Quarter of TTC surface routes regularly exceed crowding standards

In news unlikely to surprise Toronto transit users, more than a quarter of the TTC’s bus and streetcar routes are regularly overcrowded, the Star has learned.

Data obtained from the TTC show that 43 of roughly 155 bus and streetcar routes exceed the transit agency’s crowding standards at some point during each week. That’s more than a quarter of all surface routes.

Joe Mihevc and Toronto councillors -- not transit riders -- are the ones 'ripping off' the TTC

Toronto City Councillor Joe Mihevc thinks the TTC has a problem -- and that problem is all those dastardly fare evaders who are allegedly ripping the fine city of Toronto off!

Mihevc went on TV to state:

    'I take the streetcar virtually every day on St. Clair. I notice the number of people boarding on the back door and I do wonder whether some of them are getting a free ride,' Mihevc told CP24 on Friday afternoon. 'I have never been asked by a fare checker and I have never seen them checking other people either. The honour system is present in many cities around the world but those cities don't rely as much on the fare box as we do. We can't just turn a blind eye to it.'

Discount TTC Passes For Low-Income Torontonians debate sidetracked by expansion

TORONTO - A proposal to introduce discount TTC passes for low-income Torontonians was sidetracked Monday by the ongoing debate over funding for transit expansion.

Toronto's Board of Health raised concerns that there was no way to fund such an initiative when the city is already struggling to raise enough money to expand public transit.

Rob Ford slams TTC chair Karen Stintz over newsstand deal

Mayor Rob Ford and his brother, Councillor Doug Ford, took turns bashing TTC chair Karen Stintz on their radio show for supporting a lease extension for the company that runs newsstands in the subway.

The Toronto Transit Commission should have sought competitive bids for the right to operate 65 subway newsstands, eight lottery booths, two bakeries and two cafes, Ford said Sunday on CFRB Newstalk 1010.

A passenger’s a passenger, no matter how small

Toronto’s stroller war was reignited earlier this week thanks to a metaphorical Molotov cocktail from Elsa La Rosa, the lone 61-year-old woman who told TTC commissioners that stroller-pushing parents should be charged extra and limited in numbers. Oh, and she also said the age of eligibility should be lowered for a Seniors Metropass.

In other words, La Rosa’s complaint was crassly self-serving—she wanted cheaper transport for herself, and for those damn babies to get off her streetcar lawn. However, I imagine if she one day requires a walker or wheelchair, La Rosa would probably not want to pay extra or be left at the curb in the pouring rain or swirling snow because too many similarly-impaired seniors were already onboard.

Why the stroller debate on Toronto public transit is a gendered fight

I woke up this morning to a city full of snow and a Twitter timeline on fire.

Elsa La Rosa’s complaint yesterday to the Toronto Transit Commission has kicked off, not only a staff report, but a noisy city-wide airing of grievances about “SUV-sized strollers” taking up too much space on crowded buses. It’s easy to blame the parents (for whom taking an actual SUV is probably out of the question). But let’s get real: This isn’t about individual choices. It’s about gender and class and how they intersect in public space. And when I say “gender”, I mean “women.”

TTC chief to Ford: Don’t call me unless you have to

The head of the TTC is asking Rob Ford not to call him unless it’s about official city business, following what he described as a “garbled conversation” on the day a commission bus was used to ferry the mayor’s football team home from a game.

At a press conference to explain the TTC’s policy on providing buses for emergency purposes, commission CEO Andy Byford revealed that a frustrated Ford called him on November 1, demanding to know the whereabouts of a bus sent to pick up the Don Bosco Eagles, which the mayor coaches.

TTC, police deny responsibility for decision to divert buses for Mayor Rob Ford’s football team

The TTC and Toronto police are both distancing themselves from the decision to kick passengers off two buses so they could be dispatched to pick up Mayor Rob Ford’s high school football team.

“At no time were TTC frontline personnel aware of why a shelter bus was required,” a TTC news release sent out Sunday evening said.

“Given the urgency of the police request, operations personnel at the TTC made the decision to utilize buses from nearby routes to meet the request as quickly as possible.”

TTC’s Andy Byford 'not happy' after buses diverted for Mayor Rob Ford’s high school football team

TTC head Andy Byford says he is “not happy” after learning fare-paying riders were taken off two buses so they could be dispatched to pick up high school football players coached by Mayor Rob Ford.

