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TTC New Year's Eve Free Service

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Jonny5

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I remember hearing about this being referred to by staff, but there was an official announcement yesterday.

http://toronto.ctv.ca/servlet/an/lo...ee_ttc_rides_071206/20071206/?hub=TorontoHome


CTV Toronto
Thu. Dec. 6 2007 6:32 PM ET
You can leave the car at home this New Year's Eve because the TTC announced that rides on the Red Rocket will be free between midnight and 4 a.m.

For the first time in more than 30 years, the TTC will be offering free rides to passengers on New Year's Eve.

Riders won't have to pay a fare between midnight and 4 a.m. The decision came at a transit meeting at city hall on Thursday afternoon.

The commission hasn't offered the free Dec. 31 service since the mid-1970s because of the cost.

The four hours of free service will cost the transit body about $80,000, and comes at a time when the TTC is facing an $11-million deficit.

But Giambrone says the initiative "is the right thing to do" because it will prevent drinking and driving.

"I think that everyone agrees that on New Year's Eve, when you're out celebrating, the TTC is the better way to go," he told CTV News.

Giambrone noted the TTC will be looking for a corporate sponsor for the program.

Commuters said they were thrilled about the plan.

"I think it's an absolute superb idea -- we'll probably save more than $80,000 dollars in traffic accidents," said one woman.

"I come from Halifax and that's what (our transit system) does there on New Year's Eve, so I think it's a real good idea," said one tourist.

MADD Canada supports the idea, as do Toronto police, who say drivers still aren't getting the message about drinking and driving.

Police charged six motorists with impaired driving in the first five days of its annual holiday RIDE program.

With a report from CTV's Naomi Parness
 
how much does it cost for emergency services to respond to just 1 accident?

if this initiative can save just 1 life or 1 serious injury, it's worth it not just from an ethical sense but is also justified in a financial sense.
 
Wow, it'll be interesting to see if they'll add any extra buses to the major routes between those times. I can tell you that it is IMPOSSIBLE to get on the vomit-comet Yonge St. bus on New Years Eve... before 4am... if you're trying to catch it anywhere north of Front St. Try the Bloor intersection for real pissed off people entertainment.

If they said 6AM, I might have clap, clapped. They're just not providing enough of a window for the partiers. The guys most likely to leave the clubs after last call and not wanting to freeze their drunken nuts off waiting 2-3 hours for a bus that they can sardine themselves into... and pay for the experience.

6AM or extra buses and I clap.
 
I just noticed this and am 99% sure it wasn't there before, the New Year's Eve free service is now "courtesy of Capital One"!

http://www.toronto.ca/ttc/holiday_information.htm

Are they putting up cash to fund operations like MasterCard did with the Nathan Phillips Square skating rink?
 
Free TTC service on New Years Eve...

Everyone: I feel that free TTC service on the TTC is a good idea-but why only from midnight to 4am only? I remember back in the mid 80s the NY MTA provided free service on the Long Island Rail Road as an example-but what ended up happening was people ended up just riding the trains all night long instead of taking a free train ride to a destination. Many problems occured such as trains being vandalized and other problems that arose from the usual New Years Eve drinking.

As another example New Jersey Transit offered sharply reduced fares on that night as an incentive.
Some examples I recall was: In Philadelphia at the start of the Milennium(into 2000) many celebrations were planned-so SEPTA sold a special pass valid from 8pm to
4am-at a nominal charge. I purchased one as a collectible knowing I would not use it-I was in NYC that night at a house party. That would be a good idea for the TTC-at perhaps a $5 charge?

If it was up to me I would charge a flat one dollar fare from 8pm to 4am for all TTC services. A corporate sponsor is a good idea-I recall in Philadelphia when Citizens Bank entered the area they purchased once an entire half day on SEPTA-offering free transit rides for a full morning. Why did the TTC not have a sponsor or offer a free ride for the just as important 8pm to midnight time period is beyond me.
The most important thing is curbing drinking and driving-but as we all know when alcohol is involved other problems can arise...That's my two cents here-LI MIKE
 
screenplaying - the subway will be extended on New Years Eve and last trains will run from downtown at about 3:30am so there shouldn't be a problem with crowding.

