While his end of camp tag line seems comical now, Toronto’s bus system is depleting so rapidly that it might take a year for you to see your friends again (ok, not really). Unless you live directly on the subway there is little hope that you can travel on the transit system efficiently.

40 minutes to go 5 kilometers?

Reported in the Globe and Mail yesterday, Toronto’s bus routes “fail those who need it most.” According to their research only those who are part of the ‘creative class‘ can afford to live on the subway routes. The remainder, the working and the service class can’t afford to live along the subway, despite needing it the most. Unable to afford a car, insurance and parking these people are forced to use ‘The Better Way‘.

Would a Congestion Charging Scheme Improve Bus Scheduling in Toronto?

In early 2003 London introduced a congestion charging scheme; camera’s were installed and charged people who drove into the city. Rates varied by time of day and day of the week. People who lived in Central London were charged a tax to own a car. And more buses were added to there vast route network just prior to the congestion charging scheme implementation.

The overall result: there was a 30% reduction in automobile traffic. Reliability of the buses increased. With reliability increasing more people saw buses as an attractive alternative to get in and an around town.

Toronto currently does not have a congestion charging scheme. Individuals commute to and from the suburbs, local Toronto residents drive anywhere and everywhere with no other viable option available. In the end the TTC, along with individual automobiles, competes for space on the road.

Forget “fancy, European-style light-rail transit” and subways. Create dedicated bus lanes and carpool lanes during rush-hour. Implement a congestion charging scheme. Promote living where we work. Once again make all aspects of the TTC ‘The Better Way.’

Through the month of January Toronto was plagued by a string of tragic pedestrian deaths. In total there were 14 deaths in Toronto, some of them quite tragic. Between transport trucks, streetcars and busses the pedestrians stood no chance.

Who was to Blame?

The debate as to who was at fault in these accidents has been a topic of discussion in the media. Whether it is the cars or the pedestrians who are not paying attention is the question. But either way isn’t it both parties faults?

As a pedestrian I don’t think I’m would want to play chicken with a transport truck. Even a SmartCar!

In 2007 the City of Toronto did a study, The Pedestrian Collision Study. Here is a selection of the conclusions of the study:

• 83% of pedestrian/motor vehicle collisions resulted in either minimal or minor injuries
• 12% of pedestrian/motor vehicle collisions resulted in major injuries or fatalities
• 50% of fatalities in pedestrian/motor vehicle collisions were seniors (aged 65+).
• 72% of pedestrian/motor vehicle collisions involved male drivers versus 28% for female drivers.
• Pedestrian/motor vehicle collisions occurred most during the autumn and winter seasons.
• Pedestrian/motor vehicle collisions occurred more often in the downtown area.
• Pedestrian/motor vehicle collisions occurred more often along arterial roads.
• Pedestrian/motor vehicle collisions distributed as follow: at intersections (47%), at non-intersections (37%), and other/unknown (16%).

The City of Toronto did a similar bike-car collision study in 2006. The results can be found here.

What I was reminded of yesterday was does it really matter who is at fault? In the end the pedestrian ends up dead or seriously injured.

How Can we Prevent Future Deaths

1. Alertness: Most importantly both drivers and pedestrians need to be more aware – pedestrian’s in particular. Again as a pedestrian if you play chicken with an automobile the automobile always wins
2. Turning – Left or right, as drivers we should be more aware when turning. Right turns are often worse. On a red light drivers are only looking for on-coming traffic. When lights are green drivers often forget about pedestrians and rush to make the turn
3. Updating Our Intersections: The ‘Scramble’ intersections of downtown Toronto are great, but we can make them even safer. In New Zealand and Japan pedestrians are only allowed to cross when all lights are red. In this manner cars and pedestrians are not competing entities
4. Slow Down: the issue of decreasing speed limits in cities has been raised. Unofficially people in Toronto drive 15-20km/hr over the speed limit so decreasing the speed limit would give drivers more response time
5. Txt Msgs, Email and iPods: Pedestrian’s cannot just walk in oblivion. Be aware of your surroundings and focus on the busy road around you, instead of the latest gadget.

As much as we try in North America, it is almost impossible to give up driving. Not because we aren’t trying but because we lack the infrastructure to get anywhere without a car.

Tips for efficiency

Thanks to Sierra Magazine’s The Green Life: Daily Tips for Living Well and Doing Good for providing these simple tips.

I think the most important tip of all is to drive a fuel efficient car. With the ‘cash for clunkers’ program in the US individuals can trade in their old, gas-guzzling, monsters for smaller more efficient cars; unfortunately at this time Canada does not have a similar program, but Chrysler Canada is offering an incentive.

