Visions for the GTTA

Comment Roundup

In Wayfinding, Adeel wrote:

My brother, who lives in Waterloo, refers to the subway lines as green and
yellow and to the parallel Yonge-University lines downtown as 'the U'. I thought
it was unique but I've since heard many others use those terms. It's a good idea,
though I'd keep both. A small part of me, since we're talking, for some jealous
reason prefers an obscurantist approach to public transit, especially the
subway. It makes knowing everything about the subway a little more special.

I think we can have that obscurantist approach by giving the lines creative names. Vancouver has the Expo and Millennium lines, with the Canada and Evergreen Lines under construction. I'm sure a tourist will wonder why the Canada Line only goes to Richmond.

In This is your brain on drugs, Adeel wrote:

Answer: it's Brampton.

Seems the flower city is renowned for some other herbs...

In Residents furious with new transit terminal - Brampton Guardian, Dan wrote:

More notice should of been given. Checking Google Earth, only one side of the
planned garage will be along side houses, separated by the OBRY line. One thing
I can see them doing it assigning buses operating on routes west of the 410 to
the Sandalwood garage, whereas the Clark garage will run routes in the
east.

The new garage will definitely improve the efficiency of the system if they split the routes like you've said. Hopefully, we'll see more buses to go along with this new garage, and service increased to match. Brampton tends to screw itself over by letting development occur before the public infrastructure is ready. This is one of those cases where people are critical of the city's shortcomings and critical of its attempts to catch up. Usually I'm against those people, but in this case, Brampton brought it upon themselves.

In Another DRT update, Sam wrote:

I think DRT rocks...we were told to hold onto our October passes, and now DRT
has come through for us....I'm going to give my 10 ride to my mom as a Christmas
gift. Thanks Durham Region Transit you Rock!

It seems that transit agencies giving free rides after a strike is becoming a theme. The union can't be held responsible for a legal strike, but what about an illegal one?

In The 96A, Adeel wrote:

Why would anyone bomb the 96? If it's an act of terrorism, it would be using
some strange logic: Toronto, your poor and vulnerable are vulnerable. On the
other hand, an act of terrorism is about the only thing that can ever restore
some semblance of service to that route. I hate taking the 96. It always reminds
me of the scene from Crash when Ludacris' character says o his friend, "you have
no idea why they put them great big windows on the sides of buses, do you?" By
the time I get off at Wilson, I'm incensed that people could be so poor and
incensed at the people themselves for being so abrasive.

Whereas Jennifer loved that movie, I was thoroughly disturbed by it. While the 96 is terrible, I am indifferent to the 165.

In Ottawa: Council is pissed, Ottawa wrote:

Hi Andrae, Interesting and well informed article (for an out of towner!).
Things here in Ottawa are not quite as bad as they might seem however. First,
John Baird is not so off-base as it might seem. Under the terms of the funding
federal MOU, and the program source of the funds, he had every responsibility to
provide a sober evaluation. Because the city's environmental & transit
business case for the proposed LRT replacement was so weak popular support from the project has plummeted. The final straw was that Mayor Chiarelli had
specifically timed everything so that the presumed rubber stamp from Treasury
Board was due right in the middle of his re-election campaign. No matter what
Baird would have chosen (approve or not) it would be political. In the course of
things, it became clear that Chiarelli had made politically motivated
misrepresentations about contract dates, penalties (not), and the nature of what
work would need to start before spring 2007 (virtually nothing).Second, deep
flaws with the new LRT project and the city's process leading up to the Council
vote to approve have been exposed. Third, a new and much more compelling LRT
alternative plan has come to light. To learn more, have a look at:
http://friendsoftheotrain.blogspot.com/
http://ottawalrt.blogspot.com/
http://saveourgreenspace.blogspot.com/

The voters of Ottawa elected councilors and a mayor who opposed the light rail plan, so change will likely occur. I just hope the citizens aren't stuck with a huge penalty for breach of contract. My main target was the conservatives, who don't seem to care much about the decisions made my Canada's cities.

In GTA Fare Card, Transit Rider wrote:

Greetings... I remember the fare card project on the Richmond Hill Line, and
nobody could figure out how the thing worked. They'll need to do some education
sessions with their riders to make sure they all know how it works.

Even to this day, I still find myself explaining people how to use VIVA whenever I'm at Finch. Whatever plan we come up with, we need to be able to explain in no more than two steps, and preferably make it rhyme

In 162 Lawrence - Donway: Useless route, or tourist attraction?, Anonymous wrote:

I thought the purpose of the 162 was so that the "help" for all of these rich
families could get to work. Hence the sparse service. The route wouldn't have a
lot of ridership in the middle of the afternoon, but would most likely see more
passengers during "rush hour".

A professor of mine explained that the reason Lawrence Avenue doesn't cut through this neighborhood is due to the collective wallet of the residence. He claims to have witnessed $50,000 being raised in a matter of seconds. But I digress. I think that part of the reason for the low frequency is to keep people out of the neighborhood. This route is a shortcut across the Don Valley, and I'm certain that the collective wallet of the residents can keep the buses out.

In If you don't use it, you lose it, Anonymous wrote:

i read that the 29 Dufferin was the only route that was used the most in one
day. Now if the TTC had bike racks on 3 of its cross town routes and 3 of its
heavly used north south routes you would see alot more usege. I.e Sheppard West,
Eglinton West, Finch west, the York Universty rocket, Yonge st, Bathurst and
Dufferin. They would get Better Resalts

Shortly after I wrote that post, a motion by Adam Giambrone calling for bike racks on all buses passed. I don't think I can express how much of a positive step such a plan is.

Labels: comments

posted by Andrae Griffith @ 8:25 p.m.