Busses? Old school thinking. They have to share the road with cars, trucks, motorbikes, etc. Dedicated right of way moves more people and moves 'em faster in any given hour. Only way busses work is if you give 'em a dedicated right of way. You can do that, sure.
Yeah, in Ottawa we have the bus thing, we call it a Transitway - which is a dedicated two-way route, except for downtown which is a dedicated lane downtown. The problem now is that downtown Ottawa's dedicated lane is a line full of buses from one end of downtown to the other. We really need an underground LRT downtown.
At first they didn't want to pay for it because they thought it was expensive and they
thought they could find a solution above ground. But above ground is deadlock because everyone is trying to either get to Gatineau across the bridge or to Ottawa and downtown is the center of this cross-traffic. Finally they decided on a underground tunnel through downtown which is the smartest idea.
Of course some councillors still don't agree with it and some councillors of course want the LRT to start in their area, but they can't all get it at the same time. Some want East to West, others want it down South. Just start implementing the damn thing already or it will neverr get started.
Why would they? They value their time and have enough money to drive comfortably and park near work.
Well, as I understand it, Pam McConnell for one has vision problems that prevent her from driving.
Though for my own part, I rather like taking the TTC since I can read while travelling. Depending on where I'm going, the time involved is often about the same as driving, and so it makes for better multi-tasking.
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You and many others feel the same way, Sonal - despite real issues with the TTC and how it's run. Less stressful, not having to drive. Read a book, surf your phone, cop some 'z's.
Yeah, in Ottawa we have the bus thing, we call it a Transitway - which is a dedicated two-way route, except for downtown which is a dedicated lane downtown. The problem now is that downtown Ottawa's dedicated lane is a line full of buses from one end of downtown to the other. We really need an underground LRT downtown.
^^^Prime example why Toronto needs to go underground. The LRT would serve the burbs a lot better that the city. There's a little more space for all vehicles in the burbs, but even there, the planners are screwing up and not thinking about the future.
Hate to say it, but southern Ontario needs a centralized transit authority perhaps run by the province. I'm not seeing it working out the way it is now.
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You and many others feel the same way, Sonal - despite real issues with the TTC and how it's run. Less stressful, not having to drive. Read a book, surf your phone, cop some 'z's.
And on that note, WiFi in the subway would be fantastic. I'd even get a smart phone. Then I could post here using Tapatalk while on the subway.
I absolutely hated taking the TTC when I lived in the inner suburbs and the trip was up to 4x as long as driving. But then I moved.
If I worked downtown I'd probably get rid of my car. Heck, if the full Transit City plan existed today, I wouldn't need a car.
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^^^Prime example why Toronto needs to go underground. The LRT would serve the burbs a lot better that the city. There's a little more space for all vehicles in the burbs, but even there, the planners are screwing up and not thinking about the future.
Hate to say it, but southern Ontario needs a centralized transit authority perhaps run by the province. I'm not seeing it working out the way it is now.
An interesting trend in condo building, in the Toronto core at least, is shrinking the number of assigned parking lots per built unit. The trend seems to be real gathering momentum. Cars as a private mode of transportation are hardly going away but in a city thats well served by a variety of mass transit options, and amidst rising fuel costs with no realistic/practical alternate energy options, mass transit is here to stay. Which is another reason that LRTs with dedicated right of way are going to be something commuters in the GTA will simply have to grow accustomed to.
That said, public transit in the GTA has to get better, much better. But its austerity time; the Feds dont seem to be willing to commit much money to it for any of Canadas major cities, and Ontarios government isnt too terribly keen to invest in any long-term strategies (beyond the money already ear-marked for the LRT expansion moerover, federal power is shifting westward as well - the writing's on the wall.
So it looks like Toronto will have to fend for itself. Which is, perhaps, why the issue of tolls keeps coming back. Or do they call them revenue tools these days?
Why can't transit riders simply pay for the sytem. That would solve everything. But n-o--o-o-o-o. They want others to pay for their ride, because they don;t like to pay what it costs.
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Why can't transit riders simply pay for the sytem. That would solve everything. But n-o--o-o-o-o. They want others to pay for their ride, because they don;t like to pay what it costs.
Well on the Yonge line, they do. But on Sheppard they don't. So under that ideology, LRT makes a lot more sense.
Still, transit has a number of economic benefits to the city overall including development fees (for the many condo towers that cluster around transit hubs), more money in land transfer tax (for all those condo sales) and higher property taxes (raised assessed values for places near transit).
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Why won't car drivers pay for their roads? That would solve everything. But nooooooooooo. They want others to pay for their ride, blah blah.
Jumping jetpacks, MF! You are one square peg.
He's just being curmudgeonly on principle now.
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