The reality is everyone does have to drive at times. By reducing the amount we drive and following these simple tips we can all help to reduce the footprints of our cars.

When looking at the courses available this morning I was required to request permission from the instructor to enter the course, not an uncommon thing. I am interested in Dr. Heather MacLean’s Sustainability of Engineering Activities and what caught my attention were the questions she was asking.

Why do you want to take this course?

That was the first of the three questions she posed for our applications and really all students should ask that question before they take the course. Just because it is mandatory stop and think about why you need to take the course, it may change your perspective and improve your grade. Dr. MacLean asked what our previous research experience was and finally what our backgrounds were with sustainability.

My path to where I am now.

That last question really got me thinking about where I am today. In high school had you asked me if I would be a transportation engineer or interested in sustainable development I likely would have said, ‘No.’ Like so many before me somewhere along the way my focus shifted. I was first inspired to go into civil engineering after Laura Taylor’s Urban Geography class when I was doing my economics and urban geography degree. I didn’t believe you could affect urban form without understanding the science behind it and off I went to pursue engineering. While in engineering traffic congestion really frustrated me and I wanted to change it. What I have learned since then is that building more roads, building wider roads is not the answer. Instead it is about compromise, it is about shifting what is considered the cultural norm and accepting that not everyone will share my vision.

My quest for learning continues as I try to finish my masters this fall. Who knows where my learning path will lead me and what will inspire me next, but I’m sure whatever it is will lead to some interesting discussions on my blog!

GM – Forward Thinking? Future of Car Makers For North America? I just saw the new GM commercial last night that essentially apologizes to the Canadian citizens and asks for forgiveness; the new campaign is appropriately called ‘Re:Inventing GM.’ GM wants to be looked at as the future of ‘green’ cars and a North American leading auto producer. But is that really possible?

GM is trying to appeal to all the audiences – their world-wide interweb site boasts Flikr, Facebook and Twitter. They have a video on the Chevrolet volt, they have a letter to ‘all Canadians,’ directors statements and news on their restructuring plan. In their commercial they declare that they are getting rid of the unsuccessful brands (does this finally mean the end of the commercial Hummer?)

If fair is fair – are the governments going to bail out other companies that promise to restructure in an effort to be profitable, when in reality profitability is a lofty goal?

In the end I have much more respect for Ford. Ford has not applied for bankruptcy protection and is looking to become the leader in sustainable, environmentally friendly cars.

Is there enough room for GM, Chrysler and Ford?

The next few months will be interesting. With both GM and Chrysler receiving huge bailout packages, both the Canadian and US Governments are hoping to have a thriving auto industry again. The difference between now and the ‘old glory days,’ the world has caught up. Kia, Toyota, Hyundai, Honda, Audi, Volkswagen, Volvo, etc … all of these companies also offer affordable, environmentally friends .. and watch out Frank Stronach with Magna/Opel should make a push to lead the sustainable car market here. In the end I don’t think it is feasible to sustain all of these North American brands, meaning the US and Canadian citizens have possibly just sunk their money in two un-saveable companies!

Here’s what happened: The bus driver pulled into the right hand lane approaching the Eglinton intersection. I went through the intersection behind other vehicles in the left-hand thru-lane to continue going north on Royal York. Just north of the intersection is a bus stop where the bus was proceeding to. No one wanted to get on or off the bus so the bus never slowed down or stopped. Instead of merging when it was safe the bus pulled over into the left lane without checking to see if there were any vehicles. But there were, I was there and have to slam on my brakes and veer into the right lane. Who needs caffeine when you have drivers like that!

Ontario Highway Traffic Act 142.1

I decided I would look up the law governing buses merging back into traffic, HTA 142.1. The requirement on yielding applies to buses merging back from the bus bay. The law states:

Every driver of a vehicle in the lane of traffic adjacent to a bus bay shall yield the right of way to the driver of a bus who has indicated his or her intention, as prescribed, to re-enter that lane from the bus bay.

But the law also states when the bus must wait:

No driver of a bus shall re-enter the lane of traffic adjacent to a bus bay and move into the path of a vehicle or street car if the vehicle or street car is so close that it is impractical for the driver to yield the right of way.

Buses are governed by the same driving laws as the rest of us.

My issue this morning was that the bus merged into my lane without checking to see if it was safe to merge. The bus is governed by the same laws as the rest of us, it must only merge when it is safe. I was lucky in that no one was coming in the south direction and narrowly avoided being hit by the bus.

I’m sure I’m not the first person to have a close call with a bus. I suppose it is about driver education, both vehicle and bus, and possibly about changing the Highway Traffic Act.

