airport Rail Link proposal known as Blue 22. Since the improvements necessary to implement a Union-Pearson train will also allow for GO service expansions to Brampton (the closest station to my family home), Georgetown and beyond, I thought I might weigh in to look at the issues and see how we can collectively move forward to improve transportation in this corridor for all.

If you can recall the proposal, Blue 22 would have run trains every 20 minutes or so from Union Station to Pearson Airport, making only one stop at Bloor GO (to connect to the subway). The trains would have been refurbished Budd Rail Diesel Cars, be operated by SNC Lavalin, and would have charged a $20 fare. The community group representing local residents raised several concerns about this proposal, and while they may have been painted as irrational vanguards of the status quo by some, the group’s points are reasonable and deserved to be addressed. (more…)

Metrolinx: Design your own transportation system, a consultation interface

The TransitCamp community and later Metronauts have used technology and open source thinking in many interesting ways to engage citizens in transportation policy.

Over the next few months, I plan to create content for the Metronauts site and carry out research simultaneously.  I will do this by sitting down and carrying out interviews and making some movies of Metronauts using maps.  By Metronauts  I mean any interested bloggers, participants at the ‘unconference’ bar camp events, and readers of this site.  I hope that some of you will be willing to let me screencast or videotape you as you tell me about particular transit routes in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton areas while using Metrolinx’s ‘Design your own transportation system’ interface.  If you participate, you can choose if the materials get used for research only or if they can be used here on metronauts.ca or in other places.

As a PhD student in the Faculty of Information and Knowledge Media
Design Institute, at the University of Toronto, I am broadly interested in how new media tools can be used within policy consultation and participation processes.

If you are interested in participating in this content creation and research opportunity please contact me:

Email:
Campus phone number: 416.946.5366 (shared line)

Further information including formal documents about my research are available at my site.

Rutherford GO Station

During the evening rush, a race plays out at every GO Transit train stop. Commuters preparing to exit the train line up at their cabin door, elbows out, sometimes a few stops before their own to get the front position. Then, the doors open and the race is on: ladies in heals and men in suits break into a full sprint for their car! They jump in, almost Dukes of Hazzard style, and peal the tires in an effort to beat the rush and save a few precious minutes exiting the parking lot. But can you blame them? Most GO stations are massive parking lots that contain too many cars to manage the traffic effectively.

GO Transit ridership is up, there’s no doubt about it.  I first took the GO train from Maple Station to Union Station about four years ago.  Back then there were three trains in the morning, and three returning in the evening, and I had no trouble finding a seat.  Now there are four trains each way, the line has been extended to Barrie, and extra cabins have been added, and it’s increasingly more difficult to get a seat in the morning.  Parking is at capacity.  In fact, cars park illegally at the nearby cemetery and line the road all the way to Major Mackenzie.

I think there exists a great opportunity at the local level to increase cycling, walking, and transit use to connect with a GO Transit trip.  Most people using the train probably live within 5 km of the station, but the overwhelming majority decide to get there by car.  By building stations that cater to cars, is GO Transit achieving it’s ultimate objective of getting people out of cars?

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Maybe you’ve seen them around the city before. Bikes with small wheels, tall handle bars and a tall seat post. Some have even called them clown bikes. But, there are more to these strange creatures than meets the eye…

Last spring my car died and though a complicated series of transactions my family replaced it with a mini-van. I was concerned about the ecological footprint left by a single occupant driving a van to the GO station every morning – and I was sick and tired of the soccer-mom jokes. Also, since my school schedule isn’t the same every day, I was concerned about the diminishing amount of available parking spaces at the train station after the peak hours. The solution was to try to get to the nearest bus stop for a one-seat ride to the train station – but in Caledon this isn’t easy.

