MB Toronto
Morning Brew: TTC to apologize after messy commute, skepticism over transit fees, Ikea monkey owner starts a foundation, protecting coyotes, and the Leafs' new toy
TTC CEO Andy Byford will issue an explanation and apology later this morning after a particularly wretched subway commute last night. A 20-minute loss of power at Dupont station and similar delays at Eglinton, Keele and Union coupled with numerous assistance alarms triggered long delays. Trains on the Yonge line were packed and moving at a crawl. Did you experience the problems?
Drivers in the 'burbs are, perhaps not surprisingly, unsure about new transit taxes and tolls floated by the Toronto Region Board of Trade. The sales, parking, and gas fees were recommended in a report yesterday. The Toronto Star went to Square One in Mississauga and found most don't want drivers to pay. Should there be better PR for transit construction?
The Ikea Monkey mom (remember her?) hopes starting a foundation will fund her battle to have her illegal pet removed from a sanctuary staffed with wildlife experts. The Darling Darwin Monkey Friends and Co. will also sell a children's book Nakhuda has written. Half the $75 tickets to the launch event have sold - buy now!
Rob Ford isn't the only one conflicting his interests. Eternal Mississauga mayor Hazel McCallion is set to go to court next month to contest allegations she failed to abide by the spirit of the law when she participated in a vote related to her son's company. Toronto's neighbour to the west has amended the wording of its laws to legislate against "the appearance of conflict."
Coun. Glenn De Baeremaeker wants to laws against people who feed coyotes in Toronto. Animal services say providing food attracts them to residential areas and reduces their natural fear of humans. The proposed rules would also ban killing coyotes.
Toronto's best minds are close to solving Dutch elm disease, the deadly virus that killed many of the city's elm trees. DNA experts at the University of Toronto have mapped the genome of Ophiostoma ulmi in the hopes of finding a cure. Elms used to make up around 12 per cent of the city's tree canopy but now that figure is closer to 4 per cent.
The reasons behind the Maple Leafs' recent ticket price hike is suddenly clear - the team just needed a new practice machine. The RapidShot, which costs $100,000, automatically passes pucks and is probably cheaper than paying an actual Maple Leaf to do the job.
Finally, the Sherbourne Street bike lanes make great parking, especially when you don't get a ticket (via Reddit user kettal).
IN BRIEF:
- Illegal buttock enhancements potentially deadly, Toronto police warn [Toronto Star]
- Proposed bylaw would regulate massage parlours that offer 'body-rub' services [National Post]
- Air Canada issues flight warning due to freezing rain, snow [Toronto Star]
- Former Toronto teacher admits to physical mistreatment and verbal abuse of students [Toronto Star]
Chris Bateman is a staff writer at blogTO. Follow him on Twitter at @chrisbateman.
Image: "Mid Century Modernism" by Jack Landau/blogTO Flickr pool.
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This is why Toronto needs to really study the funding fights that went into things like BART in SF (where some counties pulled out of the system over fights about taxes) and the "commuter tax" in New York and so on - there is a lot to learn.
I feel that any user-pay fee is too divisive. Better to have an overall sales or payroll tax that everyone in the GTA pays. Much easier to argue for.
I'm all for transit support in other fees, as well, just as long as those fees aren't related to my being a driver.
I don't live in the suburbs, but I drive, and I agree with the majority of people; why should drivers get a 10c/litre hike on gas, or tolls, or pay extra to park, just to support transit?
Hike property taxes, which could result in higher mortgages or higher rent. That affects everybody, no?
As has been said, have a tax or increase that affects everybody, not just drivers.
If they add a 10c fuel hike, implement tolls or charge an additional tax for parking, that's fine, as long as ALL of that income goes toward improvements for drivers, such as fixing roads. Yes, Toronto is already doing that, but with additional fees, they'd be able to do a lot more in the same amount of time.
And yes, if more people take transit, that will result in less congestion, which is obviously a boon to people who drive.
However, I've yet to see any concrete proof that states that those who drive will take transit if transit is improved. I've seen articles and studies from other cities, but nothing for Toronto. I'm not saying such an article doesn't exist, just that I have not seen it.
The amalgamated megacity does not work. It has not been working, it will continue to not work, and it won't ever work. We will not see an end to rampant condo construction without upgrades, just like we will not see, ever, an honest discussion about gridlock and transit taxes.
Just move close to your work, make your money, and get out before another million people come here and the city slows to a crawl and unemployment rises. This city is going to become unlivable very quickly... make sure you have a contingency plan to get out.
In general you can't toll a road unless the money goes directly toward improving traffic on that road, otherwise I don't think it's fair. E.g. tolling the 401 should go towards GO transit, since that's the alternative for those drivers. Parking fees in Toronto should go towards maintaining those structures, and improving TTC (since it creates space in those garages for more people). Stuff like that. Plus you need to be super transparent and show people exactly where the money is going and how it's helping them. For something citywide (like TTC improvements) a sales tax would be best though, since it hits everyone equally for something that benefits everyone.
how much public space is used for roads VS public transit?
anyone know of the breakdown?
I imagine that drivers already get a great proportion.
What is UP with the cars parked in the Sherbourne bike lane??? Is no one ticketing these jerks? We had to give up Jarvis for this???