In an email to transit commissioners Saturday, the CEO said he planned to follow up with Toronto police and the mayor’s office about the incident.

“For the record: I had no idea that two buses were used nor that customers were inconvenienced,” Byford wrote.

Mayor Rob Ford’s team leaves TTC riders on the sidewalk

Regular riders were kicked off two TTC buses on Thursday so those vehicles could be dispatched to pick up Mayor Rob Ford’s high school football players.

When the first of the buses was delayed because the driver couldn’t find the playing field where the Don Bosco Eagles were waiting, Ford called TTC CEO Andy Byford’s cellphone.

Normally the TTC tries to dispatch shelter buses from terminal stations so it doesn’t have to interrupt riders’ journeys. But in this case, riders were left on the sidewalk mid-trip to wait for the next vehicle.

TTC pulls buses mid-route to ferry mayor’s football team

Two Toronto Transit Commission buses dropped off passengers mid-route at the start of rush hour so the vehicles could be sent to a nearby football field to drive Mayor Rob Ford’s team back to their high school, the TTC has confirmed.

When the driver of the first bus couldn’t immediately find the football field at Father Henry Carr Catholic Secondary School in Etobicoke Thursday afternoon, Mr. Ford called TTC chief executive officer Andy Byford directly to ask about the delay.

Instead of reassurance, Hudak throws a grenade

There’s a reason Tim Hudak’s party failed to elect a single MPP in Toronto in the 2010 provincial election. Neither Hudak nor the provincial Tories speak to the city’s interests.

So, what does Hudak have in mind to remedy the huge hole in the electoral map — one he’ll need to mend if he aims to lead the province? He promises more alienation of Toronto and perpetual upheaval around transit, the city’s most pressing file.

Toronto residents uninformed about Metrolinx transit plan

Four years ago, the provincial agency Metrolinx came up with a comprehensive plan to deal with congestion in Greater Toronto and Hamilton by building more transit. Titled the “Big Move,” it envisions vastly improved GO Train service, several new LRT lines, expansions of the subway system and several bus projects. But barely anyone knows about it.

In fact, close to 90 per cent of respondents in the Nanos Research survey said they had never heard of the plan, suggesting the province has a lot more work to do to bring the public on side. Toronto Board of Trade president Carol Wilding said people might be more willing to pay extra for better transit if they know there is a plan in place.

“It’s important that the province drive discussion, drive debate and drive a solution,” she said.

Paul Bedford, a former Metrolinx board member, said the region needs more public discussion and debate to move beyond simply being frustrated by the problem.

“People need to understand that, yeah, we've got a mess, it will only get worse if we do nothing and there are the choices … and there are consequences for each of those choices, and we've got to make a decision,” he said.

Original Article
Source: the globe and mail
Author: ADRIAN MORROW

Mayor Rob Ford didn’t stop for open streetcar door, TTC union says

A confrontation between Rob Ford and a TTC driver occurred Wednesday because the mayor drove his vehicle past the open doors of a streetcar, the head of the transit workers’ union said Friday.

“My understanding is that Mayor Ford bypassed an open door and the operator then got off the streetcar – left his seat anyways – to advise the motorist, not knowing it was Mayor Ford, of the seriousness of the violation, as well was the concern for our passengers,” Amalgamated Transit Union Local 113 president Bob Kinnear told the Star.

Mayor Rob Ford down to his last strike in TTC debacle

Mayor Rob Ford is down to his last strike in a titanic transit tussle waged against his own city council majority that opposes the mayor’s all-subway vision.

City council removed Ford’s allies from the transit commission Monday and installed a new team that promises to abide by council’s wishes. It was council’s second straight rebuff of the mayor and sets up the final political encounter when council votes March 21 on the future of transit along Sheppard Ave. East.

Forced into a corner by a mayor who won’t take no for an answer, Toronto City Council has seized control of the transit file in an unprecedented coup.

“Council has control over council,” said Councillor Joe Mihevc, when asked if Ford has lost his leadership grip.

Through sheer arrogance and stubbornness — plus an inability to govern and use power levers greater than every other Ontario mayor possesses — Ford has managed to become a poster child for how not to be a mayor.

Council showdown looms over who should be on the Toronto Transit Commission

Confused about the direction Toronto is heading on public transit?

Join the club, says Councillor Michael Thompson, who blames the politicians for sowing confusion.

