Downsview airport is a visible landmark in North York, but the property is frequently ignored by the federal government costing taxpayers and jobs. A picket at Downsview Airport at the Longview - Da Havilland aircraft parts manufacturing plant has been ongoing since June. They’ve been asking for fair wages, but more importantly transparency on the future of their jobs. An onsite aviation school was funded by the federal government for $150M, despite the government knowing about the sale at the time.
RapidTO service routes are being implemented for faster and more reliable trips. Photo credit: City of Toronto
The TTC and the City of Toronto are forming a plan to deliver safer and more efficient bus and streetcar service improvements through transit priority solutions. In order for them to be able to provide you all with a more reliable and shortened travel time transportation, you must complete this survey!
The 35 Jane Bus is very overcrowded according to riders. (Photo credit Maria Garcia)
Despite physical distancing orders that remain in place for the City of Toronto, continued overcrowding of particular transit routes make the option for keeping a safe distance apart nearly impossible. Routes 35 Jane and 36 Finch in particular remain over crowded during rush hour which is of serious concern for both drivers and commuters.
New place to safely park your bike at Finch West Station
Finch West subway station is one location of the four secure indoor bicycle stations operated by The City of Toronto. This bike parking facility was opened to the public since October 2018 and has 68 secure bicycle parking spaces. Other bicycle parking locations in Toronto were opened on May 6, 2019 and are located at Union Station, Victoria Park and Nathan Philips Square.
After multiple false attempts due to public concerns, the TTC retired tokens from general circulation on November 30th. TTC booths no longer sell tokens. Instead the TTC is encouraging the public to "move to a PRESTO card now to avoid potential line ups". The move was delayed several times due to a myriad of problems with PRESTO. The TTC itself is going after Metrolinx for costs related to PRESTO's for millions and the troubled pay system has created problems for customers from day one.
Tokens were simple and their functionality is still years away from being replaced by PRESTO. This affects all transit users, but more so those that face barriers to get around. The design of the PRESTO system was never user friendly, from its retrofit of stations that reduced payment points for the sake of efficiency, to cards that take 24 hours to charge online, to the lack of payment points outside of subway stations.
The public paid hundreds of millions of dollars to develop a system where it is harder to find a place that can charge your card. Whereas before, you could go into a number of small stores that sold tokens and tickets, now only Shoppers Drug Mart carries them and they are not everywhere. In buses and streetcars, every single user of the PRESTO card has run into broken equipment. The problem in development may be the lack of foresight into how people use transit and what their needs are.
Case in point are the criticisms of the change from social and community workers and schools. There were people out there that needed free tokens to bridge gaps that allowed them to go to a job interview, attend school or receive health care services. For someone out of a job, going to 5 interviews with the price of tickets for adults being what it is, can add up quickly and prevent them from trying. Some students sometimes skip school because they cannot afford a bus ticket every day and this can lead to lower grades. Schools know this and always have bus tokens on hand. The new PRESTO system does not allow for an easy exchange of a single trip fare.
This again is a design problem that other transit systems have already figured out. Since we are behind here in Toronto, an exception is being made for some of the social agencies and school boards. They will continue to have access to tokens until the system is more functional. The TTC thinks it has lost $3.4 million in fares due to the pay system. The app itself is still being upgraded and several years into it, there are many functionalities that are still a work in progress.
Needless to say that the consensus is that this was not an improvement, as much as moving towards a regional payment system was necessary. Tokens will be missed.
On October 16, Toronto City Council voted to launch a $28.5 billion transit plan that will be partially funded by the provincial government. Council’s decision happened after the Premier backpedalled from his original agenda to control the city’s transit system. City Councillors were widely opposed to the upload of the TTC. On November 4, Premier Doug Ford, Ontario Minister of Transportation, Caroline Mulroney and Mayor John Tory made an announcement about the plan.
Mayor Tory said, "Today's announcement is a joint commitment to getting transit built together. I will continue to work tirelessly, as I have done over the last five years, to make sure all three governments are at the table moving transit forward as quickly as possible."
The plan includes the Ontario Line, a downtown relief line to be completed by 2027, and an improved three-stop Scarborough Subway Extension to be finished by 2029-30. It also incorporates the Yonge North Subway Extension to York Region, to be completed by 2029-30, and lastly a light rail addition to the Eglinton West Crosstown to be finalized by 2030-31.
The Premier initially declared his plan to build the Ontario Line back in April, however his pitch did not confirm that he would incorporate the Mayor’s Smart Track approach at that time.
The Premier has called on the newly re-elected Prime Minister Trudeau to further his investment in the future of Toronto’s public transit.
"Working with all three levels of government, we are clearing the roadblocks and getting shovels in the ground - now we are asking the federal government to commit to increasing their contribution and funding their fair share," said Premier Ford.
The federal government has an opportunity to verify its commitment to the plan by providing an updated breakdown of its contributions. Toronto will re-allocate nearly $3.8 billion in the federal funding that they have already received to build transit. Minister Mulroney reinforced that the existing subway system would remain the City's responsibility to maintain, while the province would undertake partial responsibility of the four extensions, which includes capital costs.
