Transit Nightmares

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4 Minutes and an Election

I was not paying attention in the summer or DRT only told me half the story. 

My son takes DRT to school in the morning WAS taking it home from school last year but this year he seemed to be missing the bus all the time once school started, of course me being the great Mom I am I asked him why he was dilly dallying and told him to get out there so he does not miss the bus. 

THEN we discover the route was adjusted in timing and now the Puckrin/Elm midday is scheduled to be at Walmart on Kingston rd in Ajax at 2:30 pm,  my son's school bell is at 2:30 .

Last school year the time was 2:34 for Walmart  Stop and as long as Erik was dilligent in getting his stuff and getting out , he made the bus to get home since it did not pass by before it was suppose to be at Walmart.   

This adjustment of 4 minutes now has him walking from the area of Salam Road and Chambers area to our home west of Harwood.  He is in a school due out of district with only 2 years to go  anymore. 

Had I known the schedule was changed by 4 minutes I would have made arrangements for him at least for bad weather, we are looking for arrangements so if it is raining he does not have to ask to leave class 5 minutes early.

I contacted DRT by email from work , not the transit nightmares email and had no response to my inquiry at all. 

What was the reason for the time change in the route?  It is now 235B for route number. 

It was a retired bus driver that answered my email and confirmed the timing change so I stopped blaming my son for missing the bus :) 

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So we have a federal election now , what will it mean for Transit?  will we get the dollars promised ?

Electric Cars - letter to Editor - DEVA

In todays Star there is a letter to the editor that is written by a friend of a friend, I receive email forwards from the group. 

This is the version of the letter after the task of in my mind, extreme editing.

If Jim Bradley, Ontario transport minister, wants to be remembered in the history books, it is time he acted with a little understanding of the urgency of this issue. Electric vehicles manufactured locally like the ZENN should be allowed on our roads.

J.P. Fernbach, President, Durham Electric Vehicles Association

Here is a link to the article they are referring to.    The below has a copy of the original letter sent to the Star before the heavy editing.

Ajax Woman don't want bus !

I have been on a break in case anyone missed me.

I read in the Star today a story by Carola Vyhnak , I was told about this quest last year at some point by a driver actually so I was not surprised.   

Does it burn your butt that someone can claim more "influence" with local councillors ?  it does mine!
Read the comments below the article also!
There is a transit executive meeting on September 3rd and these are doing the day, I am coming off holidays from work soon so taking the day off for this meeting is not feasible, if anyone can go please do and let me know the outcome.   I am confident that DRT is not going to set a precedent and move a bus route just cause some resident thinks the bus is too much trouble going by her house! 

New Transit Idea

I have not dropped off the face of the earth, just been busy.

I have been busy, had a few things I was going to write about but it's old news now.   

I went to the last Transit Advisory Committee meeting and learned the committee has a mandate and it is not in the mandate to vote on financial issues at all.  That means the Citizen advisory committee that is chaired by a Regional Councillor could not enter their comments on the issue of all the Federal Gas Tax refund going to the incinerator and none for Transit use.   So when we hear the words of "Subject to Budget Approval" and "It all comes down to money" , please don't say there is not enough because a huge chunk was given away.

Now my transit idea is very very radical but if you watch the travel on the Highways you will see that it could work and it could help me get to work easier and not have to wait for the year 2020. 
I call it Casino Transit System! 

I'm not in favour of privatizing public transit but I have noticed that private companies can not even fill potential demand because of service territories.  I know I have confused you so here is an example.

I live in Ajax and work in the nether regions of Mississauga - actually it is on the border of Oakville and Mississauga but I like to forget the Oakville part because it just sounds too extreme, when I say Mississauga, people feel sorry for me and usually know another person that makes the trip.  If I choose to take the Transit here are my options.

DRT from house to Ajax GO station to Mississauga Clarkson GO - Mississauga Transit.
2 hours and a bit from house to office. This includes a 20 min wait at Union before the train goes Westbound.   I can take GO buses and transfer at Yorkdale as that is as far west as I can go from the 401 routes I think or I can transfer at Finch Station to a bus heading to some Mississauga destination. 

What I can not do is take a direct route on a Fancy Coach Bus or a Grayhound or Canada Coach from some station in Durham Region and get to a Transit Terminal in Mississauga without stopping in Toronto. I can't do this because of a Transit Monopoly.
 
