Over at the Torontoist blog, there is an alternative to the TTC’s survey.  I had a hand in its construction along with several others.

Although some early commenters are of the “we can’t find anything nice to say about anything school”, the survey attempts to find out what riders’ experience on the TTC is now, what sort of impact the proposed TTC cuts would have, what sort of alternatives to TTC travel people might resort to in the face of service cuts or higher fares.  This is vital info the TTC didn’t bother to ask themselves.

For those who missed the link buried in all of the comments on the first “My TTC Is …” post, there is a map provided by Ian Trider that shows where the proposed cuts are in the network.  That’s something else the TTC didn’t produce.

What we’re still missing, and alas don’t have the raw data for it, is the list of service improvements that were planned but cancelled because of Council’s pig-headedness about the new taxes. 

Transit advocacy is something the TTC and pro-transit Councillors really need to take seriously.  It’s not enough to say “the TTC is the green way” and “I get to work faster than my boss (who drives)”.  The first is almost meaningless in the choices people make about taking transit, and the second is a joke.  You can drive just about anywhere faster than you will get there on the TTC.  [A friend who leans over my shoulder as I write this suggests that the real trick to arriving by transit before the boss is to leave an hour early.]

The authors of this inane copy need some serious lessons in reality.

The TTC is doing a terrible job of showing what might still be if only we get on the right track with new TTC revenues.  Why is this left to the bloggers, to the TTC fans, to the riders who feel they are abandoned by gutless politicians who won’t raise the money needed to pay for all their transit dreams and promises.