Who actually uses transit?

[miketoronto]

An interesting question here. How many people in your family actually use transit? How many people do you know who actually use transit?

Stats for Toronto say that 35% of Toronto residents use transit to get to work, and that 60% of Toronto residents use transit atleast once a month.

However when I look at the people I know, neighbours, family, family friends, etc. I find it very hard to believe.

Out of my family, my mom, my brother, and my dad drive 90% of the time. My mom will take TTC only if going downtown. My older sister and I are the only ones who fully use TTC all the time(my sister actually gave up her car in favour of TTC). My other sister also uses TTC but not as often, as she needs to drive sometimes for work.

When I look at my extended family, which is well over 50 cousins, almost none will touch public transit with a ten foot pole. Only one of my cousins actually commutes via transit to work. The rest drive, and transit plays no role in their life. One of my cousins even works right downtown near Union Station, and lives right near to a GO Station, but he won't be caught on the GO train. He drives to work.

When I look at my parents friends, only one of them actually uses transit to get to work. When my dad worked downtown, almost all the people he worked with drove downtown to work, and are still addicted to cars

I have to say overall, just in general out of people I know, from family to co-workers, etc. I can hardly think of any that the TTC actually is a part of their life, except my friends from school who mostly seem very transit friendly for now. Out of my friends, only three or four of them have parents that actually leave the car at home and commute via transit to work.

What about you guys? Does Transit play any role in the lives of people you know?

I know the transit system is used. But overall I sometimes wonder where the riders are coming from, because just general observations of people I know do not show anyone using transit to any great extent.

 

[ceytie]

It depends on who's in your family.

Living in Malvern I can say if your extended family consists of older-aged new Canadians (especially women), or youths (grade 7 - university), they'll likely be transit users.

 

[Forest Hill]

Transit plays a pretty big role in my life, and my families. my brother goes to school at seneca at the york u campus so he subway's it all the way up there every day. my mom works near yonge and york mills, so she often pulls off a park and ride from eglinton or st. clair area. my dad works downtown, so he'll drive there but he'll use transit to get around once there, my sister lives in kingston but when shes here she normally uses the car a lot. this often leaves me without much choice but to use public transit. as for extended family, most of my extended family lives outside toronto, like montreal, ottawa, vancouver, new york, etc. and they use public transit there quite a bit, my friends use it a good amount to.

 

[jmacmillan]

I gave up my car in 1989 and have taken transit ever since. Best decision I ever made! I've saved a tremendous amount of money and am more physically fit. I've gained a lot of time and freed myself from a lot of needless stress. Of course, I also decided to live downtown. I cycle a lot these days too! I rent a car on rare occasions.

Incidentally, Canada census reports that between 80 and 85 % of those who live in the 2 census tracts area bounded by Bloor, Yonge, Jarvis and Carlton walk, cycle, or take transit to work.

 

[jeicow]

Not many in my family use transit. My mom only uses it when going downtown which is only about once every month, and her work requires her to drive. My sister usually drives to Burlington when she visits from St. Cats and then takes the GO train/bus to our place. My dad hardly ever uses it, mainly because taking it to his work would take about 5 times longer. I use it when I have no ride, which is a lot, but do go on random bus rides when I have the time just to see what everything looks like.

 

[esplanade guy]

Once people move to the city centre, their whole perspective changes. I gave up driving, shortly after moving downtown. I walk everywhere and feel much healthier. Walking 2 or 3 hours is no problem now. My brother moved to Yonge and Eglington a few years ago. Now, he gave up his car-loving ways. He actually uses the subway to go to work downtown. (Which I never thought would happen) Last but not least, my best friend from Mississauga, who used to be a total suburbanite, until he met me, has moved downtown too (after much debate) and he now is a total convert to downtown condo living and walking to work. He will never get rid of his car, although he only uses it to visit friends and family in Mississauga and when he does, he bitches about what a hassle it is. So I think it's all about urban vs suburban and people are changing, slowly but surely.

 

[jordancerovic]

I live in East York and I see no point in owning a car. Factoring in parking it would both take longer and be (much) more expensive to drive than to take the TTC downtown.

 

[GregWTravels]

My family is split about 50/50 on transit use. My father (living in Burlington) used to use transit when he worked in Toronto - taking the GO to Union and then the TTC up to Finch - which amazed me as that's a LONG ride. Now he is retired, he doesn't use it much anymore because most of what he does is travel between Burlington and Dundas to his girlfriend's place - not very many useful transit options there.

My one sister uses transit all the time in Hamilton, as she cannot drive. My other sister who lives in Scarborough drives everywhere. She works as a special teacher who does a 1/2 day at 10 different schools throughout the week, and needs to transport materials to the schools.

I use transit, but then I purposelly moved onto a subway line so that I could use transit. I have had 3 different jobs, all on the Yonge line since moving into my present apartment. In looking for a new place to live, I wouldn't move too far from a transit line, and in looking for a new job, I would have to be rewarded pretty highly to take something that would require me to drive to work every day.

Greg

 

[Chuck100]

My job is downtown, on the subway line, and I live downtown, on the subway line. However my job requires a car, thus unfortunately I will have to get a car and start driving to work when I start. >: But since I am currently living car free downtown, I walk everywhere anyway and never use the TTC as it is. For non work trips, I'm obviously never going to use the car since it's more of a burden than anything else.

 

[SD2]

For my immediate family...all of us except maybe my father (and even he might fall in the once-a-month category).

 

[astObs]

That's pretty bad, maybe you should look for a new family!

 

[building babel]

I Metropass it everywhere. The 504 is my streetcar named Desire. The only thing that could make my transit life better would be an express bus up Logan. Other than that, if I'm in a real hurry I cab it, or rely on the kindness of a friend with a car.

 

[bizorky]

I have used transit all my life. I have never personally owned a car. The only time I have ever wanted to was when the weather sucked or when I was not feeling well.

And when I was feeling lazy.

I know there are plenty of good reasons to own a car. But more and more, I value the benefits of not owning one. The cost of car ownership have gone up considerably. I would bet that if one purchased a new car at age thirty, along with a modest priced home, over a lifetime, the costs of owning automobiles would exceed the costs of owning a home.

I still encounter those individuals who think that one is incomplete without a car.

 

[stokell]

There are three people in our household.

I travel 21 km each way to work by bike. Less distance if it rains snows or is very windy or cold. I'm one of those guys with a beater bike at the RT.

My partner owns a car and drives the 4km (10 minutes) to work. She uses transit when parking downtown will be too expensive or we will be drinking. We also use cabs for social events

Our son travels 8 kms to school everyday and uses the TTC extensively on weekends. He has a Metropass.

 

[Encyclical]

I use TTC pretty much everyday. I live about a 20 minute commute from my work so it isn't too horrible to get there on the bus. My fiancé is in the same situation as are my 2 brothers and sister.

I rent a car from time to time but have never owned one.

I only seriously considered buying a car when I lived near McNic and Brimley. Transit on your schedule was horrible up there and when I worked night shift (7pm - 7am) Sunday mornings I couldn't get home but had to wait til 9am for the bus I needed to start running Eastward. ugh