Paying for TTC Improvements

Last week, the City of Toronto decided against agreeing with any of the funding formulas suggested by Metrolinx.  It has even suggested that the Mayor be appointed to the Board of Metrolinx.  None of this seems to help the situation for improving the TTC.

The City needs to accept that something has to change to how transit is funded so that the TTC can be improved and expanded.  It is just too bad that the City has decided that no funding solutions is better than having better transit.  Of course with the “war on the car” being over since Mr. Ford became Mayor, ideas like paid parking at transit locations and highway tolls are out the window.  Of course there is already paid parking in areas of Toronto, yet Metrolinx’s $1 per space idea for the GTA would generate $1.4 billion, and highway tolls could do the same according to Metrolinx.  Of course, this all makes sense, so perhaps that is also the issue.

The City also asked for subways, right after refusing to recommend any of funding options required to pay the capital costs to do.  Personally, I wonder what the City was thinking at the time.

Only time will tell how Metrolinx will react, however any decision they make will be without the consent or support of the City Council. I hope the hard decisions on how to fund transit will be made, and transit in the GTA will be improved.  That way we will have a great transit system.

GO Transit Lakeshore Line Service Set to Increase

On Friday April 19th GO Transit announced that it would begin operating every 30 minutes along its Lakeshore line during off peak hours starting June 29th.  This is an improvement over the 60 minute service that operated up to now.

This announcement is long overdue and has been discussed for years.  The costs for doing this is $7.7 million per year, but allows people more opportunities to travel along the route.

The 30 minute service will operate between Aldershot in the west and Oshawa in the east.

A new Hamilton station, on James St. is due to open in 2015 according to the Toronto Star, and more trains will operate there potentially once that occurs.

Currently, outside of the morning and evening rush hour,  trains depart Aldershot at 43 minutes past the hour, and from Oshawa at  41 minutes past the hour.  Starting June 29th trains will depart Aldershot at 13 and 43 minutes past the hour, and from Oshawa at 11 and 41 minute past the hour unless GO changes the times when the new service starts.  GO announced that they would provide more information in May, so we will have to see if there will be any changes to the schedules outside of the extra trains.

It is great to see this improvement to GO’s services and hope is that service will be improved on their other lines in the future, especially as the debate over transit, and transit funding, has intensified recently.  But as this improvement comes before new funding sources (i.e. toll roads, regional sales taxes, etc.) are implemented and show that the Government is not only serious about improving transit but gives drivers a reason to keep their cars at home prior to any new tolls or other options are implemented.  Sometimes we need to see better service before ‘transit taxes/tolls’ are implemented so people will buy into the increased costs that come with operating a reliable transit system.

How to Fund Transit

Metrolinx, the provincial agency responsible for transit, has released its short list of options to potentially fund transit expansion in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA.)  The list is as follows:

• Developer Fee.  Basically developers would be charged a fee for every property they develop.  This would make a great idea.  And the closer to a ‘transit source’ that the property is located, the higher the fee.
• Gas Tax.  This is a great idea – if you use a car, you end up paying for helping to fund transit.  Unfortunately with gas prices where they are, this would be political suicide for any politician to support.  Also, as transit cannot be ‘everything for everyone’ this hurts people who would use transit but cannot for one reason or another.
• Employer Payroll Tax.  A tax on employers who run their businesses close to a ‘transportation hub.’  A great idea in theory, but with the economy the way it is, we need to promote businesses hiring employees not adding to their tax bills.  And as not every potential employee will have a car, perhaps the tax should work the other way around – be close to a transit hub, and you get a tax break.  Put your business away from transit and you pay more taxes.
• Land Value Capture.  Basically charge developers more for the land they purchase to develop.  A great idea in principle, but one could argue that it could be charged to everyone, and that would likely make a political no go.  We want people to be able to afford to live in the GTA, and not force people to move away.
• Highway Tolls.  I totally agree with this idea.  The idea is to charge people travelling on highways, much like they do with the 407, only that the money would go to transit.  A great idea.  You want the option of a fast route, you pay for it.
• High Occupancy Toll lanes.  A great idea – single occupant vehicles could use the ‘HOV’ lanes for a fee.  However, the previous option, highway tolls, would charge everyone which is better idea in my opinion.  Instead of charging a small number of people who use the highway, charge everyone.
• Parking Fees.  All non-residential parking spaces would pay for their use.  This is a great idea, especially at subway and GO stations.  I say go for it.
• Property tax increase.  The ‘old reliable’ for taxation for municipalities.  This is a good idea, and Toronto needs to charge a rate consistent with other cities in the GTA.
• Sales Tax.  Increase the sales tax.  However, people have pointed out this would likely have to be done province wide as it would form part of the province’s portion of the HST.  However, nothing would stop the Province and the Federal Government from giving cities permission to join and on the HST and set their own amount.
• Transit Fare Increase.  Basically, charge users to pay for transit.  This is certainly fair as users are the ones who are benefitting the most.  However, until we have reliable transit operation, this is also unfair.
• Charge vehicles on every kilometre they travel.  A nice idea, but certainly hard to realistically implement.  Not a good idea in my opinion.

Some ideas that did not make the short list, but that I believe should have been, include:

• $2 per day car rental fee.  Basically, the cost of renting a car in the GTA would go up by $2 per day.  A great idea to me for those who are not using a car for long periods of time.
• Carbon Tax.  Tax carbons, it would also be great idea for raising funds for transit while being a benefit to the environment.
• Vehicle registration tax.  Charge a person every time he/she registers a car.  If you want a car, you pay for the benefit of having a car.
• New car tax.  Raises the costs of a new car, but as with the vehicle registration tax, if you want a car you pay for the benefit of having a car.
• Income Tax.  I know, it’s another tax.  But as the Government gives you a tax break for using transit, if you don’t want to use transit then you pay for not doing so.
• Driver’s Licence Tax.  Basically, if you have a driver’s licence, you pay extra for it.  If either car tax above is used, then drop this one.  You can’t blame all drivers for using a car, sometimes they have no other option.
• Toll Downtown roads.  They do this in London UK.  Basically, if you drive into the core of the city, you pay a toll.  This is a great idea, and a downtown resident could be given a reduced toll free.

How do I think Metrolinx come up with more money?  Simple, through a regional sales tax, vehicle registration tax, highway toll. and tolling downtown roads.  The downtown core is well supplied by the Yonge and University lines, as well as the King, Queen, Carlton, and Bathurst, Spadina, and Dundas cars.  Plus the bus operations, especially the Bay bus.  So transit can get you where you need to go downtown.

If you want to use a highway, then pay for it.  I think a highway toll is a great idea because of this.

A regional sales tax, which may appear to hurt ‘the little man’ is a good idea too as ‘the rich’ tend to spend more money and purchase more ‘high cost’ items which means they pay more in sales taxes.  So it is blind to your income.  The more you spend, the more you pay.

Paid parking would also help – and encourage people to get out of their cars.  If you use it enough at a ‘transit hub’ (i.e. a GO or subway station), then you get a tax break just like you do with your transit expenses.  Again, an encouragement to pay in the suburbs and use transit.  And the more fares a transit agency receives, the more money it has to pay its own costs.

We need to have a revenue source for future operating and capital costs of transit, as well as Governments (Federal, Provincial, and Municipal) that actually support transit and will actually dedicate revenues to transit for both the short term and the long term.

TTC Belt Line – An Experiment

After reading a post over at Steve Munro’s website about the last Peter Witt cars and the TTC operating a ‘belt line’ service with those cars, I thought “What would it be to bring such a service with the TTC’s last PCC streetcars #4500 and #4549?”  Well, let’s discuss it.

The belt line would essentially operate as a circle around the downtown core and could see #4500 and #4549 running either clockwise or counter clockwise.  One could even go counterclockwise while the other is operating in a clockwise direction.

