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Toronto Life - The Informer

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In Transit

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April 4, 2012 | 4:46 pm

The battle over the Jarvis Street bike lanes begins again

(Image: Half my Dad's age)

Now that it’s clear—abundantly so—that Rob Ford can be beat, the Toronto Cyclists Union has decided to revive last summer’s fight to save the Jarvis Street bike lanes. The group is brandishing a letter from a law firm that says the bike lanes can’t be painted over and the centre vehicle lane put back in without an environmental assessment. Though the delaying tactics may work in the short term, it seems unlikely that the union would find the necessary council support to save the cycling path—even a fiscal conservative like Karen Stintz, who may have been swayed by the exorbitant cost of removal, has been unwavering in her view that the Jarvis lanes are unnecessary (and a danger to families). Read the entire story [Toronto Star] »

In Transit

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March 23, 2012 | 1:50 pm

Air Canada workers stage short-lived wildcat strike and ruin at least one childhood

(Image: BriYYZ)

Having apparently decided Toronto’s librarians look pretty cool walking the picket lines, Air Canada workers launched a wildcat strike late last night, forcing at least 115 flights out of Pearson Airport to be cancelled or delayed. The workers were riled up over the suspension of three of their colleagues, who mockingly slow clapped when they spotted Labour Minister Lisa Raitt at Pearson last night (the nerve!). This morning, Air Canada  obtained an injunction to send the workers back to the tarmac. However, judging from the insults (and sad stories of shattered childhood dreams) circulating on Twitter, delayed passengers will hold a grudge for a while longer. Read the entire story [National Post] »

In Transit

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March 21, 2012 | 2:39 pm

The Toronto Star heads to St. Clair disaster zone and finds condos and trendy restaurants

A streetcar on St. Clair long before all this "disaster" business (Image: Toronto History)

For months, Rob Ford has been characterizing LRTs as streetcars and characterizing streetcars—like the one on St. Clair—as neighbourhood-destroying trolleys of doom. Dubious, the Toronto Star dispatched a few of its bravest reporters to the area, who found trendy condos and stylish restaurants rather than a neighbourhood gone bad. As for the right-of-way’s impact on local traffic, a morning drive along St. Clair from Gunns Loop to Yonge took a mere 20 minutes, and the same trip by streetcar, only 29 minutes. To be sure, commute times change depending on the time of day, and not all St. Clair residents support the right-of-way. But calling St. Clair a “disaster” seems somewhat far-fetched—not that a wee fib now and then has bothered the mayor before. Read the entire story [Toronto Star] »

In Transit

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March 15, 2012 | 4:04 pm

Smart phone app hails luxury cars for rich people frustrated by Toronto’s transit options

With Torontonians annoyed by a troubled taxi industry and public transit mayhem, San Francisco start-up Uber Technologies thought it’d profit off the city’s transportation woes. Today marks the Toronto launch of Uber’s app, which can hail a sedan or luxury car, track its location, calculate the fare based on time and distance and bill the user’s credit card. Naturally, it’s pricier than taking the TTC (though it lacks the flashy washrooms) or a regular cab: a quick ride from Yorkville to Union Station would cost about $21, a trip that a taxi can do for under $15. Still, we’ve got to admire Uber CEO Travis Kalanick for wading into Toronto’s transit wars. He told the National Post, “What is there, like two and a half subway lines here? It’s a good time to roll out transportation alternatives in Toronto.” Read the entire story [National Post] »

(Images: Commerce Court, Daniel Sahlberg; town car, Alden Jewell)

In Transit

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February 16, 2012 | 3:17 pm

QUOTED: David Shiner on tunnels, subways and the TTC

My personal opinion, having served on the TTC [board] for four and a half years, is they have tunnel vision. Unfortunately, it’s not tunnel vision to build a subway. It’s tunnel vision in trying to stretch dollars the farthest way that they can to provide an inferior type of transit system.

