Please see this map from national transit blog The Transport Politic that shows, after governments have left us decades behind, we're finally making progress building a mix of new rapid transit lines. Read this page for a thoughtful article, and comment discussion, on Toronto's transit debate seen through the eyes of the third person.
Coun. Josh Matlow at a TTC bus stop outside City Hall on Mar. 7, 2011. CITYNEWS.CA/Marcia Chen.
by Marcia Chen
Midtown councillor Josh Matlow says the TTC ignored the people who rely on a well-used bus line in his ward when it decided to cut evening service.
Starting May 8, the Mt. Pleasant 74 – which runs from St. Clair station, past Mount Pleasant Cemetery and four seniors’ homes, and then loops at Eglinton Avenue – will stop running at 7 p.m.
“It seems like it was a very hasty decision – very little consultation, very little study,” Matlow told CityNews.ca. “Many seniors and all the other riders who use the Mt. Pleasant 74 in the evening have been left out on the curb.”
The Toronto Transit Commission has proposed a number of service cuts that will deeply impact numerous residents in Ward 22 and across the city. While I applaud the Commission's recent decision to cancel some of the proposed reductions on several bus routes, my community is still very concerned about the elimination of service after 7pm on the Mt. Pleasant 74 bus.
According to the TTC's estimates, 43 riders use this route between 7pm and 10 pm on an average weekday - 2 boardings shy of the 15 passenger per hour threshold the TTC has set for continuing bus service. After receiving numerous emails and telephone calls from constituents advocating to retain this service, I decided to personally ride this bus during the hours proposed for reduction to speak with riders and learn more about how they use this service. I was also well aware that there are at least four large seniors' residences on Mt. Pleasant between Merton and Eglinton.
The plan to cut services along 48 bus routes went under public scrutiny when the Toronto Transit Commission held their first of four open houses on Monday night.
Public meetings were scheduled through most of this week to help transit riders understand how their commutes would be affected.
Scores of people gathered at Toronto's Metro Hall Monday night, many of whom complained that the proposed changes would reduce their access to everything from hospitals to recreational events.
The plan includes cutting the 5 Avenue Road bus after 7 p.m. and during the weekends, cutting the 8 Broadview bus after 10 p.m. and on weekends and the 127 Davenport bus after 10 p.m. and on weekends.
The Ontario government will give the green light to Toronto Mayor Rob Ford’s $12.4-billion bid to completely bury a crosstown light-rail line while using private money to pay for two extensions to the city’s Sheppard subway.
If built, the LRT under Eglinton Avenue would be the longest all-new subterranean transit line constructed in Canada since the 1960s, connecting the city’s busy midtown district with far-flung suburban neighbourhoods to the east and west.