It’s a 20 minute walk through the Highway 410 extension construction site to get to the GO bus stop, where I could take the Orangeville bus without having to pay an additional fare. This was perfect for the peak hours, off peak service was terrible. If I walked 10 more minutes along the rural highway I could reach a Brampton Transit stop with decent service for 50 cents on top of my GO pass – but service ended at 7pm made a drink after a tough midterm impossible. I would have to walk 40 minutes from my front door to a Brampton Transit stop where buses ran from the start to end of service all days of the week. Walking for 40 minutes to the bus stop, while great for the body, is unfeasible for commuting and all too common in the suburbs. A bicycle was the answer, but there were problems. (more…)

Source: Rannie Turingan

On occasion I go for a lunch-time bike ride, to pick up fresh fruit and veggies, then go over to the park to eat. In front of the grocery store, I have to lock my bike to a tree. And I feel guilty.

This isn’t the only intersection in downtown Toronto where I’ve had to search for a bike rack.

Recently in New York City, 10 bike rack designs were announced for the CityRacks Design Competition. It is part of a move to increase bicycling as a way to commute. The City’s Department of Transportation, Janette Sadik-Khan, said the bike rack “that meets the City’s needs for usable bike parking [that] will also generate greater interest in bicycle use in the City.” From the 10 shortlisted designs, they seems to fit the criteria of being functional, secure and aesthetic. Prototypes are installed at various locations around the city.

Two racks look seem similar to the ones we have in Toronto.

If you build it they will come. Is this the idea behind New York’s DoT to double cycling commutes? Will it work? As a cyclist (but not a good one), I don’t think a competition to redesign bike racks will inspire automobile commuters to get on a bike (even if musician David Byrne is one of the jurors). But I do think that it’s important that the transportation department has raised the public profile of cycling to hold an international competition.

The competition was one part in a mix of approaches taken, which also includes “legislation that will require large commercial buildings to provide indoor bike parking”. That a transportation agency is entering the realm of land-use regulation to establish one piece of their mandate into building projects is something for Toronto – or any city in Ontario – to seriously consider. Looking through Cycling’s homepage, reading their policies and ‘latest’ bike plan, “Shifting Gears” – it can only get better. The timing couldn’t be more perfect.

Some Links:

NYCDoT Press Release

David Byrne’s bike racks designs

NYCDoT Strategic Plan for the New York City Department of Transportation 2008 and Beyond

Photos of bike racks on Flickr

Metrolinx is conducting a series of public meetings around the region from October 20th through 30th. For more details and to register:

http://www.metrolinx.com/en/event.aspx

We encourage people to sign-up and learn the details of the plans for the future of Toronto region’s transportation infrastructure.

The Metrolinx Board will be meeting October 24th and November 28th, which is expected to be focused on the approval of the RTP.

What about the Metronauts community?

We’ve been eager to do another big unconference event for a while now, and I know many have been asking about it, but we haven’t been able to schedule one with Metrolinx’ support and involvement. I still hope we’ll be able to hold another major event soon.

Into the void, the indomitable Ed Drass has stepped up and got a weekly series of community meetings setup at Metro Hall in the coming weeks. We’ll be bringing a bit of that unconference magic to these, so we hope you can join us.

METRO HALL MEETINGS
55 John St. @ King St.
Room 303
Toronto

Tue., Oct. 14  5:45 pm  “What do you want to know about the Regional Transportation Plan?”
Tue., Oct. 21  7:00 pm   Topic TBA
Tue., Oct. 28  7:00 pm   Topic TBA

To be updated on these meetings, please send an email to Ed at

Join us for the conversation. We can use the TransitCamp.org Wiki to take notes from these sessions, so we’re looking for participants who can lead the conversation, ask good questions and capture the content of the sessions for sharing with the rest of the community. Volunteers with video cameras wanted!

Photo Source: Rannie Turingan

When I drew Cincinnati for my 3rd year field trip at Ryerson I was not a happy camper. The other possibility was Philadelphia, where the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) runs 13 regional rail lines, elevated and underground subway lines, light rail lines, streetcar lines and trolley coach routes. In addition, I would have been able to make side trips to New York City or Washington D.C. on the only true high speed rail network in North America. It would have been a transit nerd’s dream.

But lady luck was not on my side and my first choice was not to be.

Having now spent 4 days and 5 nights in the Queen City, I can say that I’m glad I “picked” the city on the Ohio River. Cincinnati and Toronto share some very important similarities, and even the differences can give insight into how we can move towards a vibrant, sustainable city. (more…)