theaveragejoe

City council is to vote on taking the options as the commission wants the options. Most likely the will be all taken.

Transit plan: Dramatic OneCity proposal floated by Stintz, DeBaeremaeker Two councillors leading the TTC say it’s time to move ahead on an accumulating wish list of transit projects: 175 kilometres, including six subway lines, 10 LRTs and five bus and streetcar routes across the city. The latest proposal would dramatically expand Toronto’s transit network over the next 30 years. And while it comes with a $30 billion price tag, it is well within the city’s grasp, say the councillors at the helm of the Toronto Transit Commission. TTC chair Karen Stintz (Eglinton-Lawrence) and vice-chair Glenn De Baeremaeker (Scarborough Centre) believe residents can be persuaded to make the kind of transformative investment that would save Toronto from descending into a prosperity-crushing, gridlocked future. They are calling their proposal OneCity and are asking council to approve a staff study of the plan in July. Councillors would then have until October to take the plan to their constituents before considering approval. “What this does is it clarifies for the city of Toronto what our network is, how it fits into the regional context and how we propose to fund it,” Stintz said. “The funding, if approved, is dedicated, dependable and debt-free.” If it flies, Stintz, who has denied she plans to run for mayor, will have engineered the delivery of two elements in Mayor Rob Ford’s election platform: A Sheppard West subway extension linking the Yonge line with the Spadina subway, and the extension of the Bloor-Danforth subway along the Scarborough Rapid Transit (SRT) route. The timeline is critical, say the councillors, because the provincial cabinet has not yet signed off on converting the SRT to light rail transit and the new plan depends on being able to leverage the upcoming property reassessment process that begins in the fall. “If we can create this value proposition and if we can get buy-in from council and if the public believes this is a viable plan, we are in a better position to start collecting that revenue in 2013,” Stintz said. The funding proposal would involve getting the province to approve a regulatory change that would allow the city to capture 40 per cent of the higher property values from next year’s reassessment. That would amount to $45 per average household annually, accumulating to $180 a year on average, which would remain on property tax bills. It would mean $272 million a year in new tax revenue for the city. “Every penny will go into building and maintaining public transit. That’s going to be the test for council and the people of Toronto,” said De Baeremaeker. Toronto’s property taxes would still be among the lowest in the region, Stintz said. The $272 million would form the city’s third of an annual $1 billion transit investment, with the province and Ottawa kicking in a standard one-third each. The plan is being proposed as the provincial agency Metrolinx rallies support for a regional transit investment strategy to raise about $40 billion. That’s the cost of implementing the rest of the Big Move regional transit plan. The province has already committed to the first $11 billion of that plan, including $8.4 billion for four lines in Toronto: LRT on Finch, Sheppard and Eglinton, and the conversion of the SRT into LRT extending from the Eglinton line. Queen’s Park gave Metrolinx until June 2013 to figure out how to raise the rest of the money. But with the Liberals in a minority government and close to the next election by the time the strategy is published, there are fears no party will be willing to commit to new taxes. Stintz has said repeatedly that Metrolinx needs to be consulting municipalities on the issue of how to raise transit funds. Other politicians, including Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion, are also advocating new taxes and tools to pay for transportation. The first funds from the Stintz-De Baeremaeker plan would go toward converting the SRT route into a subway line, at a cost of about $2.3 billion. The project would have a head start from the $1.8 billion the province has already committed, Stintz said. Although a subway would be routed somewhat differently from the SRT, it would have the advantage of not shutting down the SRT for four years — unlike the current plan, which calls for putting SRT riders on buses for that period, while the new LRT is built. De Baeremaeker says he’s confident the six Scarborough-area MPPs would support the idea. The second priority in the new OneCity vision would be an east waterfront LRT, at a cost of about $300 million. Waterfront Toronto has allocated $90 million toward transit on the lakefront east of Yonge St., and developers there have been bracing for a temporary transit solution such as bus rapid transit. All the lines in the OneCity plan have been approved at one time or another, and in some cases the environmental assessments have been done for years, said De Baeremaker. Stintz said she’s had preliminary discussions with the province and the mayor’s staff about the plan, but no commitment of support. OneCity rebrands some potentially divisive projects such as a downtown relief subway line, which has been renamed the “Don Mills Express” line. It also aligns with some regional transit projects, including the air-rail link, which the councillors say could be converted to public transit by adding three more stops. A second set of tracks to GO’s Stouffville line would allow for a Scarborough Express above-ground subway or train that delivers riders from Steeles Ave. to Union Station. OneCity's proposed lines • Six subway lines, 72 km, $18 billion Replace the Scarborough RT with a subway from Kennedy Station to Sheppard and McCowan; extend the Yonge subway to Steeles Ave.; build a Sheppard West subway to Downsview Station; build a Don Mills Express subway line from Eglinton to Queen St.; upgrade the Bloor-Yonge subway station; build a Scarborough Express line from Steeles Ave. to Union Station; build an Etobicoke Express Line from the airport to Union Station using the air-rail link. • 10 LRTs, 73.5 km, $9.5 billion Extension of the Sheppard East line to Meadowvale, the zoo, and Malvern; build a Scarborough Malvern LRT; extend the Eglinton LRT to the airport; extend the Finch West LRT to Humber College and the airport; build a Jane LRT from Steeles to Bloor; Waterfront West LRT from Union Station to Long Branch; a Finch West LRT from Keele to Yonge St. and a Don Mills LRT from Steeles to Eglinton • Five bus and streetcar lines, 25.7 km, $1.2 billion Waterfront East streetcar line from Union Station to Parliament St., Ellesmere bus rapid transit from Scarborough Centre to Sheppard and Kingston Rd.; Kingston BRT from Victoria Park Station to Eglinton and Kingston Rd.; extend the St. Clair streetcar from Keele to Jane; a Wilson BRT from Wilson Station to Keele St http://www.thestar.com/news/transportation/article/1217721--transit-plan-dramatic-onecity-proposal-floated-by-stintz-debaeremaeker?bn=1

