Woodbridge_Heights
Senior Member
I think the main thing keeping people attached to their cars, at least in this city, is that public transit is just so excruciatingly s l o w.
The subways we do have are not extensive enough. GO is acceptably fast, but the buses can get tied up in traffic. Buses in the suburbs are a PITA to take. Most streetcars are laughably slow.
Whenever I go to other cities I marvel at how easy, convenient and extensive public transit is. Here, it's a joke.
We unquestionably need to invest a LOT of money into transit. Otherwise the GTA will choke on its traffic.
If we are going to reduce our car dependance we need to provide a high level of service from public transit. The same "Use public transit, don't use a car" and "If your commute is long than move close to your place of work" comments simply don't address to facts that exist out on the street every single day. Non downtown oriented commutes are slow and obtrusive, even downtown commutes are difficult unless you work on GO's peak scheduling. Connections between transit systems are a joke. The labour market is nothing like what are parents had. Dual incomes are a requirement not a luxury in the current economy. Jobs are at their least stable than they have ever been, people entering the workforce are being told to expect to hold 5 - 10 different jobs/positions through their working career.
All this leads to at least one vehicle being almost required. Two people working are not likely to, or cannot be expected to work in the same area. Changing jobs means what was once close is now far from home.
By no means am I advocating a car culture but we need to focus on improving our transit rather than beating people down for making economic choices that work for them (see numerous posters here who have laid out their financial calculations which justify their ownership of a car).