I read an interesting survey yesterday about who takes public transit in Canada. It seems to be heavily skewed towards youth and low income people. I suppose that makes sense -- people without cars take buses.
But what was more interesting was that higher income people, even in the urban centres, tend never to take public transit.
I pondered this on the subway downtown today.
Squeezed into the subway car I recalled how, 15 years ago, the ride from Finch Station, Toronto to downtown was reliably 30 minutes but is now, unreliably, 45 minutes. I thought how the bus system is often late, cramped and seldom pleasant. Then I realized that but for habit I'd probably drive downtown every time.
There is a serious structural issue in the subway north of Sheppard -- it's being addressed by work (you can see it on Yonge just north of Finch) but repairs are taking away from potential subway expansion.
Yesterday Toronto's mayor said transit fares would not go up this year. I suppose that's good; people are hurting and a fare increase would be hard. But the system is already grossly overcrowded and underfunded. Perhaps other urban centres are better but my sense is not.
Well I better finish this post; I'm being jostled by the crowd.
James Morton
1100 - 5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4
2 comments:
I couldn't agree more. Every morning I walk up to Vaughan Road and stand in line at the bus stop with 20 of my "neighbours". We wait anywhere between 2 and 20 minutes for a bus to come. When it does, it is inevitably packed. We shove our way on and stand uncomfortably while the driver proceeds to stop at every other stop along the way where some brave (or annoying) sole, who is also standing in a line of 15 to 20people, tries to push himself on to the bus. When we eventually get to the station there are signal delays, passenger assistance alarms or countless other problems that inhibit my ability to get to work on time.
I am late for work regularly because I cannot rely on public transit. Everyday I think about driving to work and would do so if I could find an extra $20 a day to pay for parking and gas. A public transit system that pushes people into their cars is a disgrace!
The better way, if you have no other way.
If you already live downtown, there's still nothing better than the subway. It's faster, cheaper and there are no worries about gas or parking.
The buses, on the other hand, are terrible.
The new 'transit city' initiative might lessen the strain on the longer distances somewhat, but I'm sure we'll be waiting another decade or so for the funding to come in, and longer for shovels in the ground.
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