GTTA Legislation Introduced

[TdotTrickyRicky]

I might be off base here but really would like to see transit run more like a business with the mandate of increased ridership and revenue generation. I would like to see it de-politicized as much as possible and funding for capital improvements divided up on an inequitable basis (aka irrelevent of population). Heavy rail, subways and light transit all under the same management, all municipal transit agencies scraped including the TTC. There is the bricks and mortar of new transit lines to deal with but the existing infrastructure needs to be integrated both physically and in terms of management and they need to completely re-work their PR and customer service. In my mind for instance having a dynamic wait time estimate posted at all platforms is an essential service in a modern city and would be one of the single greatest steps forward in generating costumer statisfaction.

 

[Antiloop33rpm]

I might be off base here but really would like to see transit run more like a business with the mandate of increased ridership and revenue generation. I would like to see it de-politicized as much as possible and funding for capital improvements divided up on an inequitable basis (aka irrelevent of population). Heavy rail, subways and light transit all under the same management, all municipal transit agencies scraped including the TTC. There is the bricks and mortar of new transit lines to deal with but the existing infrastructure needs to be integrated both physically and in terms of management and they need to completely re-work their PR and customer service. In my mind for instance having a dynamic wait time estimate posted at all platforms is an essential service in a modern city and would be one of the single greatest steps forward in generating costumer statisfaction

I dont see any of those suggestions as being off base. While I think the GTTA is a step in the right direction, I still believe that it is really just a start and that a lot more needs to be done. Transit services in the past may have suited peoples needs and may have functioned in a manner that allowed to them to be as efficient as possible. And there are many positive aspects of the TTC in particular that are worth understanding and continuing (ie its high cost recovery ratio).

Given the needs of people now, and the what will likely be a huge increase in demand as oil prices continue to rise, as cities get denser, and as urban areas mature, the current system is really inadequate. I do not believe it should go to an extreme length such as privatization and there should always be an understanding that it is primarily a service for the good of the general public. This does not mean its operational structure, how it approaches and plans for expansion, and how it meets the customers cannot change.

It will likely take a decade or two before we a lot of those changes made, which might be frustrating for some (like myself) to watch progress at what seems like a slow pace. But at least it seems this discussion is taking place more often and hopefully the progress made with the creation of the GTTA can be continued and developed upon.

 

[samsonyuen]

From: www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs...9483202845
________________
Will new GTTA actually feel our pain?
Apr. 29, 2006. 01:00 AM
KEVIN MCGRAN
TRANSPORTATION REPORTER

With the introduction of legislation this week, it looks like we're finally getting a Greater Toronto Transportation Authority. It will have a chairman and a staff and they're going to solve all our inter-regional transportation problems.
They're going to speak for all of us on gridlock, congestion, buses, trains, streetcars, busways and subways. They're going to look at our problems, rank them, find solutions and cost them out. Then they're going to tell the province and the various competing transit authorities and municipalities what projects should go ahead first.
A few names have emerged as potential chairs of this body, appropriately from "bedroom" communities: Burlington Mayor Rob MacIsaac and Halton Region chair Joyce Savoline.
So, if it's true the major political force behind this new body is going to come from the western reach of the GTA, then it only makes sense to have the main headquarters in the eastern end, say Oshawa or Whitby.
That way, GTTA members feel our pain.
Maybe they'll take the GO Train across the Lakeshore, and understand what opportunities are lost having commuter traffic one-way — into Union Station. Lots of potential urban employment hubs could be created at other GO stations, too. More of those, and GO Trains wouldn't be empty half the time as they lumber back to the suburbs to pick up more downtown-bound traffic.
Maybe they'll take public transit to their jobs, and learn about the frustrations of paying twice when you get off the Mississauga bus and get on to the TTC's subway.
If they drive to work, maybe they can think of some solutions while they're caught in traffic. They'd learn that east doesn't quite meet west with the current routes in and out of Durham.
Maybe they will be "co-chairs" and they can carpool, and learn about a good idea not expanding fast enough.
It's one thing to be in an ivory tower, reading reports about gridlock, or to go to conferences to hear about how great it is to run buses in their own lanes — apart from cars.
It's quite another to experience commuter frustration and congestion first-hand, knowing you have the ability to make things better.
Here's hoping.