Shelagh Pizey-Allen, from the public transit advocacy group, TTCriders, highlighted the importance of having guaranteed timelines from the province and implementing integrated fares to ensure equitable access to transit. She also reinforced the value of public consultations to provide inclusiveness in an on-going conversation about Toronto’s transit system.
"Before City Council rubber-stamps a deal with Premier Ford, they must guarantee that any new transit lines are built without delay, integrated with the TTC for a single fare, respect community concerns with meaningful public consultation, and be publicly delivered and owned by the TTC," said Shelagh Pizey-Allen.
While breaking ground is seen as progress in a City that needs transportation infrastructure sooner than it can be built, Torontonians are left speculating whether these extensions will be built in time to welcome pending population booms. Given that the Premier has cutback on public services, residents are left hoping that the province will honour their promise to improving public transit in a timely, cost-effective approach.
Waiting for the 36 Finch bus can make one ponder the meaning of life. It is never quick or an efficient use of time. Bus service is so unreliable, that if car insurance premiums were not so expensive in our area, most people would choose to drive instead of taking public transit.
The majority of bus routes in Downsview are unreliable and overcrowded during the morning and afternoon rush. This reality leads to more cars on the road and more congestion. In case you have not heard about this update in local news, Toronto has the longest commute of any City in North America. [1]
If taking public transit was more affordable, that would at least make the experience of longer than normal wait times more reasonable. However, Toronto is also known for having one of the most expensive bus fares in North America. An individual bus ticket in Toronto is one of the top five most expensive fares in general and our monthly transit pass is the most expensive option in the continent. [2]
Even though more commuters are added to our roads each year, it is not surprising that the growth of TTC riders has slowed down recently. Commuters will always choose another option if it's offered to them for a fair price. People downtown, for example, have taken to cycling in very large numbers. A bicycle is the fastest mode of transportation for short trips in the city's core. That being said, up here in Downsview cycling is not a realistic way to get to school or work year-round if you have far to go.
The way to get more cars off the road is not complicated, even if a series of successive governments have made it seem so. Building more reliable transit networks and making it affordable has worked everywhere an appropriate investment has been made.
That being said, here in Ontario successive Conservative and Liberal governments have reduced their share of transit funding, downloading the cost to rate payers and municipalities. Toronto gets the smallest share of higher level government funding out of every major city in Canada. That is the real reason why we take so long to build any new transit lines, nobody is paying for them.
It took over 20 years to build the York University subway extension. By the time it's finished, it will take a similar amount of time to build the Finch LRT. The improvements are coming too slowly and without the adequate funding required to make them work properly.
Municipalities do not pay the bill for public transit expansion on their own. In other cities, higher levels of government step in to pay for the big projects and subsidize the trips for commuters. That type of investment makes transit more accessible, creating an incentive for people to leave their cars at home. The less cars we have on the road, the better. Helping people get to work more efficiently improves their quality of life because they can reallocate those wait times towards other priorities, like spending time with family.
Accessible and affordable public transportation options eases gridlock and boosts the local economy. In Toronto, we have not had a higher level of government involvement for decades, and you can see the lack of investment every time you are out there waiting for the bus.
The Vision Zero Road Safety Plan 2.0 is a five-year (2017-2021) action plan that aims to eliminate traffic-related deaths and reduce serious injuries on Toronto's streets to zero. At the last City Council meeting in July, councillors voted to boot up the effort.
Vision Zero 2.0's main measure is to reduce speeds on main, arterial roads, further preventing casualties from occurring in the first place. The plan also includes specific programs that are dedicated to expanding cycling infrastructure across the city and boosting safety zones for seniors and school children. The School Safety Zones program is dedicated to implementing measures that protect children who walk or bike to and from school.
This program includes a variety of traffic safety measures that improve the visibility of school zones and signal drivers to slow down and pay better attention to their environment. Enhanced pavement markings, pavement stencils, driver feedback (Watch Your Speed) signs and flashing beacons are all examples of the strategic measures being used. These measures will continue to be installed within the boulevard or public right-of-way areas to ensure that they do not hinder vehicles, pedestrians or properties. You can expect to see more of these measures over time.
While the City is not required to provide advance notice to residents before the installation of poles and signs within the public right-of-way area, they do notify residents whose property is next to a new School Safety Zone sign two weeks prior to the installation. All locations that have been selected for the installation of traffic safety measures have been reviewed by the City's top advisors and engineers.
The City of Toronto will continue to install these safety measures year-round according to priority. As of October, 2018, the City began the installation of school safety zones at 61 locations and has been on track to increase that amount to 88. Several of these zones are in the Downsview or Humber River-Black Creek area.
The zones and measures being implemented are examples of how the City is working hard to protect pedestrians and road-users. The Downsview Advocate will continue to share updates about Vision Zero 2.0 as they become available.
For more information, please visit: toronto.ca/VisionZero
Wide streets with right-of-ways, narrow sidewalks, and parking lots. It’s no secret that our sprawling city was designed to accommodate vehicles – often at the expense of pedestrians, cyclists, and surface transit.
