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What's your commuting beef?
Oct. 23, 2006. 05:44 AM
DAVID BRUSER
TRANSPORTATION REPORTER
Every weekday we stop and start, white knuckles gripping the steering wheel, on the way to work.
Trying to leave earlier doesn't always give us the advantage hoped for. So when did rush hour become an all-day, 12-hour deal?
And how come there isn't yet a better way to plan our route to work?
We turn on the car, tune into those radio traffic reports — every ten minutes on the ones, as they say — but by the time we've decided on a course through the vast, sprawling GTA, a fender-bender, rubberneckers, or no apparent reason at all, grinds everything to a crawl.
Maybe you pull off the road to grab a cup of coffee and a doughnut, a little comfort food, only to find the line at your favourite drive-through snakes around the building.
Is there — and no, I'm not trying to sell the TTC here — a better way? If so, the Toronto Star wants to hear about it.
And what of you transit riders?
Do you get up earlier and earlier these days to catch a bus or subway to beat the crowd? Because you'd rather not start the day standing and swaying, holding a pole, as another dreary-eyed commuter breathes in your face?
Chances are, if you live and work in the GTA, you have a concern, complaint, comment that you think could help commuters like you. Whether constructive or mere kvetching meant to comfort your fellow commuter, we want to hear it.
I'm aware this invitation could flood my inbox with cockamamie ideas and useless diatribes. In fact, now that I think about it, making this kind of open call for transit ideas in one of the biggest, most transportation-diverse cities in North America, is probably akin to walking into a bullring wearing TTC red.
But I'm new on the beat. I need ideas. This column, to feed itself once a week, needs your input.
Meanwhile I'll do what I can, talking to politicians, transit system managers, transit visionaries. But they would all be speaking about what's best for you, the commuter.
This column aims to be, most of the time, about you and your commute.
I drive to work every morning, and wonder why, when I get on the 407 heading east from the 427 toward the Star's newsroom in Vaughan, the rising sun makes it difficult to distinguish the new lane lines from the old. I sometimes see the car ahead of me driving between the old lines and everyone around slowing down to make room for the confused driver.
I'm also interested in how technology could make it easier for me to plan to my morning commute. Could a more personalized type of route planning make a difference here?
I want to know how the new Greater Toronto Transportation Authority does as it tries to speak as lead voice for all transit stakeholders in the region.
Many are eager for someone to start acting to create a transit network that satisfies all. Oshawa Mayor John Gray, pulling a line from an Elvis song, put it this way: "A little less conversation, a little more action please."
How will the TTC serve its customers with an increasing ridership and not enough money to get ahead of basic maintenance?
When will the Durham transit strike ever end?
So fill me in, write to complain, praise, lend some ideas to help make this commuter column something you, the commuter, can use, or find interesting, funny, cathartic.
David Bruser can be reached at transit@thestar.ca
Link to article
What's your commuting beef?
Oct. 23, 2006. 05:44 AM
DAVID BRUSER
TRANSPORTATION REPORTER
Every weekday we stop and start, white knuckles gripping the steering wheel, on the way to work.
Trying to leave earlier doesn't always give us the advantage hoped for. So when did rush hour become an all-day, 12-hour deal?
And how come there isn't yet a better way to plan our route to work?
We turn on the car, tune into those radio traffic reports — every ten minutes on the ones, as they say — but by the time we've decided on a course through the vast, sprawling GTA, a fender-bender, rubberneckers, or no apparent reason at all, grinds everything to a crawl.
Maybe you pull off the road to grab a cup of coffee and a doughnut, a little comfort food, only to find the line at your favourite drive-through snakes around the building.
Is there — and no, I'm not trying to sell the TTC here — a better way? If so, the Toronto Star wants to hear about it.
And what of you transit riders?
Do you get up earlier and earlier these days to catch a bus or subway to beat the crowd? Because you'd rather not start the day standing and swaying, holding a pole, as another dreary-eyed commuter breathes in your face?
Chances are, if you live and work in the GTA, you have a concern, complaint, comment that you think could help commuters like you. Whether constructive or mere kvetching meant to comfort your fellow commuter, we want to hear it.
I'm aware this invitation could flood my inbox with cockamamie ideas and useless diatribes. In fact, now that I think about it, making this kind of open call for transit ideas in one of the biggest, most transportation-diverse cities in North America, is probably akin to walking into a bullring wearing TTC red.
But I'm new on the beat. I need ideas. This column, to feed itself once a week, needs your input.
Meanwhile I'll do what I can, talking to politicians, transit system managers, transit visionaries. But they would all be speaking about what's best for you, the commuter.
This column aims to be, most of the time, about you and your commute.
I drive to work every morning, and wonder why, when I get on the 407 heading east from the 427 toward the Star's newsroom in Vaughan, the rising sun makes it difficult to distinguish the new lane lines from the old. I sometimes see the car ahead of me driving between the old lines and everyone around slowing down to make room for the confused driver.
I'm also interested in how technology could make it easier for me to plan to my morning commute. Could a more personalized type of route planning make a difference here?
I want to know how the new Greater Toronto Transportation Authority does as it tries to speak as lead voice for all transit stakeholders in the region.
Many are eager for someone to start acting to create a transit network that satisfies all. Oshawa Mayor John Gray, pulling a line from an Elvis song, put it this way: "A little less conversation, a little more action please."
How will the TTC serve its customers with an increasing ridership and not enough money to get ahead of basic maintenance?
When will the Durham transit strike ever end?
So fill me in, write to complain, praise, lend some ideas to help make this commuter column something you, the commuter, can use, or find interesting, funny, cathartic.
David Bruser can be reached at transit@thestar.ca