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Article on the Toronto Environmental Alliance's "Transit City" presentation in Malvern last Monday, attended by miketoronto and yours truly.
Having voiced his opinions at the meeting and made a call for people to join his "Better Buses East" group, he was interviewed by the Scarborough Mirror after the meeting.
Link to article
Transit concerns heard at Malvern meeting
City's plan still won't bring rapid transit to area
KRISTEN CALIS
Feb. 16, 2007
Everyday at 7:30 a.m. Michael Binetti jumps on the 133 Neilson bus for his commute to work.
But he does not live in downtown Toronto where he would simply be a hop, skip and a jump away. Binetti is a bus, RT and subway ride from his job at Bay and Front streets.
"I take the TTC every day," Binetti said. "I'm a choice-rider. I choose to use it for all of my travel. They're lucky I'm a choice-rider because not many people in my neighbourhood put up with an hour's ride to downtown."
Binetti lives in Seven Oaks in east Scarborough, and it takes him up to one hour and 15 minutes to reach his Union Station stop by transit.
"If it's good without traffic, it takes an hour," Binetti said. "I could drive it even in peak periods in 35 minutes. In areas such as Malvern it takes way too long (on the bus)."
Binetti was one of approximately 20 Scarborough residents who attended a meeting at the Malvern Public Library on the night of Feb. 12 to discuss improving transit service in Malvern in northeast Scarborough.
The meeting was organized by the Toronto Environmental Alliance (TEA) and the Malvern Community Coalition (MCC).
TEA transit campaigner Beth Jones hosted the event, covering issues such as the lack of rapid transit service, crowded buses and long waits in Malvern.
The main focus of the meeting was the implementation of light rail transit (LRT) and bus rapid transit (BRT) to Scarborough, North York and Etobicoke. The goal of the meeting was to get feedback from community members for a report TEA is preparing for city council at the end of March.
"We can't take on this fight alone," Jones said. "We need to have specific engagement along with us. City council and the province are not going to be excited about pushing this vision forward unless they know that the citizens in the city want it."
The city's planning department and the TTC developed a strategy called Building a Transit City in 2005. The goal was to provide fast, reliable and high-capacity service to parts of the city that are currently without rapid transit. However, the rapid transit plan the city envisions does not include Malvern. Instead, Jones acknowledged, the new line would turn south at Markham Road. Therefore, Malvern residents would still have to endure long wait times, crowded buses, or continue to drive in order to get downtown.
"We're going to have a severe quality of life issue if people have to spend that much time on congested roads," she said.
Jones used transit in other North American cities such as Minneapolis, Minn., Denver, Colo., Dallas, Texas and even York Region's new Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), called Viva, to show how LRT and BRT are used. In Toronto, LRTs would most likely run in separate lanes down the middle of the road, protected by a complete right-of-way. The trains would carry approximately 6,000 to 15,000 passengers per hour. They would also be accessible for wheelchairs and emit fewer emissions than buses, she said.
BRTs are similar, and would most likely run down the centre of the road, accommodating approximately 5,000 riders per hour. York Region's BRT line receives advanced traffic signals, spending less time in intersections than regular buses.
"They get the advanced green, which delays the remaining traffic only a few seconds," Jones said, "but means the bus gets to make its way into traffic and it provides fairly fast service for the riders."
However, Ward 42 Councillor Raymond Cho (Scarborough-Rouge River) shared his view that the best transit solution is a subway directly into Scarborough.
"If they say the LRT provides the same amount of transit service for people, why bother trying to build the subway to York University?" he asked.
However, TEA's report states that implementing light rail transit and bus rapid transit will cost less than extending subway lines.
"Subways may no longer represent the wisest investments for our transit dollars," Jones said.
Jones explained it costs $200-$240 million to build each kilometre of subway. LRT would roughly cost $30-$90 million per kilometre and BRT would cost $20 million per kilometre.
In the final discussion, residents complained that the ride to downtown Toronto is extremely long and crowded.
What they want to see is a long-term sustainable public transit goal that considers Scarborough residents.
The TEA told Monday's meeting it would share these concerns with city councillors.
And some individuals will also be doing their best to make sure their voices are heard by council. Binetti, for example, has just created a small advocacy group called Better Buses East.