But today, Toronto is at a crossroads. To improve our quality of life and to ensure an equitable city for generations to come, we need to accommodate a quickly growing population in an increasingly unaffordable city. In part, this means adding density to our neighbourhoods by giving up space dedicated for vehicles to build public amenities, retail, and housing at both market and affordable rates.
Of course, one of the most significant barriers to doing so is the scarcity and high cost of land in Toronto. But to tackle this challenge, the City has established an agency called CreateTO (formally Build Toronto) to assess the development potential of Toronto’s ‘surplus’ real estate, including the three commuter parking lots at the Wilson Subway Station.
At its peak, there were a total of 2,110 parking spots dedicated to commuter parking at Wilson Station. Today that number has shrunk to nearly 1,000. This has left many commuters often lining-up to access parking or even being turned away in frustration by the “lot full” sign.
In 2016, CreateTO sold the Wilson West Lot (610 parking spots) to a developer who transformed the land into retail space. And in 2017, the Wilson South Lot (541 spots) was sold and turned into a mid-rise condominium. Commuters were assured that the reduction in parking spots would be offset by additional spots at Yorkdale Station and at new stations along the recently extended Yonge-University subway.
Now, CreateTO has turned its attention to the final remaining parking lot at Wilson Station, the Wilson Main Lot at 50 Wilson Heights Boulevard. The agency sees the redevelopment as an “…opportunity to create a new pedestrian focused complex…[with] an affordable housing component within the development”. This is supported by the City’s ‘Housing Now’ initiative to redevelop multiple city-owned properties into “affordable housing within mixed-income, mixed-use, transit-oriented communities”.
But the local community is split on the issue.
On one hand, people accept that Toronto’s streets are clogged with vehicular traffic and that the future of our transit system can’t be based on parking lots, but instead based on connecting people to our transit system in more efficient ways. These people recognize the necessity of transit-oriented development, especially building affordable housing near our subway stations. Supporters also point to data collected by CreateTO which suggest that the parking lot at Wilson Station is not serving local residents, but rather, 70% of spots are being used by commuters from the Greater Toronto Area, places like Woodbridge and Kleinburg.
On the other hand, people see the redevelopment of the parking lot as yet another attack in the longstanding “war on the car”. And while some, including York Centre Councillor James Pasternak, acknowledge the need to build more affordable housing in Toronto, they believe the selection of a commuter parking lot is “ill-advised”. “It would be far more prudent to build [affordable housing] on [a] site where you are not disrupting hundreds of commuters and creating anxiety in the community,” he said at a public meeting to discuss the proposed development. Furthermore, some community members have expressed concerns that have nothing to do with parking, but rather a lack of a strategic planning for the infrastructure required to accommodate an increase in population, such as local schools and parks.
Councillor Pasternak has set up a working group for community members to discuss the proposed development at 50 Wilson Heights Blvd. and to address the concerns raised regarding parking capacity and accessibility. The first working group meeting will be held on August 14th at 6:30pm at the 6:30pm-8:30pm at Beth David B’nai Israel Beth Am, Sisterhood Hall.
This is a developing story which I will continue to cover over the coming months.
Since the start of 2019, the phrase ‘subway upload’ was frequently used to describe the provincial government’s plan to take-over responsibility for the construction and operation of new TTC projects. In particular, the province has emphasized the City of Toronto and the TTC’s inability to build transit for decades despite the completion of recent large-scale projects such as the Line 1 extension.
With the introduction of the Ford government’s ‘Getting Ontario Moving Act’, the City of Toronto, TTC, and city residents have a much clearer understanding of what ‘upload’ means. The bill, as identified by Toronto City Manager Chris Murray, grants “broad authority to the province and places significant restrictions and obligations on the City of Toronto and TTC.”
The current transit system will remain the responsibility of the City and TTC, but all future transit projects will be under the direction and ownership of the province via Metrolinx. Metrolinx is a crown agency that's responsible for developing transit infrastructure across Ontario tasked with projects such as implementing the PRESTO fare system and constructing the Eglinton Crosstown LRT.
Additionally, the Minister of Transportation must approve all work by the TTC or City of Toronto on transit projects that are “in close proximity... or substantially similar” to Metrolinx’s projects such as those identified in Ford’s transit plan for the city.
In cases where the City of Toronto and TTC work on a transit project, the province can require them to transfer assets such as real estate to Metrolinx “with or without compensation.” In short, the provincial government will have near total say over what the TTC and the City can do regarding future public transit projects.
As a result, significant ambiguity remains over cost sharing for the maintenance and operation of future transit within Toronto and more prominently, the City and TTC will be highly unlikely to have much influence in how Toronto’s transit will be built going forward.
The rationale for severely restricting the roles of two of the largest stakeholders, the TTC and the City of Toronto, in Toronto’s public transit is puzzling as they will be responsible for its daily operation and directly accountable to local commuters. Rather than a rehash of talking points regarding a lack of transit within Toronto, the City and TTC deserve a better explanation from the province as to why they are being sidelined if it is in the best interest of city residents.
