This item is a potpourri of news from the TTC meeting including:
While I was at the TTC today, I took the oppurtunity to find out what is going on with this endless project. Here’s an update.
The Ramps at St. Clair West
Due to problems with the contractor (no specifics), the work has been on hold. However, the impasse is now resolved, work has (or will shortly) resume and completion is planned for the end of October.
The New Shelters
The now-and-forever project to install new shelters on the completed portion of the line is getting rather comic. They were supposed to come in August, then in September and now they might get here this month, but don’t hold your breath. October, maybe. Considering how long ago this line was designed, the idea that we are only now getting delivery of the shelters is a huge joke.
Why Are The Buses Not On The Right Of Way?
It seems that the buses are afraid of falling off because of clearance problems. Of course, if they hadn’t put those dumb centre poles on the right-of-way, this would not be an issue.
I cannot help thinking that all of these and similar problems are rooted in what passes for design and project management. The TTC can run an efficient project (just look at the recent reconstruction at Kennedy Station), but some on some projects everything that can go wrong does. They can’t blame it all on SOS or Hydro.
One of the more bizarre election stories appeared in the Globe and Mail today — Dalton McGuinty is advancing the idea of hydrogen-fuelled GO Trains.
Regular readers here will know that my opinion of hydrogen as a transit fuel is thinly-veiled contempt on the best of days, and I am astounded to see McGuinty wandering down this technological dead end.
Fuel cells and hydrogen power have their uses, but they run into difficulties even at the scale of a city bus, let alone a railway car. If this were used for GO equipment, it would be at best for self-propelled cars running on minor lines that did not warrant full, locomotive-hauled trains. This is a niche market, not a mainstream replacement for existing equipment. Continue reading
In another thread, Mimmo Briganti commented on the TTC’s revelation that we wouldn’t save anything by closing the Sheppard line.
So it turns out that closing the Sheppard subway would only save $300,000? Total idiots!! Why do they go out spreading such stupid PR when they don’t even have their numbers straight? That $10M figure they quoted was supposed to be NET (after the replacement buses were added).
If this new figure is accurate, doesn’t it destroy your argument against the Spadina extension? If the capital cost of the extension is paid for by the senior levels of gov’t, and the operating cost ratio (subway vs. # of buses) is similar to Sheppard, isn’t it peanuts to run the extension on a cost per passenger basis?
I don’t get it — these numbers just don’t add up!
I agree that the numbers just don’t add up, but there isn’t enough detail in the report and I have been too busy with other matters to try to work through an “alternative” estimate. Alas, we still don’t have an estimated cost to operate the Sheppard line itself, only a claimed delta.
Going from a claimed $10-million annual saving to zero shows a huge error in estimating techniques and undermines the credibility of all of the TTC’s service and cost based proposals. This has happened regularly at the TTC, but never on such a spectacular scale.
Note that the $300K figure is for closing the Sheppard and Spadina (north of St. Clair West) lines only on weekends. There is no cost estimate for a full closure. Of course, you can’t really close the Spadina line operationally because it provides access to Wilson Yard. Sheppard at least could be mothballed, but you don’t get savings from that unless you close it 7×24.
The average weekday ridership on the Sheppard Subway, at 43,000 trips, is matched only by the Dufferin bus, and that route (a) is longer, (b) has good bi-directional demand, and (c) has good all-day demand. The Sheppard riders are much more concentrated in space and time and would require a very frequent peak bus service.
As for the Spadina line, we must be absolutely certain that the capital costs will not block other deserving projects from being funded. Otherwise we could sink every penny of provincial or federal grants into one line but still not have capital available to expand the rest of the system.
The TTC also published a cheerleading report yesterday about why the Spadina extension project must go ahead. I will turn to that report in a separate post.
Earlier today, I learned that TTC’s internal security folks, who have nothing better to do with their time than protect employees from the evils of the Internet, blocked my website for access from the TTC’s network. This lasted about a week.
It is reassuring to know that in these troubled times, TTC staff are not wasting their days reading commentaries that, in some cases, have far more information than they are likely to get internally from their own organization.
The issue of staff “wasting time” on the Internet comes up in every organization, but some are rather heavy handed in how they deal with this. If the problem is that staff are not doing their work, then manage that problem. There are many more ways for people to not work than to surf the net.
Now on the subject of budget cuts, I think we have a candidate who surely won’t be missed.
Today the TTC took a big step back from the brink of disaster with a package addressing the current budget crisis. At last, instead of predictions of widespread service cuts, we actually hear of service improvements with more to come as and when funding is obtained. This is a much more responsible presentation than we have heard from anyone at City Hall in the past months.
After a long presentation followed by a Q&A between the Commissioners and Chief General Manager Gary Webster, we heard from a series of deputations including me. The message was consistent throughout — keeping service is a top priority.
You can read the staff report on the TTC’s website although some of the illustrations are missing. Some of them appear as links from this and future posts. Continue reading
In the previous post, I detailed the decisions taken by the TTC at its September 12, 2007 meeting. Here, I will discuss how they will address the budget shortfall in 2007, 2008 and beyond. Continue reading
Much air time and print space have been devoted to Wednesday’s TTC meeting (September 12). Which routes will be on the chopping block? What will happen to fares? Does anyone except the riding public actually care, or are the politicians and press too busy scoring political points off of each other?
The Transit Commission has a difficult decision, but hardest one will be this: resist calls for cuts now.
Shirking responsibility? Nonsense. The Transit Commissioners should be advocates for transit, not hatchet men for those who prefer to starve a vital service. The Commission’s job is to avert the destruction of the system. Continue reading
Tonight, Councillor Michael Thompson, who is also a TTC Commissioner, will host a public meeting in the Rotunda of the Scarborough Civic Centre (south of the SRT station, across the plaza).
TTC CGM Gary Webster and the Chair Adam Giambrone will join Councillor Thompson to talk about how the City’s cost containment measures will affect the TTC and transit services in Scarborough.
I will not be attending tonight, but will be at the full TTC meeting on Wednesday. Later today, I will publish my position on the TTC cuts overall and the action that the Commission should take pending resolution of budget problems.
The surveys conducted by the TTC and the Torontoist website both show that retention and improvement of service is paramount for TTC riders. Recently, the Toronto Board of Trade released their own five-point election platform, and they strongly support transit improvement.
Let your Councillors, especially those who prefer to blame every cut on Queen’s Park or the unions, know that we need better service, we need more service, and we will not tolerate more excuses for Toronto’s failure to properly fund its transit system.
The Toronto International Film Festival kicked off last night. For the next 10 days, I will be in festival mode spending most of my time in theatres. Transit won’t disappear completely from this site, but my focus will shift as it does each year.
I will be posting reviews of the films I see, although keeping up on a day to day basis may be a challenge.
Reviewed here:
Fados by Carlos Saura
Steve Munro 