 

[miketoronto]

One thing that has to be mandated is that the board members use transit as their primary means of transport.

I am tired of all these people making the decisions and running the transit system, yet they have not stepped foot on a bus in years.

For example, why should Hazel be on any transit board including GO TRANSIT when she herself even admits she never steps foot on transit and does not think it is a good way to travel.

 

[Forest Hill]

while i really like the idea of a unified smartcard, knowing how annoying it is to visit my friends in brampton. i think this whole organisation will be very reminiscent of the 60's when metro's subsidies to the TTC were so great that metro effectively controlled it. and councillors from the different municipalities wanted the subway being extended, or new lines being built into there city so much and were not willing to compromise that either nothing got built (ie, queen street subway, downtown relief line) or very poor planned lines resulting in low density surroundings were built (ie, spadina line).

By the way, hello everyone.

 

[Observer Walt]

Welcome, Forest Hill.

The GTTA promises to be the best spectator sport in recent times. Imagine Howard Moscoe and Hazel McCallion going at it??? Let's sit back with the popcorn and be entertained.

 

[samsonyuen]

From: www.canada.com/nationalpo...52f9bd82f5
____________________________
GTA's big chance to make moving easier

Glen Grunwald, National Post
Published: Thursday, June 01, 2006
The good news is that the provincial government is living up to its promise and creating a new agency to co-ordinate all of the transportation and transit in the GTA. Done right, this could be the solution we've all been waiting for to the gridlock plaguing our city.
The bad news is that, if this new agency is not designed and funded properly, it could be more of a problem than a solution.
It's like we've been promised a new bird, but we don't know yet whether it's going to have the power to soar like an eagle, or just peck like a chicken.
The idea of a Greater Toronto Transportation Agency (GTTA) has been around for years, and we've been championing it as the only realistic way to fight gridlock. Other business organizations across the GTA and Hamilton agree and joined us at Queen's Park last fall to demand that a regional agency be created.
We all agree that it's getting harder every year to move people and goods around the GTA, and that the growing congestion is bad for everyone. It frustrates commuters, wastes time and gasoline, lowers productivity, pollutes our air, helps drive jobs out of Toronto and discourages shoppers, tourists and investors.
The provincial government estimates that congestion costs the GTA $1.8-billion a year. I think the true cost, including the human costs of frustration and the unrecorded price of lost business deals and late deliveries, is much higher.
So, bring on a GTTA and start implementing regional solutions that integrate public transit and roads with planning for residential and business development. Kudos to Premier Dalton McGuinty for keeping his word.
However (and it's a big ''however''), the current legislation would not give GTTA what it needs to succeed.
First, the legislation does not give the GTTA the power to act in all the ways necessary to plan, finance and construct its projects across the region. Apparently, it will be expected to ask nicely and depend on the kindness of neighbours.
The current legislation also fails to provide the GTTA with an ongoing, substantial source of funding. The agency will only be allowed to borrow money against the revenues of GO Transit. The agency will need much bigger dollars than that to tackle big projects and to partner with the private sector (we'll need the private dollars on the table to meet the massive needs for new infrastructure).
Finally, the province is planning to have the agency run by a board dominated by political representatives from across the GTA. Quite naturally, they're going to want to protect their own interests -- that's what they were elected to do. Can we really expect them to put aside their parochial concerns and look at the big picture, making decisions that benefit the whole region, even when it might be hard for their own constituencies?
With neither the carrot of big funding nor the stick of real authority, and with a governance structure that could set one municipality against another, we're in danger of seeing more pecking than soaring.
However, this is still the early stage -- public hearings on the GTTA legislation start today. Many groups like ours will be there to make these points about the tremendous potential of this agency and the need to build it right.
The bird is about to hatch. We're crossing our fingers for an eagle.
- Glen Grunwald is president and CEO of the Toronto Board of Trade. He takes the GO Train to work whenever he can because it's cheaper and easier than driving, and very few people try to cut off a train.