— Councillor David Shiner, explaining away that pesky previously unreleased TTC report that argues there’s no good reason to go ahead with the Sheppard subway. [Toronto Star]

In Transit

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February 15, 2012 | 2:35 pm
Scarborough MPPs politely decline trip on the Ford brothers train 

While Rob and Doug Ford ramp up their campaign to save subways that don’t yet exist, some Scarborough Liberals aren’t having any of it. The Toronto Sun spoke to a pair of provincial Liberal cabinet ministers who each acknowledge the importance of getting shovels in the ground for public transit in Toronto, while politely declining to get on board the mayor’s gravy train campaign. Sure, the views of a couple of cabinet ministers might not make much difference, given that the premier has already said he’ll respect the wishes of council, which formally endorsed an LRT-based transit plan earlier this month. But it’s nice to know that MPPs aren’t playing along with that well-worn strategy of using transit as a wedge between downtown and the burbs. Well, most of them aren’t, at least. Read the entire story [Toronto Sun] »

In Transit

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January 10, 2012 | 2:45 pm
Metrolinx says GO Transit fare hike won’t penalize short-distance riders; math says otherwise 

The Metrolinx board met yesterday, and apparently, it wanted to ensure its riders wouldn’t miss out on all the fare hike fun this year. Following the TTC’s recent increases to the cost of tokens and Metro passes, Metrolinx approved an increase of its own: GO fares between $4.20 and $5.50 will increase by 30 cents; those between $5.51 and $7 will climb by 35 cents; and fares higher than $7 will increase by 40 cents. Metrolinx says the alternative, a flat increase like the one instituted in 2010, would disproportionately affect short-distance riders. Of course, as transit blogger Steve Munro points out, the new increases, ahem, still disproportionately affect short-distance riders. Read the entire story [Steve Munro] »

In Transit

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January 9, 2012 | 12:15 pm
Turns out installing, and then promptly removing, the Jarvis bike lane is wasteful and expensive 

Last week the Toronto Cyclists Union revealed the cost of removing the Jarvis bike lane to be $272,000, significantly more than the $200,000 estimate put forward when council voted to scrap the lane last summer. The debate over the politically motivated decision included much posturing and chest thumping, and it turned out the lane had little effect on driving times on Jarvis anyway. Oh, also, the $272,000 cost of removal can now be added to the $86,000 installation cost. Read the entire story [Toronto Cyclists Union] »

In Transit

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January 6, 2012 | 2:15 pm
City hall wants $150 parking tickets; Reddit’s Toronto community wants fines geared to income 

Pending approval from council, city will start slapping drivers who park illegally during rush hour with $150 fines. The proposal to hike fines from a measly $40 to $60 passed the city’s public works committee by a 3-2 vote and is now set to go before council. But while nobody likes gridlock, and cyclists, of course, will appreciate anything that discourages people from parking in their designated lane, we’re skeptical of the fine’s efficacy. The Toronto Star spoke to one truck driver who said his company thinks of tickets for blocking traffic as “the cost of doing business” (though he did speculate that heftier fines might change that). Meanwhile, a thread on Reddit explores whether fines geared to an individual’s income might be more effective. After all, $150 is basically pocket change to a fat cat in a Porsche. Plus, it’s kind of delicious, in a twisted sort of way, to think about somebody getting hit with a million-dollar fine. Read the entire story [Toronto Star] »

In Transit

19 Comments

January 5, 2012 | 12:05 pm
City councillors are (once again) considering licensing cyclists—that terrible idea that refuses to die 

The city is looking to crack down on reckless cyclists—specifically those who ride on the sidewalk—and apparently they’re prepared to use any means at their disposal. NOW reports that the public works committee, led by noted automobile enthusiast Denzil Minnan-Wong, voted to request that city staff and cops determine how to better enforce bylaws that keep cyclists on the road, where they belong. For his part, Councillor David Shiner suggested the city consider licensing cyclists, an idea that has been thrown around again and again. Of course, city hall long ago concluded it would be too tough a measure to enforce and too expensive a program to run. In effect, it simply won’t work, so please, dear councillors, just give it up. Read the entire story [NOW] »