The suggested route I have is to operate in a circle using King Street in the south, Bathurst Street in the west, College Street/Carlton Street in the north, and Church Street in the east.

I would recommend that one streetcar runs in each direction.  Thus one streetcar would  operate in a clockwise manner heading west along King Street to Bathurst Street, turning right onto Bathurst.  The streetcar would then head north to College Street where it would turn right heading east to Church Street.  At Church the streetcar would turn south and continue south on Church until King where it would turn right and then continue heading west and beginning the loop again.

The other streetcar could head east along King Street, north along Church Street, west along Carlton/College Street, and then south along Bathurst Street.

All the tracks are in place for this service, as are the turns required.  The streetcars could be serviced overnight at Roncesvalles or Russell and easily enter/exit service.

If the streetcars were stored at Roncesvalles, they would head east along King Street, and either turn north onto Bathurst or continue east and enter into service.  At the end of the day, instead of turning north onto Bathurst (or east onto King), the streetcars would simply head west along King Street and then enter right into Roncesvalles.

If the streetcars are stored at Russell, entering and leaving service would be easy.  They would depart Russell heading west along Queen Street, and then south and west along King Street entering service when they departed Russell – allowing people going downtown to conveniently use the streetcar while it heads to the belt line.  When the cars were ready to be returned to Russell, they would only need to head east King Street for a straight run along King and Queen and into Russell, with the streetcar operating in the clockwise direction simply turning left onto King Street instead of right.  (The streetcar cannot turn left onto Queen from Church Street, so the turn would have to be made on King, which is not a big deal as that is where it would normally turn anyway.)

The belt line I have described could also be operated in a continuous loop in only one direction with both streetcars either operating clockwise or counter clockwise.  The main advantage of this is that the streetcars could be spread out to provide a slightly better headway.

There are two main advantages of operating the cars in opposing directions:  one they would not end up running within minutes of each other – something that is very likely on Toronto’s congested roads – and secondly, they would thus provide a better increase in service over a portion of three TTC streetcar routes (the 504 King car, the 511 Bathurst car, and the 506 Carlton car.)  Not everyone is going to travel over a long portion of a route, so the belt line cars would supplement local service along these routes.

The second advantage listed above – providing better bi-directional service on three routes is the main reason I would suggest operating the streetcars in opposite directions around the belt line.

Let’s hope the TTC considers this option one day.

Downtown Relief Line

There has been talk recently of a Downtown Relief Line (D.R.L.) for Toronto.  I think this would personally be a good idea for the city, especially as a relief for the busy and crowded Bloor-Yonge Station.

The D.R.L. would be built as a subway, and travel from the Danforth south and then west into the downtown core, most likely along King or Queen.  It could continue west and then north to a station on Bloor st. in the west end of the city.  The idea is that the D.R.L. would allow people heading downtown from the east or west to transfer at a station other then St. George or Bloor-Yonge.  Bloor-Yonge is especially crowded, so the D.R.L. would hopefully take a lot of pressure off the station.

My recommendation would be for the D.R.L. to run as follows:

The line would start off in the west end at Dundas West station, making a connection with the Bloor-Danforth line, two streetcar lines, and three bus routes.  The line would continue southeast to Queen Street where it would turn east.  The line would connect with the Yonge-University-Spadian (Y.U.S.) line at Osgoode (on University Ave.) and Queen Station (on Yonge Street.)  It would also serve the Eaton Centre and Bay Street.  Continuing east past Yonge Street, the line would eventually turn north and connect with the Bloor-Danforth Line at Pape Station.  The connection at Pape would also connect with three bus lines.

Both Dundas West and Pape would allow for future continuation of the line north to connect with future L.R.T. lines, and the Sheppard subway line.  This would also provide some relief to the Y.U.S., especially the Yonge portion.