 

[afransen TO]

"(we'll need the private dollars on the table to meet the massive needs for new infrastructure)"

Fallacious. The public sector can borrow more readily and for less than the private sector. There is tens of billions of dollars out there ready and waiting to be borrowed for infrastructure spending.

About everything else, I agree.

 

[GregWTravels]

www.mississauga.com/mi/ne...1912c.html

THE MISSISSAUGA NEWS
Peel wants to double up GTTA committee


John Stewart
Jun 1, 2006

There's only one seat at the table for Peel Region at the new Greater Toronto Transportation Authority (GTTA) and both Mayor Hazel McCallion of Mississauga and Mayor Susan Fennell of Brampton want it.
The solution?

Give each city a seat on the new body that will co-ordinate transportation planning in the GTA.

That's what Mississauga city councillors are proposing. At a special meeting yesterday, they asked for changes to the proposed legislation to provide for two representatives from Peel on the body, which was originally to have just 11 members.

Missssauga and Brampton have two of the largest transit systems in the GTA but they both happen to be located in the same region.

McCallion said that, while Mississauga supports the concept of the GTTA, it must have the power to raise revenues from many sources, to avoid overburdening existing municipal ratepayers. The current legislation, "falls short in establishing a strong mandate and the necessary funding," the mayor said.

Ward 9 Councillor Pat Saito and Transportation and Works Commissioner Martin Powell will present the City's case for changing the legislation at a standing committee meeting at Queen's Park today.

 

[drum118]

Time to create Peel Transit and do away with MT and BT.

 

[spmarshall]

And the fact that Peel has the largest population of any of the 4 regions surrounding Toronto in the GTA, and Mississauga's proposal makes sense - I'm actually pleasantly surprised that Mississauga is putting forward this motion - shows at least some intention to cooperate, though Peel Transit is the best solution IMHO.

 

[thenay]

Peel Transit sounds good to me as well, I don't see why they want to make a GTTA. Wouldn't the TTC lose more in the end?

 

[GregWTravels]

If I recall the details correctly, the TTC gets 4 seats on the board, as opposed to 1 for other transit authorities, so they do have more power than the others.

As to if they'll get less, it'll be interesting to see. Right now the province and feds are making the decisions on any capital expansion projects, just like all the other communities in the GTA, so it could be that this maintains the status quo with regards to percent of allocated budget to transit projects. For Toronto to get hosed, the 905 would have to gang up on it and out-vote it in favour of other projects, but I'm not sure that they could all agree on a single project that would serve their needs alone.

The GTTA will all be in the implementation. This could be the best thing to happen to transit in the area in a long time, or it could turn out to be a quagmire of political gamesmanship and no actual progress. We'll have to see.

 

[samsonyuen]

I think a regional transit body makes the most sense too, but will Mayor McCallion agree to it?

Eventually, as each region has its transit body, the GTTA should be a pan-regional transit authority that supercedes these all. We need to stop compartmentalizing transit!

 

[ahrvojic]

I can't imagine McCallion wholeheartedly pushing for increased regionalization of any kind no matter how much sense it makes and I doubt anything will change fundamentally in that respect until she leaves office. Regardless of how impressive she is otherwise, Mississauga is her baby.

I have great respect for its boosters and the history of its former villages, but to pretend the Mississauga of the last three decades is anything but an extension of Toronto is counterproductive. If it were up to me there'd be a new Metro and, given the trend of the last decade or so, perhaps there will be.