TRANSIT
TRAVEL
CAR-FREE TORONTO
Wali is committed to visions of transit more aggressive than any other candidate in this race. He is in full support of the TTCriders group’s proposals and priorities (and even goes beyond them).
Toronto must transition into a car-free city. That’s understood. Cars take too much real estate, are far too polluting, and far too slow for their primary purpose of getting you from point A to point B. A car-free reality would address road safety, air quality, and chronic traffic congestion.
However, we cannot simply ‘ban’ cars, nor just make them costly and inconvenient. We need to make alternative modes of transport:
- easier,
- quicker,
- cheaper or free, and
- all around better.
That requires:
- greatly expanding public transit service,
- developing bike and e-vehicle infrastructure,
- making high-traffic areas easily walkable.
Until then, we can redirect the resources that become available after cutting the police budget in half to on-ground traffic flow management. It is important to note that these resources should not be enforcement officers. Moreover, we could set up temporary pre-fabricated pedestrian bridges over problem intersections to allow people the ability to quickly and safely cross the streets, reduce vehicle-to-pedestrian collisions, and improve the flow of traffic.
QUALITY
MASS TRANSIT EXPANSION
Toronto must massively expand transit availability and options that are fast, reliable, and easy to use.
Accomplishing that means expanding service frequency, routes, and capacity. Using transit should be far quicker, easier, and cheaper to use than driving a car that it becomes a no-brainer to take the TTC.
Every location in downtown Toronto should be within stone’s throw of a transit stop.
North-South and East-West routes should be streamlined and simplified for ease of travel planning, especially for tourists and out-of-town visitors.
Greatly improve intuitive and accessible wayfinding.
Service frequency should be 5-minutes or better.
All possible efforts should be made in order to ensure public transit has dedicated rights-of-way, and are not affected by traffic congestion stemming from personal vehicle use.
North-South and East-West subway extensions – including possible inclusion of new lines. This should be done in earnest consultation with Indigenous communities and environmental groups, especially for underground tracks and tunnels.
COST
AFFORDABLE OR FREE PUBLIC TRANSIT
Mobility is a key component of freedom and independence. The poor and marginalized members of our city are left out of economic opportunities in other parts of town, or spend far too much time breaking their backs to get to and from a location. Others may find it easier or cheaper to take their car for a short excursion around the block. We need to eliminate the debate of cost-benefit analyses, back-door boarding to protect drivers, fare enforcement, or pay-by-distance – we do this by making public transit free at the point of use.
This can be done in a number of ways.
- Keeping the TTC in public ownership.
- Drawing funding from the provincial and federal governments.
- Employing automation and self-driving technology as ubiquitously as possible – it is very important that this is accompanied by a legal obligation to indefinitely guarantee the incomes of all erstwhile TTC workers equal to their then-rate-of-pay if there is no more work available for some or all of them. This arrangement should be offered to TTC workers by labour intensity and then by seniority.
- Using 100% renewable energy.
- Increased taxes on big businesses and corporate landlords, especially those serviced by the TTC improvements.
If universally free transit is not immediately possible, we must establish a free transit program available to low-income individuals and families, to persons with disabilities, marginalized minorities, the elderly, and all youth under the age of 20. This should preferably be accompanied with a reduced flat-rate of $1 or $2 per 3-hour window, or a maximum of $5 per day.
