Since my first post here on Metronauts, I have been energized by the positive (and negative) response from the community. Despite the relative silence on the comments thread in the last week or so, the discussion is far from over. I think we have reached the point where we would benefit from a meeting face-to-face, to discuss the formation of a transit advocacy group.

 To this end, I would like to invite readers and members of the community to meet on Saturday November 29^th, to the inaugural meeting of what I have tentatively named the Transit Riders Advocacy Coalition – or TRAC. The meeting will be held at the University of Toronto Faculty of Information (140 St George Street), Room 728, from 1:30 pm to 3:30 pm. There is no need to RSVP – just show up and join in!

 The tentative agenda follows after the jump.  (more…)

Highway 407 Electronic Tolling System
[Source: C. Moy on Flickr]

The Draft Investment Strategy released by Metrolinx sets out a funding framework to deliver  $50 billion in transportation improvements over 25 years. Metrolinx is looking for your feedback. This is your region and your future. I encourage you to weigh-in on what is proposed.

Todd Litman’s recent post on planetizen discusses the costs of different modes of transportation. One conclusion is that “if a typical household shifts from driving everywhere (what we call, automobile dependency) to multi-modalism (using a combination of travel modes) and so is able shed one vehicle, the savings typically average about $5,000 annually. If these savings were invested each year over a typical 45 year working career, the household will retire about a million dollars wealthier.” There’s motivation for ya!

Research by Metrolinx finds that on average, people in the GTAH spending about $70 per week on transportation. Initially, the projects in the Regional Transportation Plan will cost about $155 per year per person in the GTHA, and reach $470 per year per person in 2033. When you break it down like this, $50 billion doesn’t sound so bad.

QUESTION: How much do you spend on transportation within the GTHA in a given week on items such as gas, parking, transit fares, cabs and tolls?  How much more would you be willing to pay per week in order to reduce your travel time, improve the reliability and predictability of your travel time, and/or improve the quality of your travel experience?

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In my job as transit columnist for the free commuter daily Metro, I get to learn about the workings of the GTA transport system directly from public officials. I call them up, ask a lot of questions and try to fit a tiny portion of the answers into my weekly column. In turn I rely on transit advocates to fill in the blanks as well as describe their first-hand experiences aboard streetcars, buses and trains.

My ideal of a proper discussion has these two groups in the same place at the same time, plus anyone else with an interest in urban mobility.

When I first envisioned a series of meetings to explore the Metrolinx regional transport plan, I hoped to huddle with a few advocates and get their perspective on the process and the results so far. I wanted to hear about the parts of “The Big Move” that need greater attention.

Along the way it became clear that some kind of official involvement would greatly aid the discussion, but that hasn’t proved easy. Since the draft RTP was released, Metrolinx staff have been particularly busy with stakeholder and public consultation meetings. Next comes preparing the plan for approval at the agency’s board meeting on November 28.

That said, there are still a lot of questions worth asking about how the Big Move will work, and I’m holding three more unofficial meetings before the expected board vote — each on Tuesday nights at Metro Hall in downtown Toronto. I’m hoping to convince Metrolinx and other public officials to attend subsequent meetings.

Tonight, Tuesday November 11, the session deals with paying to ride: How will GTA transit fares affect the regional transport network? How can payment be better integrated and what could this mean to capacity throughout the greater transit network? Look below for some questions sent to Metrolinx, and the responses.

An earlier Metronauts entry, Two fares just doesn’t seem fair also explores some of the key issues.

If you’d like to continue this discussion in person, join me at Metro Hall, 55 John St. @ King in Room 303 at 7pm. (Details after the jump) (more…)

If you look at a arial photograph of the residential areas in the historic downtowns of the GTHA and compare them to the areas built after the second world war, you’ll notice a few major differences. First of all, the streets in the downtowns are usually a neat, orderly grid, while the suburban areas tend to have winding, almost disorderly streets. Next, you’ll notice that the houses in the old neighbourhoods are build very close to the street and very close together, with garages (if any) accessible by a rear laneway. Newer suburban neighbourhoods tend to have houses which are setback from the property line in all directions, and the garages and driveways are often the most prominent feature of the front facade.