In Transit

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November 25, 2011 | 2:10 pm
Bixi expands its service—just in time for winter 

Break out the wool socks. Toronto’s Bixi bike-sharing service will continue through the winter. The service is also moving some of its rental stations further afield—to Bathurst, to the Distillery District, and along Sherbourne (check out this handy map from The Grid)—in an effort to widen its footprint. As we’ve said before, Bixi’s utility is tied to its reach. A greater catchment area and the potential for longer rides can only improve the service. Read the entire story [Toronto Star] »

In Transit

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November 21, 2011 | 12:00 pm
Any plan to fix the Gardiner is prohibitively expensive—so what’s the city supposed to do? 

Here, a few of the various plans that have been proposed to improve the Gardiner over the years, courtesy of the CBC. One designer suggested enclosing the elevated stretch of the Gardiner in a glass tube (a move that would have lowered maintenance costs), while another proposal supported building a garden roof over the highway. Yet another adopted a more utilitarian approach and said the city should simply to bury the thing. Of course, the problem with any attempt to fix the Gardiner is money (just Google “The Big Dig” for a quick comparison). Any improvement plan—and even the regular maintenance to keep the highway from crumbling—is prohibitively expensive. Also, in case you’re wondering, one of the CBC’s sources said road tolls and new gas taxes are going to be necessary. Read the entire story [CBC] »

In Transit

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November 15, 2011 | 11:05 am
Apparently, funding transit is more complicated than just asking people to open their wallets 

The Toronto Star’s Royson James appears to have pinpointed Torontonians’ reluctance to fork over much-needed cash for improved transit: nobody can convince them that their money will be well spent. To his point, politicians haven’t exactly reassured citizens that money from road tolls or gas taxes will go toward a shiny new transit project: Mike Harris stopped the Eglinton subway in its tracks and Mayor Rob Ford killed Transit City. Of course, other problems might be more easily remedied. James points out that revenues from taxes and tolls often disappear into the larger city pot. To this we say it’s time to look at earmarking specific taxes for specific projects. Toronto wouldn’t be the first to give that idea a whirl. Read the entire story [Toronto Star] »

In Transit

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November 14, 2011 | 11:45 am
Olivia Chow calls for guards on trucks to protect cyclists 

Toronto MP Olivia Chow is reintroducing a private member’s bill calling for the installation of side guards on large trucks in order to prevent accidents like the one that killed cyclist Jenna Morrison last week. According to the Globe and Mail, a 2010 report commissioned by Transportation Canada “shows that since the introduction of guards on the side of most trucks in Europe in the 1980s, the number of cyclists and pedestrians killed or seriously wounded in crashes with large vehicles has dropped.” But National Research Council Canada contends that the guards may not be solely responsible for improved safety, and the federal government already said it’s not interested in the legislation without more evidence. Because, you know, it’s always best to stick with the status quo, especially when it’s clearly working so well. Read the entire story [Globe and Mail] »

In Transit

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November 10, 2011 | 5:15 pm
Dalton “Boring Machine” McGuinty and Rob Ford go on a field trip to see an enormous hole 

Yesterday, frenemies Dalton McGuinty and Rob Ford toured the site where crews are beginning to dig the tunnel for the Eglinton LRT. The men wore hardhats; McGuinty made a joke about the “boring machine” (which, apparently, is both the machine used for tunnelling and his children’s nickname for their old man); and as far as we can tell, the men smiled and pretended that Ford never claimed he’d run McGuinty out of office. The National Post also quotes a Metrolinx staffer who says the agency is still considering running the LRT along a bridge over the Don Valley instead of tunnelling beneath it. “It wouldn’t interfere with traffic,” the staffer said, suggesting that he’s sensitive to Ford’s fear of anything but cars occupying the road—but also aware of, um, reality. Read the entire story [National Post] »

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