Capital One came forward to sponsor, as did a number of other organizations... and whatever, it's a goodwill measure, and the city shouldn't be afraid to take these. Who cares? The city gets to run the service at no cost.

I said this on the post on BlogTO about this earlier in the month and I think calling this a measure to reduce drinking and driving is a load of BS. It's going to make it easier for people to head home, which is a good thing, but don't say it will keep drunk drivers off the road. People who are smart and know better wouldn't be drinking and driving in the first place. They are the ones who probably would have planned ahead of time and made alternate arrangements to get home or have a place to sleep, regardless of free or extended transit service. Drunk drivers are idiots who will drink and drive anyway. The statistics that came out earlier this week that showed that most drunk drivers are repeat offenders - read: idiots. You're not going to get an idiot off the road by waving free transit in their face.

Again, i'm not against providing free service or extended service - it'll reward the smarter ones in society. I'm just saying that citing this as a way to reduce drinking and driving is a load of bull when society has reached the point where it is intolerable and idiotic to drive drunk. Sadly, there's plenty of people out there that haven't gotten this and will be on our roads still.
 
and i mainly say this because I don't want January 1st to come around and there's still drunk driving incidents and people say that it was a waste of money to run the extended and free service.
 
299 bloor call control. said:
Again, i'm not against providing free service or extended service - it'll reward the smarter ones in society. I'm just saying that citing this as a way to reduce drinking and driving is a load of bull when society has reached the point where it is intolerable and idiotic to drive drunk. Sadly, there's plenty of people out there that haven't gotten this and will be on our roads still.
Click to expand...

I just checked in on this thread and thanks for the response. I'm in 100% agreement with the D&D issue and I think that's what was eating at me. My New Years Eve experience comes from serving/bartending in the Yorkville area in years past. I don't think my mind can yet imagine 'Yorkville' partiers cramming themselves onto a 'free' bus. It's either a cab, or a car for MANY of the 'idiots' that come into that area. I've watched valet's bring up the Mercedes only to have the 'driver' plow it into another car thirty seconds later. I gotta admit, when there's no death involved the 'idiot' actions can be pretty hilarious.

My bus experience and observations were from trying to get home from Bloor/Yonge between 3-4 in the morning on New Years Day. It is impossible (guaranteed to be passed by countless crammed buses), so just grab a sausage and then a Timmy's hot chocolate and wait it out, or call for a ride. If there was extended subway service in the past, I wasn't aware of it and it was probably too late anyway... or I didn't care because it would just have stranded me at Downsview station (where I needed to get to). No 24 hours buses available there at that time anyway. I'll save my rant on TTC service times and scheduling for some other day. Oh what the hell... OUR CITY IS A FUCKING JOKE NOT HAVING A SUBWAY SYSTEM RUNNING AFTER LAST CALL. YOU STRAND EVERY WAITER, BARTENDER, BUS BOY, DRINKER AND PARTIER WHO DOESN'T WORK OR LIVE ALONG A 24-HOUR BUS ROUTE. BUT I HAVE A CAR NOW AND SCREW THE LOT OF YOU. YOU HAD YOUR CHANCE TO GIVE A SHIT! Ahhhhhhhh... no need for that therapist appointment now. I won't bore you with my route headaches (Yonge up to Finch, wait up to an hour, over to Keele and then go for a nice 20 minute walk, or find a cab if the nuts are truly frozen). Poor York students also have to go this route and even if the city extends the subway up there, THEY'LL STILL HAVE TO DO IT!!

Anyway, nice freebie gesture on the city's part. Maybe the next time, instead of trying to score MADD brownie points, they can try it on a normal day... combine it with $1 Pizza Pizza slices or something for the United Way.
 
Indeed. York U seems to be the biggest gap in the Blue Night system. I see 3 ways of adding York to it - either extend the 329 from Dufferin and Wilson west and up Keele and into the campus (which would be the best for replicating the Spadina Subway alignment for the 24 hour service), making the 353 Steeles East route cross Yonge as far as York (connecting to the 320 at Yonge/Steeles) or simply extending the 313 Jane route.

