TTC. "The Better Way"?
Ass_#6
Ass_#6
I came to Canada a little over thirty years ago on my way to Vancouver, but immigration protocol landed me in Toronto where I've been pretty much based ever since then. I fell in love with Toronto instantly! A good buddy from back home lived here and he worked in the hospitality industry, so he'd take me to all of these really nice after-hours eating places and recommended cool things for me to do during the day. Toronto was a large city then so one needed more than a bicycle to get around. But a really good way to see the city was travelling on the TTC. It's also how I got to learn Toronto!
I'm not going to retell the history of the TTC (Toronto Transit Commission), that's all well documented. Neither am I attempting to offer solutions to the myriad of the TTC's problems. I just want to rant a little about some of my observations over the years, how the TTC seems (from a commuter's viewpoint) to be lagging way behind public transit in other major cities that I have visited.
The TTC has not done any significant improvement to the system nor infrastructure since 1985, that's over thirty years ago! Much has changed in the world since. Much has changed in Toronto since. Back in 1985, the population was just over 3.3 million people, in 2016 the population had grown to more than 7.5 million. More than doubled!
Twenty-five - thirty years ago TTC's main demographic was the White working-class and Blacks and Asians being the minorities. Today, the main demographic is South Asian and Chinese with Blacks and Whites being the minorities.
Back then the boundaries were; Jane St. to the West, Finch Ave. to North, Kennedy Ave. to East and Queen St. South. Today, with the exception of Queen St. South. those borders have extended outward arguably twenty miles in each direction in terms of population growth and density, and that's where the TTC seems to have stood still!
For the past eight years, I have been commuting on the TTC on an almost daily basis and my travelling experience now is a long way from being pleasant, as it used to be back in the eighties and nineties! Drivers were polite, (I was impressed with the driver's knowledge of the streets as they called them out) the buses were clean, on-time and it seemed there was always a seat to be had.
Today, unless you are boarding the bus or train at its starting point (and it doesn't matter the route) you are not likely to get a seat. And even at the station where the route begins, depends on the time of day, you could be left standing to wait while two or three buses come, board and leave with full loads!
Pape Subway Station is one of the newly upgraded stations
This next point is not entirely TTC's fault, though it contributes to one of TTC's problems. I mentioned earlier that the TTC caters mainly now to a "new" demographic, whose social graces are not finely meshed with traditional Canadian values. So actions like forming a line when waiting to board the bus, giving way to the elderly or a lady, offering a seat to the elderly or lady do not show-up on their smartphone screens. I can easily go off on a tangent about the smartphone behaviour on public transit. Unbelievable!
Also, more realistic operating hours would take a lot of unnecessary burden off commuters that must be at work before 8:00 am. and those trying to get home from work, at restaurants, clubs, theatres and sports facilities that close after 2:00 am. The TTC offers a 'Blue Night' bus service that runs all night, but it's far from adequate and does not service all the essential routes like, Warden or Woodbine Avenues.
These passengers are being squeezed through a relatively narrow passageway
Toronto's Union Station is TTC's first underground subway station
which ran under Yonge Street between Union Station and Eglinton Avenue!
One of the TTC's entrances at Toronto Union Station
Back then the boundaries were; Jane St. to the West, Finch Ave. to North, Kennedy Ave. to East and Queen St. South. Today, with the exception of Queen St. South. those borders have extended outward arguably twenty miles in each direction in terms of population growth and density, and that's where the TTC seems to have stood still!
For the past eight years, I have been commuting on the TTC on an almost daily basis and my travelling experience now is a long way from being pleasant, as it used to be back in the eighties and nineties! Drivers were polite, (I was impressed with the driver's knowledge of the streets as they called them out) the buses were clean, on-time and it seemed there was always a seat to be had.
Today, unless you are boarding the bus or train at its starting point (and it doesn't matter the route) you are not likely to get a seat. And even at the station where the route begins, depends on the time of day, you could be left standing to wait while two or three buses come, board and leave with full loads!
On most of the major arteries, commuters often wait 20 to 30 minutes
to get on a bus.
to get on a bus.
