TTC: Other Items (catch all)

[smably]

By new style do you mean the new Astral Media style shelters? I really hope not because those shelters are really a disaster; they dont offer nearly enough protection from the elements compared to the old transit shelters.

Those are the ones. They do seem like a downgrade in many ways from the old kind. Aside from aesthetics, I'm not sure why the existing ones needed replacing.

 

[W. K. Lis]

Put parking lot money toward transit, Toronto’s business lobby says

See link.

Enough with the parking, build more transit.

That’s the crux of a new call from Toronto’s business lobby, which is urging the city to put the brakes on building new public parking lots and direct that money into transit projects instead.

In a report due out Thursday morning, the Toronto Region Board of Trade makes the case for diverting about $30-million a year from the parking authority. The report argues that that amount, coupled with asset sales and more aggressive development of city lands, could be used to finance about $1-billion in new transit.

“I want to emphasize, [this] is cash that they’re holding,” said Brian Kelcey, the consultant who co-wrote the board report.

“In other words, if we stop using it for the purpose of parking expansion, and redirect all of that cash to public transit, that doesn’t hurt anybody’s budget … there’s no point in the city’s operating budget that’s depending on that money.”

Toronto has a backlog of transportation infrastructure adding up to billions of dollars and is grappling at the same time with how to fund the next generation of transit. Mayor John Tory has said he would support some new source of revenue and has discussed the possibility of a hotel tax with Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne.

A report on revenue-generating options is expected to come back to council this fall. Among the possibilities is a parking tax, which is very unpopular with many businesses. The board of trade proposal offers the prospect of wringing more money out of parking, without a levy that will hit malls and commercial buildings.

However, Lorne Persiko, head of the Toronto Parking Authority, said they can’t give up the money they’ve earmarked for expansion.

“We only grow in areas that need parking,” he said, citing the number of spaces being lost to factors such as condo development and new bicycle lanes. “There’s a lot of parking going out of commission … we need to meet the demands of retail.”

In a briefing, Mr. Kelcey noted that Toronto already has the continent’s largest supply of publicly owned off-street parking.

“It’s not that anybody … who gave advice on this said that parking is bad,” he said. “It was, given a choice between a public dollar going to even more parking, without having a tight business case around it, and a public dollar going to transit, which is facing serious capital challenges and you want to expand it, which are you going to pick, right?”

The report points out that there would be nothing to prevent the parking authority from continuing to expand its supply of lots, providing it can secure funding from a private partner, business improvement agency or other source.

In 1909, a committee of the Toronto Board of Trade issued a report that suggested that public ownership of the transportation system might have advantages over the then privately-owned TRC (Toronto Railway Company). (Referencing "A Thirty Years' War, The failed public/private partnership that spurred the creation of the Toronto Transit Commission, 1891-1921", by C. Ian Kyer)

Interesting that over a hundred years, the Board of Trade sees that public transit is better for Toronto over the automobile.

 

[P23]

Those are the ones. They do seem like a downgrade in many ways from the old kind. Aside from aesthetics, I'm not sure why the existing ones needed replacing.

I don't think I've seen these new ones yet, are there photos by any chance?

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

I don't think I've seen these new ones yet, are there photos by any chance?

https://www.thestar.com/yourtoronto...bsdown_to_new_transit_shelters_the_fixer.html

AoD

 

[W. K. Lis]

What's wrong with the new transit shelter?

As long as the shelter is inside a building.

 

[denfromoakvillemilton]

Why don't they extend the 501 back to port credit and tie it in with the Mississauga LRT? Nice ride and provides another connection to Toronto.

 

[drum118]

Why don't they extend the 501 back to port credit and tie it in with the Mississauga LRT? Nice ride and provides another connection to Toronto.

Where would you put a loop as well deal with the traffic congestion in the area??

The locals and ward Councilor want it underground to the west side of Port Credit River, starting east of Hurontario.

Is it going to service the Imperial Oil lands as well going west???

With duel ends, no need for a loop.

What happens to the Hurontario Line that supposed to go to Long Branch??

 

[smallspy]

Why don't they extend the 501 back to port credit and tie it in with the Mississauga LRT? Nice ride and provides another connection to Toronto.

To go "back" to somewhere, it would have had to have gone there at some point in the past. And no Toronto streetcar has never come anywhere close to running to Hurontario.

As for connections to Toronto, Mississauga Transit already has and makes lots of them, and one of them happens to be the Lakeshore bus along Lakeshore Rd., which connects with the Queen streetcar at Long Branch Loop.

Dan
Toronto, Ont.

 

[DSC]

Fron G & M

The TTC is saying they can meet the mayor’s directive to find 2.6 per cent in cuts, mostly by spending less than expected on health care, but warn that a far bigger budget hole remains to be filled.

Toronto’s transit agency has been able to identify $15.8-million in trims to the main operating and Wheel-Trans budgets. These cuts include getting rid of land-lines for some employees who also have mobile phones and leveraging a ridership slump that left them spending less than expected in parts of this year.