TTC bus collides with truck on Hwy. 427 Crews freed a TTC bus driver who became trapped after driving into the back of a transport truck on Highway 427 Wednesday morning. The driver couldn’t get out because his compartment door was bent in the crash, which happened in the southbound collector lanes near Bloor Street West around 7:30 a.mParamedics took 12 people to local hospitals, most complaining of neck and back pain, and assessed the driver at the scene. Twenty-one other passengers were transferred to another bus to continue their trip. Traffic was backed up in the area for more than two hours. http://www.citytv.co...ruck-on-hwy-427 http://www.torontosun.com/2012/04/25/ttc-bus-in-crash-with-tractor-trailer

Metrolinx approves 4 LRT lines for Toronto Toronto could have an extensive light-rail transit (LRT) system within the decade now that Metrolinx directors have unanimously approved a new transit plan Wednesday as expected. On Wednesday, the board of Metrolinx — the provincial agency that oversees transportation in the GTA — passed the resolutions included in a staff report endorsing the construction of four lines. The $8.4-billion plan, also approved by city council, effectively revives former mayor David Miller’s Transit City, which his successor Rob Ford attempted to quash. "Our government respects the will of the city's democratically elected councillors," said Transportation Minister Bob Chiarelli. "This plan reflects input from the city of Toronto based on the position adopted by council. "The McGuinty government has made a firm, $8.4-billion commitment to these projects. Our focus is on getting shovels in the ground and delivering much-needed public transit projects for the residents of Toronto." Toronto city councillor Doug Ford spoke out against the decision. “Some councilors down here, and obviously the province, are ignoring the people once again. The people want subways and they’re totally ignoring them. So let’s wait until the election,” said Coun. Doug Ford. “It’s definitely a war on the car. When you want to St. Clair-ize the whole city, turn Sheppard into the disaster on St. Clair, turn Eglinton into the disaster on St. Clair, that’s a war on the car.” Here are the new timelines: Eglinton Crosstown LRT from the Jane Street/Black Creek area to Kennedy Station: in service by 2020. Scarborough RT replacement and extension to Sheppard Avenue: construction starts in 2014; in service by 2019. Sheppard East LRT from Don Mills Station to east of Morningside Avenue: construction starts in 2014; in service by 2018. Finch West LRT from the Toronto-York-Spadina Subway Extension to Humber College: construction starts in 2015; in service by 2019. The board will now advise the province to approve the LRT plan and allow Metrolinx to move forward with construction. http://www.citytv.com/toronto/citynews/news/local/article/202515--metrolinx-approves-4-lrt-lines-for-toronto

Thats from their Chicago area operations

Hopeless place by Riahnna

Too bad those Flexs are gone as I would have wanted to ride them this summer!