The D.R.L. would also provide some relief for the 501 Queen car as it would allow people to have a quick trip through the downtown core along Queen Street rather than having to relay on the Queen car.

So, is the D.R.L. a good idea?  Is it necessary?  Yes to both questions.  It is overdue and needs to be started.  Unfortunately, I doubt anything will be done in the near future which is shame.

Splitting Up The Queen Car

I have decided to discuss the possibility of breaking up the 501 Queen streetcar line.  At the moment, the 501 Queen car is one of the longest routes in the world, operating for some 25 kilometres from Long Branch Loop near the border between Mississauga and Toronto, and Neville Park in the east end. 

Service along the 501 Queen car is consistently delayed due to the length of its route.  A delay in the westend, due to an accident for example, would cause streetcars to be delayed along its entire route, and thanks to traffic (especially during the day) there is little chance for the car to make up any time.  While every second westbound car is scheduled to run past Humber Loop out to Long Branch, this does not always occur due to the delays.

My suggestion is to break the 501 Queen car into three routes:

1)  A restored 507 Long Branch car in the west end.  This car would depart Long Branch Loop heading east through Humber Loop to Roncesvalles Ave.  The car would then turn north onto Roncesvalles and head straight up to Dundas West station.

2)  The 501 Queen car would operate between Humber Loop in the west, and Church Street downtown.  When an eastbound car reaches Church Street, a streetcar would turn south onto Church, and then turn west onto Richmond Street.  The car would travel west one block to Victoria Stree where it would turn right (north) and then left (west) onto Queen Street and then continue west to Humber Loop.

3)  A new streetcar route, which I am going to call the 514 Neville would then be required.  It would operate from McCaul loop east along Queen Street to Neville Park Loop.  This car could be short turned at Russell Carhouse or Woodbine Loop if necessary.

The main advantage to this breakdown is that an accident or delay in one area will not affect service along the rest of the current route.  Also, there would still be some overlapping between the three routes (along the Queensway between Humber Loop and Roncesvalles for the 501 and 507, and between McCaul Street and Church Street for the 501 and 514.)  Of course, all three routes would connnect with the 504 King car and connect with the subway.

The 507 car could provide a short turn options eastbound at Humber Loop (in order to head west again) and at Kipling Loop (for westbound cars, in order to head east again.)  Plus, the 504 King car deals with congestion downtown, so a restored 507 car operating to Dundas West station could allow some 504 King cars to be scheduled to short turn at Sunnyside Loop (westbound King cars would turn west onto the Queensway and into Sunnyside Loop.)

A good deal of passengers along the Lake Shore in Etobicoke use the 501 Queen car for local passage.  A restored 507 Long Branch car could achieve this.  Also, residents of the Beaches in the eastend would also not suffer from bad service due to short turns.

Whether or not the TTC will ever split up the 501 Queen car is unknown, or how they would.  However, I am maiking a public challenge to the TTC to actually step up and split up the 501 Queen car.

GO Fares to Increase

Just a quick reminder to everyone that GO Transit fares are set to increase starting tomorrow, Friday Februray 1st, 2013.  The minimum fare of $4.50 will increase by 35 cents to $4.85.  The increase will be beased on distance, not an across the board style as in the past.  GO has determined three sets fpr the increase:

1. 35 cent increase on current fares between $4.50 and $5.80;
2. 45 cent increase on current fares between $5.81 and $7.35; and
3. 55 cent increase on current fares greater than $7.35.

The last several increases saw all fares increased by a set rate, 25 cents for example.  This was meant a larger increase for shorter trips, yet a minimal increase on longer trips.  This year’s increase provides for a fair increase in fares – the further you travel, the more you pay.  This certainly is more fair as those travelling longer distances require GO to use more fuel and thus incur more expenditure.

PRESTO rates will also increase, but at a lower amount as the PRESTO ‘loyalty discount’ will be increased.  Thus another reason to switch to  a PRESTO card if you have not done so already.

For more information, you can go to GO Transit’s website.