Mayor John Tory’s demand for a 2.6 per cent budget cut at the TTC, as well as at other city agencies, sparked a wave of backlash. Transit advocates said the TTC has already been forced for years to struggle with lower funding than given to agencies in many other cities. And critics noted that the demand for cuts flew in the face of announcements Mr. Tory had made to improve service.
In a report released Friday afternoon, the TTC listed a series of cuts that would not appear to affect service. However, in the same report, the agency made clear that the harder budgeting work remains to be done.

“At the present time, the remaining pressure is about $172.6-million,” according to the report, signed by TTC chief financial and administrative officer Vincent Rodo. “Options for addressing this will be developed and provided as part of the formal budget presented to the TTC Board later this fall.”

The agency will need this additional money next year to maintain the same level of service. The total includes costs related to launching the Spadina subway extension to York Region, implementing the Presto fare-card system, vehicle maintenance and wages and benefits. The TTC is projecting that an extra $15-million will be needed for fuel costs, including $5-million related to Queen’s Park’s new cap-and-trade.

Some of these costs have been whittled down from an earlier estimate that pegged the budget pressure at $215-million. But the gap is still more than 10 times the amount in savings that they found, at the direction of the mayor. It is understood at city hall that the TTC’s subsidy will be going up this year, but whether it rises enough to cover the $172.6-million shortfall will be the subject of tense budget discussions at council.

TTC chief executive Andy Byford has previously signaled that he would not accept drastic measures to close this gap, including possibilities such as major fare hikes or delaying the opening of the subway extension.

 

[denfromoakvillemilton]

Where would you put a loop as well deal with the traffic congestion in the area??

The locals and ward Councilor want it underground to the west side of Port Credit River, starting east of Hurontario.

Is it going to service the Imperial Oil lands as well going west???

With duel ends, no need for a loop.

What happens to the Hurontario Line that supposed to go to Long Branch??

To go "back" to somewhere, it would have had to have gone there at some point in the past. And no Toronto streetcar has never come anywhere close to running to Hurontario.

As for connections to Toronto, Mississauga Transit already has and makes lots of them, and one of them happens to be the Lakeshore bus along Lakeshore Rd., which connects with the Queen streetcar at Long Branch Loop.

Dan
Toronto, Ont.

Fair enough. I guess I misread the map.


Although, the interurban used to go toronto to port credit. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toronto_and_Mimico_Electric_Railway_and_Light_Company

 

[muller877]

Fron G & M

The TTC is saying they can meet the mayor’s directive to find 2.6 per cent in cuts, mostly by spending less than expected on health care, but warn that a far bigger budget hole remains to be filled.
.

Here's a link to the TTC meeting
http://www.ttc.ca/About_the_TTC/Com...ngs/Budget/2016/September_21/Agenda/index.jsp

It's crazy that any company still uses land lines. Haven't they heard of Skype for Business and virtual phones? I'm even more scared that they think that a mobile phone is the better option though. Most companies have switched to BYOD (and have restricted usage to only those that really need one).

It confirms to me that they need a thorough scrubbing of costs at the TTC and the City in general.

A few hundred thousand here and there and it adds up to a substantial amount.

 

[DSC]

Here's a link to the TTC meeting
http://www.ttc.ca/About_the_TTC/Com...ngs/Budget/2016/September_21/Agenda/index.jsp

It's crazy that any company still uses land lines. Haven't they heard of Skype for Business and virtual phones? I'm even more scared that they think that a mobile phone is the better option though. Most companies have switched to BYOD (and have restricted usage to only those that really need one).

It confirms to me that they need a thorough scrubbing of costs at the TTC and the City in general.

A few hundred thousand here and there and it adds up to a substantial amount.

Though I agree that land-lines are less useful we are talking about a VERY small amount of money in savings. The real budget problem at TTC is that they simply DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH MONEY.

From the Report: Removing telephone land lines for staff provided with TTC cell phones ($0.3M) `` See: http://ttc.ca/About_the_TTC/Commission_reports_and_information/Committee_meetings/Budget/2016/September_21/Reports/1._Preliminary_2017_TTC _and_Wheel-Trans_Operating_Budgets.pdf

 

[Amare]

Those are the ones. They do seem like a downgrade in many ways from the old kind. Aside from aesthetics, I'm not sure why the existing ones needed replacing.

It's part of the city's contract with Astral Media. To be realistic, many of them dont need to be replaced from an age related perspective. I'm sure there's a reason speculated in the contract, but as many of us know Astral is now owned by Bell so it doesnt surprise me that this is the kind of garbage they like putting out (ie: shelters that offer little to no protection).

 

[EastYorkTTCFan]

It's part of the city's contract with Astral Media. To be realistic, many of them dont need to be replaced from an age related perspective. I'm sure there's a reason speculated in the contract, but as many of us know Astral is now owned by Bell so it doesnt surprise me that this is the kind of garbage they like putting out (ie: shelters that offer little to no protection).

I think shelters are becoming less about shelters and more about advertising as people really don't use them as much as they used to.

 

[dowlingm]

A few hundred thousand here and there and then next year your tax fighter mayor wants you to make the same amount of cuts but you can't get rid of a thing you already got rid of so...

As for "virtual phones", my experience is that what is delivered is not exactly what is in the brochure.