March 2012 changes for MIway http://www.mississauga.ca/file/COM/miTRANSIT_26MAR2012.pdf

Man gets night-time TTC ban and 21 days in jail for assault January 5, 2012 A 19-year-old man was sentenced to 21 days in jail, and banned from the TTC between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m., for assaulting a TTC uniformed supervisor. On Dec. 29, just after midnight, a TTC supervisor was called to the Long Branch Loop to check on the well-being of a man who had passed out on a streetcar. When the male was woken up he was found to be in possession of a half bottle of liquor. He was asked to leave the vehicle. Once off the streetcar, the man attempted to re-enter, spitting in the face of the supervisor. He continued to spit at the supervisor from the sidewalk. The man was arrested by Toronto Police on the scene and charged with assault. On the morning of Dec. 29, at his bail hearing, 19-year-old Emmanuel Yihun entered a guilty plea to the assault charge. He also received 18-months probation, and a ban from being on the TTC with any alcohol or illegal drugs in his system. On average, two TTC employees are assaulted every day, ranging from punching, slapping and spitting, to threats of physical harm or death. The TTC’s Court Advocates work with Crown Attorneys and the Courts to secure the stiffest penalties possible for those convicted of assault or threats against TTC employees, and continue to seek limits on the use of public transit in Toronto for those convicted of these crimes. TTC Man gets night-time TTC ban and 21 days in jail for assault

Man gets 20 days in jail for death threats on TTC February 28, 2012 A 27-year-old man was sentenced to 20 days in jail for threatening death towards a TTC Subway Operator and his riders. On Feb. 21, while riding a westbound train at Broadview Station, a man was threatening several customers. When the Subway Operator asked the man to stop his threats, the man threatened to kill the TTC employee and the riders on board the train. Toronto Police from 54 Division were called to the scene and took the suspect into custody. The man pleaded guilty at his bail hearing. On Feb. 23, at College Park Courts, Ryan Boyle, 27, plead guilty to Causing a Disturbance and Threatening Death to a TTC Subway Operator and customers onboard the subway train. He was sentenced to 17 days in jail on top of his three days pre-trial custody for a total of 20 days behind bars. On average, two TTC employees are assaulted every day, ranging from punching, slapping and spitting, to threats of physical harm or death. The TTC’s Court Advocates work with Crown Attorneys and the Courts to secure the stiffest penalties possible for those convicted of assault or threats against TTC employees, and continue to seek limits on the use of public transit in Toronto for those convicted of these crimes. TTC Man gets 20 days in jail for death threats on TTC

Man sentenced to 20 days in jail for threatening death to TTC employee February 24, 2012 A 38-year old man has been sentenced to 20 days in jail for threatening death and possession of marijuana. On February 5, a male was in the TTC’s Humber Loop, demanding free rides from TTC operators, threatening to kill them if they did not comply. The suspect was arrested by officers from Toronto Police Service 22 Division and held for a bail hearing. Vangeli Keskinov pleaded guilty to the charges. As well as the 20-day jail sentence, Keskinov was placed on probation for one year with a condition that he not be under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs while on TTC vehicles or property. On average, two TTC employees are assaulted every day, ranging from punching, slapping and spitting, to threats of physical harm or death. The TTC’s Court Advocates work with Crown Attorneys and the Courts to secure the stiffest penalties possible for those convicted of assault on TTC employees, and continue to seek limits on the use of public transit in Toronto for those convicted of these crimes. TTC Man sentenced to 20 days in jail for threatening death to TTC employee

TTC extends customer service hours, establishes new Twitter handle March 1, 2012 The Toronto Transit Commission has extended its hours of operation for customers who call for information, to share a concern, or to offer a compliment about the TTC. The Commission has also created a new Twitter account – @TTChelps – for customers who have questions or wish to share information with the TTC. TTC customer service representatives are now available to handle telephone inquiries at 416-393-3030, seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. (improved from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays only). In addition, staff will be responding to tweets sent to @TTChelps. The TTC will continue to issue service alerts on Twitter via @TTCnotices. Customer service staff will monitor that account and respond to queries via @TTChelps. Staff will also reply to emails sent via the web-based form found at ttc.ca. The public has shared their desire to contact the TTC beyond normal business hours. The TTC listened and has taken action to improve when and how customers contact it as part of its revitalized customer service efforts. The in-person Customer Service Centre at Davisville Station (1900 Yonge Street) will continue to operate Monday through Friday, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. TTC TTC extends customer service hours, establishes new Twitter handle