It is not rapid but it sure would save the wear and tear on my car if I could get to work in almost the same amount of time and let someone else do the driving, one bus- It could be a QEW route and pick up and let people off at off ramp interchange areas, example, exit QEW at Erin Mills Parkway and travel past my office and get back on at Winston Churchill = perfect.  One bus and I would be at work!

Well it was a nice thought.

My idea won't happen I bet so the only way to get to somewhere that is not downtown and get there by a bus is to work right next door or work for a Casino or some other Tourist destination!  If there was a Casino next to my office I could perhaps set up a charter with other people that want to go directly to that Casino 5 days a week arriving in the morning and leaving in the afternoon and it would be allowed, just like going to Casino Rama.

I think we need to give people more options to get to places.  GO Transit and Municipalities own the routes between where I live and my office but they are not giving me a decent alternative to my car trip of just under an hour if I leave by 7am, why can't I have an option?  With higher gas prices thinking and service models have to change.

 

Real Estate Fairy Tales

In an old post I mentioned that real estate advertising does not create an accurate picture of the reality of what purchasers ends up with.   Here is an example in Today's Sunday Sun but I won't name the development or the builder cause I don't want to get sued.  It of course has me thinking that we should do the same thing that Toronto wants to do in the Yonge/Sheppard area and warn about traffic congestion.   

We know that Toronto is clogged but ex-Torontonians may not really get what is it like getting to the GO in the morning or the 401. 

Excerpt from company promotion in Sun.: "Excellent transportation routes include the Hwy's 407 and 401 and public transit on Highway 12. GO trains are down the street and can transport you into Toronto hassle-free!

Sooooo what rock does this marketing genius live under?

--- This is Brooklin and the GO stations is not just down the street.  Durham has horrendous traffic in the morning in North South directions heading to GO stations.

The 407 is not there for quite some time and the traffic to the 407 in the morning can be bad.

Hassle-free?  Ya right.

How do they get away with this? it is false advertising in my opinion. 

Perspective purchasers should be given the following--  "Traffic will be a nightmare , if you are stricken with a heart attack good luck because there is no hospital in Whitby and if you have a doctor in the City you better keep them because you won't find one here.   But we will happily take your money for taxes.

On a separate but related issue- they want to use all the gas tax money for the incinerator and the Mayor in Scugog agrees since only a few use transit and the incinerator will benefit all the region.

I hope this does not happen and DRT looses money and uses this as an excuse to cut more service. TTC would be very vocal if funding was going to be lost - does DRT care one way or another? 

This is another attack on transit in Durham.

Fuel cost increases

Last year at some point I saw a television show on local television and a representative from this company was on it.  Hy-Drive is involved in a pilot for Mississauga Transit.  I will look into their results.

Their products are after market systems to reduce fuel consumption--- a side effect would be reducing the cost of the fuel consumption.

I told someone from DRT about this company and I wonder if anyone even investigated it.

I purchase monthy passes for my son and I certainly do not want a fuel surcharge slapped on the cost untill other ways to reduce costs are investigatied.  It has not been stated a fuel charge is going to be implemented but Toronto and GO have said they will be. 

A cross regional commuters nightmare-- this just in

At this moment a little while before leaving work for the trek home from Mississauga to Ajax, the Traffic info maps are GRAY   -- this means we have no idea before we go if there has been an accident or not and can't decide to take the 407 based on it. 

Hopefully the info is there before we leave.   Great it's back now. 

Orange and Red -- patches of gray.   As usual.  They could have substituted yesterdays because we really would not know the difference! 

This morning was very slow -- just volume they said. 

I refuse to leave my house before 7am!  I read about that guy who leaves really early then sleeps in his car at the parking lot at work for 90 mins.

There was a letter to the editor in the Toronto Star that says GO has it all wrong-- not longer cars --- we need more frequent service to all sorts of places other then downtown office buildings.  A person after my own heart!

Canada is all talk and no action in this area!  We are too chicken to do anything at all, any government , not just the new government.  We need radical change in our Transportation network.

How would traffic move if all the trucks were on the 407 and leave the free 401 to the cars ????

Maybe Trucks should not be in the rush hour traffic?