"We're going to be a thorn in their side and try to make them think outside the box," he said.
Having voiced his opinions at the meeting and made a call for people to join his "Better Buses East" group, he was interviewed by the Scarborough Mirror after the meeting.
Link to article
Transit concerns heard at Malvern meeting
City's plan still won't bring rapid transit to area
KRISTEN CALIS
Feb. 16, 2007
Everyday at 7:30 a.m. Michael Binetti jumps on the 133 Neilson bus for his commute to work.
But he does not live in downtown Toronto where he would simply be a hop, skip and a jump away. Binetti is a bus, RT and subway ride from his job at Bay and Front streets.
"I take the TTC every day," Binetti said. "I'm a choice-rider. I choose to use it for all of my travel. They're lucky I'm a choice-rider because not many people in my neighbourhood put up with an hour's ride to downtown."
Binetti lives in Seven Oaks in east Scarborough, and it takes him up to one hour and 15 minutes to reach his Union Station stop by transit.
"If it's good without traffic, it takes an hour," Binetti said. "I could drive it even in peak periods in 35 minutes. In areas such as Malvern it takes way too long (on the bus)."
Binetti was one of approximately 20 Scarborough residents who attended a meeting at the Malvern Public Library on the night of Feb. 12 to discuss improving transit service in Malvern in northeast Scarborough.
The meeting was organized by the Toronto Environmental Alliance (TEA) and the Malvern Community Coalition (MCC).
TEA transit campaigner Beth Jones hosted the event, covering issues such as the lack of rapid transit service, crowded buses and long waits in Malvern.
The main focus of the meeting was the implementation of light rail transit (LRT) and bus rapid transit (BRT) to Scarborough, North York and Etobicoke. The goal of the meeting was to get feedback from community members for a report TEA is preparing for city council at the end of March.
"We can't take on this fight alone," Jones said. "We need to have specific engagement along with us. City council and the province are not going to be excited about pushing this vision forward unless they know that the citizens in the city want it."
The city's planning department and the TTC developed a strategy called Building a Transit City in 2005. The goal was to provide fast, reliable and high-capacity service to parts of the city that are currently without rapid transit. However, the rapid transit plan the city envisions does not include Malvern. Instead, Jones acknowledged, the new line would turn south at Markham Road. Therefore, Malvern residents would still have to endure long wait times, crowded buses, or continue to drive in order to get downtown.
"We're going to have a severe quality of life issue if people have to spend that much time on congested roads," she said.
Jones used transit in other North American cities such as Minneapolis, Minn., Denver, Colo., Dallas, Texas and even York Region's new Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), called Viva, to show how LRT and BRT are used. In Toronto, LRTs would most likely run in separate lanes down the middle of the road, protected by a complete right-of-way. The trains would carry approximately 6,000 to 15,000 passengers per hour. They would also be accessible for wheelchairs and emit fewer emissions than buses, she said.
BRTs are similar, and would most likely run down the centre of the road, accommodating approximately 5,000 riders per hour. York Region's BRT line receives advanced traffic signals, spending less time in intersections than regular buses.
"They get the advanced green, which delays the remaining traffic only a few seconds," Jones said, "but means the bus gets to make its way into traffic and it provides fairly fast service for the riders."
However, Ward 42 Councillor Raymond Cho (Scarborough-Rouge River) shared his view that the best transit solution is a subway directly into Scarborough.
"If they say the LRT provides the same amount of transit service for people, why bother trying to build the subway to York University?" he asked.
However, TEA's report states that implementing light rail transit and bus rapid transit will cost less than extending subway lines.
"Subways may no longer represent the wisest investments for our transit dollars," Jones said.
Jones explained it costs $200-$240 million to build each kilometre of subway. LRT would roughly cost $30-$90 million per kilometre and BRT would cost $20 million per kilometre.
In the final discussion, residents complained that the ride to downtown Toronto is extremely long and crowded.
What they want to see is a long-term sustainable public transit goal that considers Scarborough residents.
The TEA told Monday's meeting it would share these concerns with city councillors.
And some individuals will also be doing their best to make sure their voices are heard by council. Binetti, for example, has just created a small advocacy group called Better Buses East.
"We're going to be a thorn in their side and try to make them think outside the box," he said.