Should Condos near transit be required to offer metropass?

[Hypnotoad]

From the National Post:

Moscoe tries again on TTC passes for condos
Howard Moscoe is launching a fresh bid to get the city to force developers to provide a free, one-year transit pass for everyone who buys a condominium along the city’s subway lines.
The city councillor said his scheme has been stalled in the city’s bureaucracy for nearly two years, and he plans to raise the idea again at the next possible meeting of council.
“It’s just kind of disappeared -- it got swallowed up by the bureaucracy,†said Mr. Moscoe, a former chairman of the Toronto Transit Commission who has promised he will not let the idea die.
Mr. Moscoe first proposed the idea in a motion passed by city council in January, 2006, calling for the city’s official plan to include a requirement that anyone building a condominium of more than 25 units within 500 metres of a subway line or a main bus route be required to offer a free transit pass to their buyers. The motion went to city planning staff for consideration and there it has sat for the past 18 months, to Mr. Moscoe’s intense frustration.
“I’ve been asking the planning department for two years to look into this and nothing has happened,†he said yesterday. “It’s a no-brainer to me ... [but] we’ve heard nothing.â€
Mr. Moscoe has been adding the transit pass requirement to individual developments along the main subway and bus routes as they come up. “I’ve added this requirement to more than 50 new developments and not one of them has challenged it: they don’t seem to have any problem with the idea at all,†he said.
“In fact, it’s a great marketing tool for them and it helps sell condos.â€
He said the idea would boost TTC ridership, cut down on traffic along already busy major streets and cost developers less than $1,000 per unit. “It’s a win-win-win situation.â€
Rod McPhail, the director of transportation planning for the city, agreed that the councillor’s idea was a good one, but said the city’s lawyers were less enthusiastic. “Our legal department has said we can’t do that as a zoning requirement,†Mr. McPhail said. “Philosophically, I think it’s a great idea: I couldn’t agree with the councillor more.â€
“It’s just just legally it’s very difficult to make that part of the official city plan.â€
Mr. McPhail said municipal planners are working now to find ways around the possible legal difficulties. “I’m trying to find out what other ways we might be able to do that.â€
He was not able to say when the planners will be able to report back to Mr. Moscoe or city council.
But the councillor scoffed at the city lawyers’ objections and said if there were problems with his proposed measure, it would already have been challenged before the Ontario Municipal Board. “This city has a constipated legal department,†he said. “They specialize in saying no.â€

Link: http://communities.canada.com/natio...coe-tries-again-on-ttc-passes-for-condos.aspx

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I think this is a great idea. It is a good cost recovery strategy for the city when it makes major public infrastructure investments, like new subways and LRT. It also helps set ridership patterns. If new residents are given the chance to ride the subway for free they may get use to the idea and continue to do so.

Developers along Sheppard have done this voluntarily, including Tridel and the developers of St. Gabriel's village. If developers are doing so voluntarily (either as part of a targeted development charge scheme or to attract buyers) then the city should work through its legal department to get this initiative off the ground.

 

[RedRocket191]

I totally agree - this is a great idea.

Think of it as a try before you buy - and the old college try at transit is better than no try at all.

 

[Prometheus The Supremo]

i think it's flawed. if you provide a metropass, is that condo resident forced to use it? if they want to drive, they'll drive and keep the metropass in the drawer.

why not focus on building condos with no/or limited parking spaces in major transit corridors/nodes? won't less parking reduce the price of construction? then you can drop the price of units and market to the transit crowd. there's lots of people who don't drive in this city and these locations are the best for them & the existing infrastructure.

 

[wyliepoon]

... or maybe the TTC should instead try to work on providing better linkage between condo developments and subway stations. If the TTC can make getting to the subway station just as easy for condo residents as going down to the garage to fetch the car, more condo dwellers would take transit.

 

[Prometheus The Supremo]

... or maybe the TTC should instead try to work on providing better linkage between condo developments and subway stations. If the TTC can make getting to the subway station just as easy for condo residents as going down to the garage to fetch the car, more condo dwellers would take transit.

that's a great idea.

 

[junctionist]

And if the TTC wants to promote itself and make money, they could have a branch that would function as a developer. There's profit to be made.

 

[Hydrogen]

Or sell monthly passes in some buildings.


Oh stop, this is getting all too revolutionary.

 

[drum118]

Anything tall should have 60% parking space only within 1,000 feet of a subway.

Other transit routes should have 75%.

A free pass for a years is a nickel in the pot for buying. Renting is another quarter.

Problem is buying alone the line and driving 30km to work in the 905.

Look what going on the Waterfront. PPL buy there for the view and work in 905.

These folks want a quite waterfront and oppose improving transit, let alone having that streetcar there in the first place.

 

[299 bloor call control.]

Parking requirements are currently being reviewed with Toronto's Zoning Bylaw as part of the implementation of Toronto's official plan. It's ridiculous right now that developers have to offer something in the range of .75 parking spots (correct me if I'm too high or low) per unit, even when they're in the downtown or adjacent to a subway station. We then end up with a bunch of empty, unsold parking spots, as indicated in a lot of downtown condo projects, where seldom all parking spots are sold, and in the case of One City Hall, developers try to give these spots away as an incentive to sell their remaining units... The city is embarking on a "Tall Buildings" study soon that will review these requirements (and others) that will help this issue in the future, and I believe transit pass requirements may be a part of this study.

 

[TKTKTK]

I think this is a boneheaded move. It's just hiding the cost of your metropass in your mortgage. The city is dreaming if it thinks the developers are going to pay for these passes out of their profits.

 

[screenplaying]

Thanks TK. I was depressed after reading the first comments. Howard Moscoe ideas remind me of Ronny...

Unfortunately most people buy his crap before they shelve it.

I'm sure developers are falling all over themselves trying to stop Moscoe. Protests being arranged as we speak. Imagine... having to give in on a stupid pass requirement and using that 'concession' to squeeze the city on any other profitable issue. Then pass the cost on to the buyers. It's such a lose-lose situation.

I gotta go clean up. The sarcasm is dripping heavily.

 

[Chuck]

It's ridiculous right now that developers have to offer something in the range of .75 parking spots (correct me if I'm too high or low) per unit, even when they're in the downtown or adjacent to a subway station. We then end up with a bunch of empty, unsold parking spots, as indicated in a lot of downtown condo projects, where seldom all parking spots are sold, and in the case of One City Hall, developers try to give these spots away as an incentive to sell their remaining units...

It all depends on the area. I had trouble getting a parking spot in the Yonge and St. Clair area because in many buildings, 100% of the spots are occupied even based on the 1960s parking requirements.

 

[St. Even]

Speaking of revolutionary, how about requirements for bicycle spaces? I just moved into a large 70s-ish apartment building at Yonge/St. Clair and there are ZERO spaces for bikes inside the building, and no racks outside.

I'd also like to see large companies that can afford to give their executives free parking, also give their employees transit passes. Not in a legally binding Big Brother way, but, gasp, voluntarily. Does anybody know if any of the big banks do this? But makes think, if a company is going to locate 10,000 people in one city block, does it have a social/ethical/environmental obligation to ensuring its business doesn't also bring in 10,000 cars? Makes me think.....