DRT Bus Stops- Traffic in Scarborough

I have not been able to find another regular driver to our carpool and something has occurred in the last while that I wish I knew the answer to.   Why has the traffic in Scarborough increased so much? 
In the last few months leaving on our daily trek to Mississauga always had of course slowdown in Scarborough so we shifted to an earlier start at 7:15 am putting us in Scarborough by 7:30 am and yes it was slow but not to the degree it has been since March Break.  It appears to be more congested and it takes longer to get the section where it starts moving again in the express.  The overhead signs are not helping as they don't even bother to tell us what is moving slow or very slow, there is a difference in these two terms-- what that is I have no idea.

On Friday we left at 7am and sailed through Scarborough but since it was a Friday I am not sure if that is regular, I did not want to be one of those crack of dawners because getting up at 6am is early enough.  Monday we will leave at 7am and if the Scarborough section is manageable then that is the new normal for me.  It is taking its toll on me as Friday evening I just dozed on the couch and did not want to do anything.

My life is ruled by traffic reports and "every minute makes a difference"

Move Ontario 2020 can't come soon enough, there is a stretch on the 401 that had such a wide shoulder in the Toronto area that I don't see why a carpool lane can't be added, why can't we take away a lane? We are too chicken to do it, if you had the choice between 2 lanes of not moving at all and one lane that required you to have a second driver or more what would you do? Carpool I bet.

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I was heading to the store on Saturday and saw a DRT Truck taking pictures of a corner in Ajax, this must be part of the task of gathering information on condition of bus stops.  I plan to go to the May Transit Advisory meeting -- hopefully I won't fall asleep during it from being up so early :)

One simple thing could be done to get me out of my car a few times a week --- a train at 7:30m that goes past Union in the morning with a shorter wait time before heading west from Union.  It seems I am asking for the world.  There has been a lot of movement of companies from Toronto to points west but the GO train schedule does not reflect this nor does Mississauga Transit's rush hour schedule.

The Gas taxes are filling the Province of Ontario's bank accounts but the highways still look like crap. On a single litre of gas the province is taking 14.5 cents and the Feds have the excise tax at 10 cents plus the GST on top of everything. 

Out of this money Municipal Governments are getting money for infrastructure and local transit authorities are receiving funding for capital projects, great but I still can't get a train to Mississauga to get to work at a decent time-- really early or late are my choices.

I have to leave my house before 6 am to get a train at 6am to make it to work around 8am total trip of DRT plus GO plus Mississauga Transit ---  I can leave my driveway at 7am and get to work for 8am, what would you do?  GO knows people don't want to pay downtown parking but I have free parking so my savings are only reflected in car maintance because it is still cheaper on a sinlge trip comparison cost with driving then the GO fare to Clarkson from Ajax.

However the milage is having oil changes more frequent and life of my car is shortened.

My next car will be a Honda!!  Sorry Oshawa but at least Honda's are still built in Canada by Canadian workers. 

TTC trike now - Monday also?

I went to bed last night with the knowledge of the TTC Strike that was called. 

I don't use the TTC but I have to pass through the city so it indirectly affects me with more traffic to deal with on the highway but many may not have the car as an option.  I went through the 8 day strike in 1991, my husband was forced to ride my Very Pink bike to work in Don Mills and I drove down to Queens Quay where I was working at the time and it took me probably 2 hours to get to work from Mount Pleasant and Davisville area, people were walking, riding bikes, hitch hiking, anything to get to where they were going.  Brutal!

Good luck on Monday if it is not resolved and if you have a transit nightmare to share, please do.

Should the TTC be an essential service ?  what about Transit in all of Ontario?  is it ok to strike in Durham but not Toronto?  St. Catharines,Hamilton , is it not essential for them ?

In the last two weeks I have purchased two things to reduce my reliance on my car for trips not going to work.   I purchased a wagon with real rubber tires to walk to the grocery store and have purchased a rack that lets me snap in a basket on the back of  my Bike.   I can ride my bike when I need to go and buy just a few things now and have a safe way to carry my cargo back.

We all need to find ways to incorporate some green ideas into our everyday lives. 

Train to Peterborough

There is a Mark Holland Town Hall meeting April 25th in Pickering.

At these gas prices Peterborough deserves some more transportation choice to get to the Toronto Area.

Even if your not from Ajax-Pickering come out and discuss this issue. 

I am biased in this issue because I have good friends in Peterborough that are rail enthusiast and one of them has worked hard with the past liberal MP to reopen this rail link.