Twice I had problems (out of three times I've used the 300 series routes) with bus drivers just not bothering to show up - after Nuit Blanche on the 310 Bathurst, and coming back from the ROM on the 319.
 
Sean now that we're on York... can you explain something that I think every York student has wondered at some point...

what's with the 106 that comes into Downsview Station around 2AM (after the subway has stopped) and continues on to Wilson station before looping back to Downsview? Depending on the mood of the bus driver, he does this with or without passengers. There is never anyone waiting at Wilson and if there is, they deserve to be stranded for not taking the subway all the way to Downsview.

The guys that mapped that route are clearly insane.
 
screenplaying said:
Sean now that we're on York... can you explain something that I think every York student has wondered at some point...

what's with the 106 that comes into Downsview Station around 2AM (after the subway has stopped) and continues on to Wilson station before looping back to Downsview? Depending on the mood of the bus driver, he does this with or without passengers. There is never anyone waiting at Wilson and if there is, they deserve to be stranded for not taking the subway all the way to Downsview.

The guys that mapped that route are clearly insane.
Click to expand...

It's strange, but here's my theory.

I figure it might be to connect to the last 29/329 buses and the 319 buses for passengers on the bus southbound, or to make connections for the last northbound trips. There's no Blue Night buses at Downsview, the nearst place that does would be at Wilson (2 routes), or at Sheppard and Bathurst (1 route). The last train leaves Downsview at 1:18, but arrive going out of service much later, of course (for those passengers connecting to the 106 north).
 
Long Island Mike said:
Everyone: I feel that free TTC service on the TTC is a good idea-but why only from midnight to 4am only? I remember back in the mid 80s the NY MTA provided free service on the Long Island Rail Road as an example-but what ended up happening was people ended up just riding the trains all night long instead of taking a free train ride to a destination. Many problems occured such as trains being vandalized and other problems that arose from the usual New Years Eve drinking.
Click to expand...
Haven't you just answered your own question?
 
TTC Service Hours - Compare and Contrast!

I noticed the complaints about TTC service hours, many of which I share. But I thought it would be worth referring to other North American Systems to see what service is like.

Note that in the U.S. many systems run different hours on different lines, where this is the case I used the best level of service I could find as my starting point, except in New York where I made note of the best non-24 service for subways.

Most systems had comparable weekday openings of 5:30-6:15, the exception being Chicago with Service from 4AM on most lines.

So my comparison is Sunday Start time, Weekday Close and Weekend Close

TTC

Sunday Service (start) 9AM
Weeknight (close), 1:45AM (varies by station)
Weekend (close) 1:45AM

Montreal Metro

Sunday Service (start) 5:30AM
Weeknight (close) 1:00AM
Weekend (close) 1:30AM

New York City * (NYC has several 24-hour subway lines)

Sunday Service (start) 7:45AM (non-24 hour line)
Weeknight (close) 1:30AM
Weekend (close) 1:30AM

Chicago

Sunday Service (start) 6AM
Weeknight (close) 1AM
Weekend (close) 2AM

(weekday service starts at 4AM on many routes)

Washington D.C.

Sunday Service (start) 7AM
Weeknight (close) 12AM
Weekend (close) 3AM

*************

For those systems I don't have an accurate pictures of, please feel free to correct me! (I wasn't going to read the schedule of every NYC or Chicago line!)

***************

Now the observation I would make is on weeknight close the TTC does very well, with only NYC doing better.

Even in Quebec with a 3AM last call, the metro shuts down by 1:30am on the weekend, earlier on weekdays.

On weekend close we have been bested by tiny Washington D.C....so perhaps we could extend service to 3am (Fri/Sat only)

But the one schedule difference that clearly stands out....no other City has to wait till 9am to get Subways on a Sunday!

The average Sunday start time is 6:30 AM across most systems!

Who wants to start the campaign for better hours? A Facebook petition anyone?
 
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