Thompson expects a showdown Monday when city council tackles the issue of who should serve on a newly constituted Toronto Transit Commission.

Thompson (Ward 37, Scarborough Centre) said people have every right to wonder what’s going on considering the constantly shifting landscape, with deals being made and then broken.

First the current nine-councillor commission was to be dissolved in favour of a seven-person commission with four councillors and three citizens; then an 11-member body with six councillors and five citizens; and finally seven councillors and four citizens.

Thompson said political egos and a desire to grab a plum post on the TTC are blocking progress on transit planning.

“The question is when is it going to end? So many people are wanting to promote their own selves and their personal interest rather than what’s best overall for our community.”

TTC chief Gary Webster’s firing puts a chill on staff, says Toronto ombudsman

City staff are scared of being punished for offering their best advice to Mayor Rob Ford and council, the city’s ombudsman said a day after Ford allies fired TTC chief general manager Gary Webster.

Fiona Crean’s comments Wednesday came as sources told the Star Ford is focusing on long-term subway expansion, knowing he can’t stop the Webster-endorsed, council-approved light rail plan this time.

Crean wouldn’t comment directly on the TTC board’s 5-4 vote Tuesday to fire Webster for his transit expansion advice, saying: “I do not have enough facts to make any comment. I just don’t know.”

But, in an interview, she called the timing “extraordinary” — only two weeks after she warned council that civil servants perceive there’s a risk to speaking their minds, and strongly recommended a new law to buffer them from politics.

“I would surmise that if you ask most senior public servants today, they’re even more worried, and the problem is, when you don’t know all the facts concerning an event, it makes it worse,” Crean said.

“It certainly heightens my worry about, on one hand, the treatment of public of servants and, on the other hand, them shutting down their best advice for fear there might be negative consequences.”

Time for council to take control of the transit file, or watch it blow up in their faces

A more stand-up civil servant than Gary Webster you’d be hard pressed to find.

So when the time came Tuesday afternoon, February 21, for the final chapter to be writ in the mayor’s plot to oust the now former TTC chief general manager, Webster did his best not to let on.

As flashbulbs popped and his supporters crowded City Hall’s Committee Room 2 to offer their best wishes, Webster replied to small talk, smiling occasionally.

Later, when the dirty deed was done and the board had confirmed his firing “without just cause” (how’s that for an Orwellian turn?), Webster emerged from TTC chair Karen Stintz’s office, where he’d been awaiting the board’s decision, to make a brief statement.

He said he was very proud of the work undertaken during his tenure at the TTC, before thanking his supporters, turning and walking into the history books to applause from the 50 or so people who’d come to witness Rob Ford’s latest power play.

TTC light rail plans are full speed ahead, regardless of politics

The Ford administration knows it can’t stop council-approved LRT plans and instead has turned its focus to long-term subway expansion for Toronto, say those close to the mayor.

In the wake of TTC chief Gary Webster’s dramatic public firing Tuesday, many have questioned whether Ford would once again try to unilaterally scrap the light rail strategy, as he did his first day in office.

But according to members of Ford’s inner circle, the administration realizes there isn’t provincial support to ignore council’s recent decision to resurrect Transit City. So while Metrolinx pursues the light-rail vision, Ford will continue calling for subways and setting the framework for his 2014 re-election campaign. And if he somehow does manage to finagle his subway vision back on the table now, well, that’s just gravy.

Councillor Frank Di Giorgio, one of the five TTC commissioners who voted to remove Webster, said the plan going forward is to adopt a strategy that incorporates consistent subway expansion.

TTC chief Gary Webster fired

TTC chief general manager Gary Webster has been relieved of his duties, following a vote during a special meeting of transit commissioners Tuesday.

In a motion describing termination "without just cause," the transit commission voted 5-4 to fire Webster, who has worked at the service for 35 years, just two weeks after he expressed open defiance to a subway plan championed by Mayor Rob Ford. His ouster comes a year before he was set to retire.

"This was not how I expected this to end — certainly not how I wanted it to end," Webster told reporters shortly after his termination. "But clearly the choice has been made to replace me as chief general manager and I accept that."

TTC chair Karen Stintz, a vocal supporter of Webster's, thanked the outgoing senior manager for his years with the commission.

Stintz told reporters she was left cold by the decision to sack a manager that many councillors defended passionately as a trusted public servant who, for years, ran the third-largest transit system in North America.