As for my "vile" sarcastic attack on those who oppose all forms of transit / city-building / urban anything, that was entirely and wholly based on Toronto Sun comment boards, which I consider a reasonable proxy for the non-core POV. From their recent article on the Board of Trade report:
brain_up But it is NOT ok to take more out of what is left over. I just don't have any more money to give to the immigrants, unemployed, underemployed, mentally disabled and OCAP types. When you go above 50%, I'm working in a communist country.
d1scontent: Here a clue stop building condos in Toronto, and tell new immigrants they are not allowed to live in Toronto until we clear up our traffic mess.
cheemiss8-7: Gas tax was suppose to pay for roads. What have the corrupt liberals been doing with 50 yrs of gas tax? Paying the union thug bosses for their freaking campaign support! Which again amounts to OUR money!
leftartnot: that leaves me to be abused by the tax system/government to pay more for PS unions and welfare than I can spend on my own family's well being.
saneguy: How about cutting the ridiculously generous wages, benefits and pensions of ALL public employees instead of introducing new taxes and stealing more money from the PEOPLE.
I could go on...
So try to stay positive and just don't read the comments on newspaper sites, they do not represent Toronto.
Im quite surprised that the parents dont drive up onto the baseball field in behind. Obviously it doesnt get used in the winter so it should be a parking lot.
It's estimated that the gridlock in the GTA costs us billions of dollars a year in productivity(sorry, don't feel like googling the exact figures) and that doesn't even take into account the businesses we lose that choose to locate somewhere more convenient. So if we invest our money in improving that then we can actually grow our economy and create jobs. Please try to look at the big picture when you're dealing with things as complex as public policy.
2) Not everyone can afford cars. Do you suggest paying the low-wage workers that many businesses depend on, who are already stretching their paycheques, enough of a wage to buy and maintain a car?
3) There's no possible way in hell our roads have the capacity to handle all the cars that would be required if *everyone* drove. Your commute would go from miserable to impossible.
Simple enough for you?
Uh...moron voting bloc in the suburbs??
BWAAAA-HAAAAA-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!!!!!
HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!
HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!
Are you seriously THAT stupid.
It's like saying we should no longer collect trash.
It's like saying we should no longer have traffic signals.
It's like saying we should no longer pave roads.
What kind of backward separatist wacko-land do you inhabit anyway??
Were you homeschooled, by chance?
Um...buy a car already, it isn't rocket science people.
2) Not everyone can afford cars. Do you suggest paying the low-wage workers that many businesses depend on, who are already stretching their paycheques, enough of a wage to buy and maintain a car?
This is enabling then poor. They stay poor because they aren't working hard enough. If they got a CAR, they would have more mobility and better access to higher paying jobs. Again, not rocket science.
3) There's no possible way in hell our roads have the capacity to handle all the cars that would be required if *everyone* drove. Your commute would go from miserable to impossible.
BUILD. MORE. ROADS.
...while we...
BUILD. MORE. SUBWAYS.
God..."I" should be mayor.
-A regional sales tax.
-A $1 a day parking space levy.
-A 10 cents per litre regional fuel tax.
-High-occupancy toll lanes at 30/km.
Yes...CAPITALISM HAS SPOKEN!!!!!!
As it was done in Millerland, it shall now be done in FordNation! Get ready to open your wallets, GTA drivers...you're about to subsidize my TTC trip across town.
Cha-ching!
Just remember that for every comment there's a real person spending their own time to try to state their point as to how we can improve the state of transportation in the GTA. You could have a beer with them and find out that they're really alright, because they're passionate about important issues and as such quite similar to yourself.
Try to give people with a different opinion the benefit of the doubt, realize that they have a different background than you and that there might be good reasons for that other person to arrive at their conclusion. That, and pick up a book on urban planning to learn about some of these things from people who have dealt with those issues to solve actual problems.
BlogTO can be a better place if you just decide that you can be a positive influence.
@Zombieboy22: Please do the same.
'Make the bus riding weanies pay for there own ride, the taxes I pay as a car/motorcycle owner, are for maintaining roads, why do we insist on subsidizing transit, if it has to be subsidized then it's not working, let the private sector run it'
and so on. Sigh.
Tell me more, we're all ears.
Or are you hiding in your Mom's basement, once again afraid to put your money where your mouth is??
I thought so...tool.
Except for a subway that they don't have the numbers (current or projected) to justify, that is.
Not to enrage people, but folks in the suburbs simply have no understanding just how much the former City of Toronto subsidizes them now. Downtown Toronto is a massive economic engine, and a driver not only for the entire province, but the entire nation.
Sure, the suburbs just provide labour and some manufacturing, but when people around the world step off a plane here, they aren't making a bee-line for the West Mall or Mel Lastman Square or the Golden Mile...they're coming because of downtown, and ONLY downtown.
The sooner we scrape the 'burbs off the bottom of our shoes, the better. Let them pay for their own exorbitant road budgets, not to speak of all their fancy Cadillac services/perks like sidewalk clearing, windrow plows, boulevard trimming and extra leaf collection.
They've freeloaded long enough, time to shut down this gravy train.
And for the record people like wide idea continues to make Ford very popular in the suburbs. And i can not wait for him to win another election. We will hear all the crying from down town to this side of the humber river.
I'll tell you something son, I know a little bit more about this stuff than you do because I worked with both the unions and management in pre-amalgamation Metro to actually IMPLEMENT amalgamation itself, so I have a bit of clue what I'm talking about here. I may let my mouth run a bit, but I stand by what I've said because it's all there on the City website if you want to pore through it yourself.
And yes, no doubt Ford will garner a lot of votes, but he's actually hemorrhaging a lot of support from moderates who voted for him the first time because he simply isn't delivering on his platform.
The centre and left will cite what happened with Joey Pants, and will coalesce around one candidate before election day, and that person --whether centre or left-- will handily beat a weakened Ford 60/40.
I'm so certain of it, I'll even wager. :)
My feet are up, my coffee is hot...the only way that news could be any nicer is if it was Adam Vaughan in the lead rather than Chow, cuz I know how much y'all haters can't stand a reasonable, methodical, progressive and consensus-based mayor.
Go suck an egg, haters...GravyGuzzlin' Mayor Fudd is about to take a knee.