No I’m not talking about the existing 407ETR, I’m talking about the proposed extension from its easterly termination of Brock Road over to Highway 115/35. This new extension will be known as 407EAST. 

Why have GTA residents not really heard about it?

Minister Jim Bradley released his announcement the same day as the Federal Budget. With all the controversy surrounding the budget there has not been much press about the 407EAST extension. Although there is some speculation that the timing was based on politics, (Isn’t it always?).
I started looking at this because of an assignment that I have due for a new class, Engineering and Public Policy. The goal was to get us thinking about the policy aspects of tolling the highway.

I came up with the following alternatives:

1. Do Nothing: although the current system is not operating efficiently, the local road
   network could expand to take the extra capacity
2. No Toll:Provide the necessary infrastructure conventionally
3. Flat Toll:Same system as the original 407 and would treat all times of the day and
   people equally
4. Varying Tolls:Places a value on the time of day related to congestion, can also place a value on ride-sharing and can separate for income disparities

I think that in the end I would go with the varying tolls and have them valued based on a time-of-day and actual congestion. I do believe in tolling roads; I believe it encourages people to carpool or use public transit, which in turn help to make the roads more efficient, I believe that it sustains itself, since the maintenance investment comes from the tolls, and I believe that it encourages people to live closer to where they need to be.

The bigger question Ontario residents should be asking is ‘will the province make the same mistake again and sell the highway to a private investor?’

Over the last 24 hours there has been some exciting announcements on 680 news with respect to accidents and trucks.

Drivers Should be Held Accountable in Bad Weather

This was the statement from Police Chief Julian Fantino (here). He stated that he believes and the statistics support that 40% of accidents in poor weather conditions are due to irresponsible and reckless driving. With the latest snowfall in Ontario over the weekend there were more than 3000 crashes between Friday and Monday morning; Fantino claimed that 99.9% of them were avoidable.

Fantino’s plan make these irresponsible drivers responsible for the damages. Fantino has put forward to legislation a bill that would make the reckless driver responsible for paying the bill for the accident not the insurance company. This is no radical idea, several US jurisdictions have a similar policy, including Wisconsin.

Speed Limiters for Trucks Hit Ontario January 1, 2009

Do you sometimes feel like the truck beside you is trying to race you as you try to pass it? Well those days are hopefully over. Come January 1st, trucks will be required to have governors installed limiting their maximum speed to 105 kilometers per hour.

But some are opposed to this. As reported by Today’s Truckingthe Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) thinks this law violates the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The OOIDA vows to fight the rule in an effort to have it revoked.

I guess the OOIDA doesn’t understand that safety is paramount. I reported back in October when my friend passed away in that horrible accident on the 427 that I believe that change had to come from the top. The OOIDA is part of the top and their attitude needs to change.  Speed limits are enforced for a reason and truckers, just like motorists, need to respect the speed limit.

Will the roads in Ontario be safer? It is too early to tell. It will be a matter of enforcement. Having laws and regulations in place is not enough, people must be held accountable for their actions for there to be any real difference.

Earlier this week I wrote about the need for good infrastructure with respect to the trucking industry. The other part of the equation, about 70% of the road users, is commuters. For all the people that commute to work everyday on the highways, having a functioning highway system is paramount.

The Ministry of Transportation of Ontario publishes the Average Annual Daily Traffic (AADT) Values here. AADT is the total volume of vehicle traffic of a highway or road for a year divided by 365 days and is an easy measure to get an idea of the volumes of traffic a roadway faces. Here in Toronto we have one of the busiest highways in the world, the 401. In 2005 many sections across the city AADT is above 400,000 – that’s a lot of cars on the road everyday.

What that does mean is that it is impossible to close the roads for construction. Unfortunately the highways are aging. The highways of the GTA were built from the 1950′s through the 1970′s and not much repair work has been done to them.

What will we do in the future?

There are a handful of repair methods out there that we can use to rehabilitate our highways. But only repairing them at night likely means that we are not able to keep up with the demand of repair. I’m not quite sure what the solution of the future is, but if you have any ideas please share them…

The book was amazing. Jane Jacobs helped to shape Toronto to who it is today – full of character, full of life, and full of interesting people and places.

Her book definitely changed my perception of Toronto, or any city for that matter. But for Toronto you can see evidence of Jacobs all over; the piers of an unfinished Gardiner Expressway, The Allen Road, which seems to go no where yet doesn’t dissect anymore neighbourhoods, or the various sections of our city from Little Italy, to Little Portugal, to Riverdale.

Jacob’s read is a must for any planner or city lover out there.