I rarely post adverts on this site, but as I will be sitting on one of the panels at this event, here goes. The text below was supplied by the Transit Summit’s organizer.
GTHA Transit Summit: Riding Towards a Sustainable Future
Hosted by Transport Futures in partnership with TMU’s Ted Rogers School of Management (TRSM) and Urban Analytics Institute
September 4, 2024 : TRSM Commons Conference Hall, 55 Dundas Street West, 7th Floor, Toronto
Transit in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area is at a crossroads. On the surface, fluctuating ridership and revenue has resulted from COVID lockdowns as well as work-from-home, auto-dependency and safety issues. But there are also numerous capital and operational challenges that must be corrected: politics and governance, leadership and accountability, finance and procurement, maintenance and technology, human resources and customer service, land development and mobility management – to name a few. Please join me as well as 20 other speakers and 100 delegates as we examine transit?s many benefits and then make strategic recommendations so the future of bus, LRT, subway and rail travel is brighter than its recent past.
Check out the GTHA Transit Summit website for further details. SteveMunro.ca subscribers receive a 10% discount : use promo code SMTF8 when registering. Seating is limited and early bird rates end on August 8.
I will be speaking as part of the wrap-up panel reflecting on the day’s discussions and the perennial question: “where do we go from here?”
Steve Munro 
Will any Toronto Transit Commission board members attend or observe? Like Councillor Stephen Holyday? (Insert laugh track here.)
Steve: No board members are on any of the panels.
LikeLike
Steve, how much are you pocketing out of the ticket sales and from acting as a “panelist”? I know that the amount will depend upon how many tickets you are able to sell but what are the terms and conditions that will determine your cut of the share?
Steve: For the record, I and other panelists are doing this pro bono. I will get free coffee, sandwiches and cookies.
LikeLike
There are aspects that could improve public transit overall. Not just in Toronto or the GTA, but in Ontario in general. The MTO has regulations that prioritize or geared for the single-occupant motorist.
For example, in Quebec they use various transit signals while Ontario only allows one (the vertical transit signal). In Quebec, transit buses can legally make a left turn from the right lane.
See this explainer video.
LikeLike
With respect to those who are working daily in delivering transit services, I am pretty dark about the billions slated for expansions, as they aren’t necessarily going to give real value. To the point that it’d be worthwhile to pause almost all of the major contracts (except Finch), till the Eglinton Line is up and running well for three months, and we use that time for external evaluations of what we’re doing, including the Ontario Line. One reason is that computers aren’t going away, and so the core-focus may be excessive, along with the types of construction ie. deep tunnels vs. straight line or a surface/triage routing with political will. And the OL doesn’t go far enough west through Parkdale to Etobicoke, and maybe it should go north via Rail Trail for a U-shaped Relief Line as per 1985-ish plan. Whether panellists get political enough is a stay tuned moment, but I’ve heard that it’s now fully registered, including many from the City, though it’s the province/federal level who may need more exposure given the imbalances in power.
LikeLike
Steve Munro quoting the summit organiser(s):
Steve Munro:
Please clarify the above.
Also state what achievements were achieved in this summit (if any).
Steve: What part of “pro bono” don’t you understand? We were not paid to participate. Some did it from a motive of good will, some for the reputation of their employers, some for self-promotion. My entire compensation for the day was coffee, sundry pastries and a lunch.
Achievements? I am not sure the event accomplished a lot beyond the immediate attendees. I sensed a rise in awareness of the problem with focus on capital rather than operating subsidies, within the larger issue of transit underfunding generally. However, few of the attendees were in much of a position to do anything about this.
Some of the presentations were interesting, but a few commercial/industrial panelists just used a stock presentation that had little to do with the event’s topic. This is not unusual in such gatherings.
LikeLike