During peak hours it's not unusual to be left at the station by 3 or 4 connecting buses.
At train stations, the trains arrive from both directions at 6 to 8 times the frequency of the buses
having a snowballing effect with passengers waiting for buses.
At train stations, the trains arrive from both directions at 6 to 8 times the frequency of the buses
having a snowballing effect with passengers waiting for buses.
The TTC is in the process of upgrading and giving facelifts to some of its sixty-nine stations, but even with these changes people with disabilities, the elderly, women with young children or pregnant women, have it particularly difficult when using the TTC. TTC does not have many wheelchair equipped stations and even fewer with washroom facilities, though I think their entire fleet of buses and new streetcars are wheelchair accessible and there is designated seating for the elderly, disable, pregnant women and women with young children.
The Presto payment system, a Metrolinx concept, is one of the ongoing
upgrades of the TTC's stations and vehicles
The elderly and women with very young children are a
very constant presence on the TTC.
Passengers waiting at a bus shelter downtown.
This next point is not entirely TTC's fault, though it contributes to one of TTC's problems. I mentioned earlier that the TTC caters mainly now to a "new" demographic, whose social graces are not finely meshed with traditional Canadian values. So actions like forming a line when waiting to board the bus, giving way to the elderly or a lady, offering a seat to the elderly or lady do not show-up on their smartphone screens. I can easily go off on a tangent about the smartphone behaviour on public transit. Unbelievable!
Also, more realistic operating hours would take a lot of unnecessary burden off commuters that must be at work before 8:00 am. and those trying to get home from work, at restaurants, clubs, theatres and sports facilities that close after 2:00 am. The TTC offers a 'Blue Night' bus service that runs all night, but it's far from adequate and does not service all the essential routes like, Warden or Woodbine Avenues.
TTC buses at this depot start going into service,
in earnest around 4:40 am on weekdays
Things do change quite rapidly from that first train
to the second, in the space of four minutes.
Commuters trying to get on an already crowded train.
to reach the train platform.
My sticking point, however, is the ongoing and increasing suffocating overcrowding of TTC transit units. Whether it be buses, streetcars or trains the TTC is not nearly meeting the demands of the commuting public. A negative ripple effect of this lack of service is the traffic congestion on the roads. The congestion on the buses force people (that would rather not bring their car downtown) to drive, rather than to be squashed in an overcrowded train or bus!
Unfortunately, I don't see any ideas coming forward to inspire hope that the TTC, or the city of Toronto for that matter, would be able to find a remedy to this transit overcrowding within a few decades. Maybe bike lanes!
Peace...
This is rush hour.
My sticking point, however, is the ongoing and increasing suffocating overcrowding of TTC transit units. Whether it be buses, streetcars or trains the TTC is not nearly meeting the demands of the commuting public. A negative ripple effect of this lack of service is the traffic congestion on the roads. The congestion on the buses force people (that would rather not bring their car downtown) to drive, rather than to be squashed in an overcrowded train or bus!
The bus can sometimes still be the most relaxing and scenic way to get around the city.
And likewise, nothing beats the train for a good read while commuting.
I like the streetcars, I guess it's for their uniqueness and the sound of that bell,
but lots of drivers think that they're too cumbersome in a city as busy as Toronto.
Riding the Red Rocket to get around Toronto.
The Light Rail Transit (LRT) which runs between Kennedy Station and Mc.Cowan Station,
about 5 stations, is almost a forgotten extension of the TTC's system. There's no reason for the Bloor-Danforth line not extending out to Mc.Cowan.
about 5 stations, is almost a forgotten extension of the TTC's system. There's no reason for the Bloor-Danforth line not extending out to Mc.Cowan.
Unfortunately, I don't see any ideas coming forward to inspire hope that the TTC, or the city of Toronto for that matter, would be able to find a remedy to this transit overcrowding within a few decades. Maybe bike lanes!
Peace...
Toronto has certainly exploded and seems to have left the TTC behind. What a pity. Toronto is a great city, from the lake all the way to King city. I used to bike and play along the Don River/Valley. Does it still exist?
ReplyDeleteIn these times of environmental challenges, biking seems like the logical option......