TTC tackles train cleanliness, litter March 2, 2012 Toronto Transit Commission Chair Karen Stintz and Deputy Chief General Manager, Andy Byford, shared details of a new program today at Kennedy Station where TTC workers board subway trains, clearing them of litter before they head back into service. After the morning rush hour at terminal stations (Kennedy and Finch), crews will go through each car and remove newspapers, coffee cups and other litter left behind. Additionally, crews will do spot mopping where needed. The TTC also announced that cleaning crews will now walk through trains while in service between College and Osgoode Stations to collect litter where ridership is at its highest. This will occur between rush hour periods. In addition to a more customer-friendly and positive TTC experience for the 1.6 million customers the TTC carries each day, less litter, especially newspapers, offers the added benefit of reducing the number of ‘smoke at track level’ delays the TTC encounters. Paper left behind can blow to track level and ignite, posing a significant fire hazard. Smoke or fire in tunnels is extremely dangerous, and while most fires extinguish themselves quickly, the resulting smoke requires the TTC to halt service until it can be assured it is safe to proceed, causing delays across a line. The TTC is taking a number of steps to reduce the hazard of track level fires, but is appealing to customers to aid in this effort by taking their litter with them when leaving the system. Garbage receptacles are in all subway stations and on all subway platforms. The TTC is continuing its efforts to ensure cleaner stations and vehicles, in addition to other initiatives, such as remodeled public washrooms. Customers have shared their opinions and concerns with TTC staff around general cleanliness in the system. The TTC is listening and taking TTC TTC tackles train cleanliness, litter

Union Station flooding disrupts network TORONTO - A burst water main at Union Station is keeping TTC subway passengers off the rails until at least 9 a.m. Sunday, a spokesman has confirmed. Jessica Martin said tons of water gushed onto the tracks around 10:30 a.m. Saturday after an Ellis-Don crew hired by Toronto Transit ”ruptured a water main at track level” while working on the second platform. Yonge line service was halted in both directions south of Bloor St., but trains were running on the University line between St. George and Osgoode stations, she said. During the underground shutdown, Martin said 32 shuttle buses were provided for passengers between the Bloor and Osgoode stations. Streetcars still operated on the Queen’s Quay line into Union Station, but riders were alerted to the lack of transfers to the subway lines. She could not predict when full subway service will resume, since switches and electrical systems must be checked for damage after the water is removed. The city of Toronto shut off watermains to the site during pumping-out work. Although exact numbers of affected Saturday passengers were not known, “thankfully it’s fewer than on a weekday,” Martin said. There were also fewer rider demands with the Leafs playing in Montreal, and no Raptors at the Air Canada Centre, where only a lacrosse game was scheduled. Toronto Rock met the Washington Stealth at 7 p.m. The TTC had to bypass Union Station on Feb. 12, 2009 after a water main broke in the late evening and the platform level was flooded. Shuttle buses provided service. Lastly, full service was restored in time for Saturday subway runs to begin at 6 a.m. on the Bloor-Danforth line. Partial service was available for Friday rush-hour due to emergency repairs on a broken section of track, with final work completed by 5:40 a.m., Martin said. Union Station flooding disrupts network | Toronto & GTA | News | Toronto Sun