While this may be over simplifying the last 50 years of urban development history, the car is essentially to blame for this change. When we had to walk or take the trolley everywhere, development had to be compact and orderly to allow more people to live close to the streetcar stop. Now that we can drive everywhere, development can be more spread out, and walking provisions (front door close to sidewalk) can be replace with automobile provisions (garage close to street). Also, with land cheaper away from the transit stops, more of it can be devoted to each individual lot. Since lower density means more privacy, the suburbs pretty much sold themselves. While it was a foolish idea that has come back to bite us on the arse, we have to look forward. (more…)

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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Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion at Exhibition GO Station Thursday Morning (source: Liberal Party of Canada via Flickr)

The Federal Election campaign is now 10 days in and today, the Liberals announced details of their policy in regards to public transit and infrastructure. Taking the GO Train from Burlington to Exhibition GO Station today, Dion and several other prominent Toronto-area Liberals gathered to make the announcement. Details of the three-point plan are available here, and summarised below:

• Any future Federal budget surpluses beyond $3-billion will be dedicated to infrastructure, in particular, green initiatives
• A new Crown-controlled, majority owned “Infrastructure Bank” will be establish to leverage the Federal Government’s borrowing power at low interest rates. This money will then be available to municipalities to fund their infrastructure needs, including for public transit. Through this bank, Canadians can also purchase “Green Bonds”, similar to Canada Savings Bonds, with tax-free returns on investment
• A 10-year, $70-billion infrastructure plan, including $8-billion dedicated to a National Transit Strategy for expansion and “greening” of Canada’s transit systems

The announcement also states that a Liberal government would be a “willing partner” in projects such as high-speed rail, which is subject to a study by the Ontario and Québec provincial governments that was announced in January.

Commentary after the jump…

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“There are 14 TTC bus routes operating directly between York Region and subway stations in the City of Toronto, giving riders a convenient way to connect without changing buses.” I sometimes take one of these routes—the 107 Keele North. When the TTC goes outside of Toronto’s city limits, they are operating under contract to the local service (in this case, YRT), and therefore must collect the local fare.  Therefore, if I intend to cross Steeles Avenue by bus, even for just a few blocks, I must fork over two full fares. But I ask the question: Is there a better way?

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The library is a place I have visited frequently throughout my life.  Except from experiencing the subtle vibrations at the OISE building which sits on top of the St. George subway station in Toronto, I have never really associated transit riding with getting an education.  I recently came across some information which explains that in Mexico City, transit riders can borrow books underground.  An archived story from 2004 by Morgan Lee explains that there was a two year plan to loan or give out 7 million books at transit stations.  It sounds like a great combination of the functions of the public library and public transportation systems.

As a verified n00by to web2.0 technology, I recently discovered RSS feeds and  Google Reader. RSS feeds monitor your favourite websites for updates, which you can read in your bookmarks menu or software program, much like an ‘inbox’. This means that updates come to you and not the other way around. I was revisiting some of my “starred” updates and came upon an article in Life Without Buildings blog about a guerilla bus installation in England done by Bruno Taylor.

Here is the video of his installation. The swing was set up by throwing two chains over the roof component of the bus shelter and attaching a seat. Simple. Effective. The rest of the video records the behaviour of waiting bus passengers. Some people try it, while others barely bat a lash. Others just observe, and decline the opportunity to swing. What really interested me was the man in the beige jacket who was recorded at 2:10 minutes. He seems to be taken aback yet completely interested, pulls at the chains, examines its structure, then his interest immediately stops (2:28 minutes) and he turns his back on the swing and continues waiting with his fellow passengers. The guy after him takes a few pictures then hops on the bus.

Then the swing is removed, I assume, by the creator.

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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…)

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.

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