Practical fixes for Toronto’s transit system If I were Toronto’s Transit TSAR (Transit Supremo having All Responsibility), with no commissioners or councillors to worry about — just the job of providing users with the best possible transit system given available resources, here’s what I’d do. First, I’d set performance targets for the regular system. (WheelTrans, the service for people with disabilities, would have comparable targets.) Within five years I’d ensure that for most hours of the day every transit trip within Toronto of up to five kilometres could be done in less than 30 minutes, including wait times. The time limits for trips of up to 10 and 15 kilometres would be 45 and 60 minutes. Normally, trips would take less than half these times. Throughout Toronto, there would be a transit stop within 300 metres (a four-minute walk). Every part of the transit system would be immaculate and well served. I once asked the head of Zurich’s transit system, Europe’s busiest per capita, to tell me his secrets. He said there were two: make sure transit vehicles are never more than seven minutes apart, and make all transit vehicles, stops, walkways, etc., acceptable to a bank president (of which Zurich has many). Second, and almost as important, I would set financial targets. One would be to have the system cover its annual operating costs within seven years. The other would be to have the system cover its new capital costs within 15 years. The TTC would then be subsidy-free, as it was until the 1960s. Freedom from subsidy would mean relative freedom from political meddling. It would allow a focus on meeting the needs of users, who already provide by far the largest part of the system’s revenue. How would these apparent miracles be achieved? By applying best practices from elsewhere, and with some innovation. Here are five of the ways to go: • I would privatize the operation of Toronto’s transit in the way Sweden and other places have done it. Sweden is the most left-wing rich country. Nevertheless, transit there was privatized in 1989 in order to maximize the quality of this essential service. Routes are franchised in batches that mix the profitable and unprofitable. Potential operators bid to provide strictly enforced high levels of service for the lowest subsidy. Public costs are down. Service has improved. Users and transit employees are happier. • Cab companies provide transit service in 10 low-density parts of Montreal, in shared cabs on demand between designated stops, for a regular transit fare. The “taxibus” system provides a good service for residents of low-density areas at much lower public cost than a regular bus service. Using such a system, transit service could be extended to every part of Toronto. • Vancouver has North America’s largest fleet of electric trolley buses, recently renewed, which provide excellent service at one-tenth of the capital cost of an on-street light rail system. Montreal is moving toward using trolley buses to improve service and lower fuel and other costs. For the same reasons, and to reduce pollution and noise, Toronto should reintroduce trolley buses even more widely than before they were removed in 1992, in exclusive lanes where feasible. • Vancouver’s Canada Line — half of which is below ground with most of the remainder elevated — provides subway-quality service between the airport and the downtown at less than a third of the estimated capital cost of the proposed Eglinton-Scarborough Crosstown line, and at a much lower operating cost because the Canada Line is completely automated. During the 2010 Olympics, the Canada Line — in its two-car but frequent trains — carried almost as many daily passengers per kilometre as Toronto’s full-scale subway system. Such a “mini-metro” could be a model for Toronto, running under Eglinton Avenue from Black Creek to Kennedy station, then along the existing elevated way to McCowan Avenue. In Rennes, France, the smallest city in the world with a subway (about 210,000 residents), a second underground mini-metro line is being installed at about the same per-kilometre cost as the Canada Line. • The current plan to serve Toronto’s fast-growing East Harbourfront and to-be-developed Port Lands by light rail is not working out well because of light rail’s costs and the challenges of providing a terminus at Union Station. These areas provide a good opportunity for Canada to move to the leading edge of innovative transit technology. A call for proposals would produce extraordinary and productive responses, including proposals for a monorail such as the one Bombardier is installing for São Paulo, Brazil, and even better options. I would take the job of transit TSAR only if I also had the power to facilitate intensive development at and near the stations of expensive transit lines (subway, mini-metro, light rail, monorail). This would be done by creating development corporations — such as the one for the Docklands in London, U.K. — that could expropriate land for double its current market value, dramatically raise permitted densities, and do everything possible to make transit-related development attractive. Ensuring such development would be an essential requirement for meeting the above performance targets. It would also help the City of Toronto double its share of the Toronto region’s population growth, thereby reducing sprawl and a myriad of costs to government. Richard Gilbert is a consultant focusing on transportation and energy with clients on four continents. He was a Toronto councillor from 1976 to 1991. Practical fixes for Toronto

TTC Collector shot. Toronto News: TTC collector shot in robbery at Toronto

chicken mcnuggets and filet o fish are my choices. I will eat Mc Rib when its around once a year in Canada.

First Transit now has the contract for Rutgers.

Sumitomo cars have been ordered for the line, 12 A cars (ends) and 6 C (middle cars) ordered. http://www.sumitomocorp.com/file/DMU.pdf Also the Georgetown line has been renamed the Kitchener line due to the expansion to Kitchener. The raillink will replace a private bus service called Airport Express to the downtown core provited by Pacific Western Transporation

You can thank that Fat Fcuk Rob Ford for this

That is correct

How many online customers would still be left?

IIRC after the Acela order it closed down.

Bombardier's Barre Vermont plant has long been closed