I want to get on/off/on the bus

No, I’m not opposed to taking transit. I just want to be able to step off now and then to run some errands.  The TTC, on the other hand, wants to hold me hostage. 

While many other transit systems have payment systems that allow riders to hop on and off during a set travel period, the TTC carries on with an arcane transfer system that completely handcuffs its riders.

The TTC’s system works only if I am willing to go directly from A to B.  But God forbid that I want to stop at C for some groceries or D to pick up my child from school. 

Scrutiny of the strange tear marks on my grubby transfer by a brow-furrowed streetcar operator will instantly betray my radical quest for freedom from the TTC’s transfer rules. The only exception is the “pilot” on St. Clair’s 512 streetcar.

This system isn’t good for transit riders – and it isn’t good for our climate.  It isn’t good for our climate because it artificially limits our use of transit for multiple short trips and makes us opt for the car instead. 

Unless you are a monthly pass holder, the cost of multiple trips is simply too great.  (And the TTC’s Metropass is actually one of the least generous among major Canadian cities in providing a net financial benefit to the average transit user, although about half of daily users now have passes.)  I’d just as soon buy time on the system as individual rides.

With that innovation in place, I would then be free to run many more errands on transit.  One other service would make this a really attractive option:  I need local retailers to get back into the delivery business. 

I had to laugh (ruefully) at a Toronto Star reporter’s description of some guy hauling a snow blower onto a jam-packed streetcar.  We’ve all been there – either as the person being pushed aside by the woman with a giant new microwave or as the person struggling up the streetcar steps with some large and awkward package. 

How great would it be to support local shops while getting goods delivered to your door (maybe even by bike trailer)?!  This is a real economic opportunity for small retailers struggling to compete with big box stores equipped with hundred-acre parking lots. 

If the TTC lets me get off and shop locally and I can then get my purchases delivered to my door, the vibrancy of local shopping streets is going to be a lot greater.  And that, in turn, is good for my neighbourhood, giving me more opportunity to walk, bike or take transit the next time I need milk – or something bigger.       

 About Julia Langer

Comments

[mustardman]

Innovation at the TTC? Really? Never knew it could happen.

[Israfel]

Yep, excellent suggestion. Ottawa's bus system does this, they even have fancy printed transfers, instead of the clumsy old ones that TTC drivers tear off.

Another good idea would be a reduced fare during off-peak times. This move would also encourage people to take transit at nights and weekends for quick errands.

So instead of paying $6 for a quick bus ride to the bank, people are paying $2. Revenue would drop, but ridership would increase by quite a bit.

[SDalal]

what you just wrote makes such obvious sense. I have seen that very same system in Amsterdam and it works beautifully; lots of commuters hopping on and off within the time allowed in a single fare time slot. Great suggestion for TTC to consider seriously

[CK DesGrosseilliers]

TTC management is mired in 1962. I can't think of anything innovative that they have done on their own. Everything is done by pushing them, screaming and kicking, to do it. Announcing stops for passengers with visual problems? A court order was required -- and then the drivers don't have to do it -- we had to pay for recordings to make the announcements.

I also hold the union responsible for this backward approach, but good management in other cities has managed their labour relationship to the benefit of passengers and the city.

I wish it were better: I'd be eager to go back to the TTC instead of reluctant. (I have a car again, for the first time in 11 years) after moving to a small town last year, then returning to Toronto earlier this year).

[abc123]

With VIVA in York Region, you are able to do that. I stop all the time to grab something for dinner after work, a book at the Richmond Hill library, or if I'm early in the morning I'll get off at a Tim's a get a coffee and then hop back on. The believe the tickets are good for 2 hours after you stamp them. It's very nice.

[Lovemycity]

I think there´s a point here. I have to pay twice for just getting off to pick up my daughter at daycare and on to the same bus again. Daycare is only two blocks away. Transfers should be valid for at least 1 hour. Mississauga transit has that option and it´s really convenient for most riders.

[Brian S.]

Julia Langer for Mayor.

[S]

This is currently available in York Region, a bus ticket is valid for 2 hours from when you buy a viva ticket. It is very convenient...

[bka]

She's right of course: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Rail_Zone
For that matter, who would pay for the cost to take the subway for one stop: assuming a driving cost of $0.30 per km, it costs 60 cents to drive from Sheppard Station to York Mills versus $3 on the TTC.

[Cameron]

Let's be clear here. The TTC is not a child that likes to "play well with others."

Frankly, the level of selfishness that the TTC displays is ridiculous. They won't accept transfers from other systems withing the City of Toronto, they charge extra to go beyond the city limits too. They are the ONLY system in the GTA than doesn't allow this ridership behaviour, and it's just a little counter-productive.

I believe it's time for Metrolinx to step in and take over the TTC with a mandate of making the transit services throughout the GTA, and even the Golden Horseshoe a unified and sensible system.

Maybe the adoption will encourage them to grow up.

[Helen Goldfarb]

lots of people are already doing it. Its up to the driver whether to question the transfer or not. Many of them just don't want to bother or have an argument with a hostile person with a foreign accent.

By the way fares are much more expensive in London and no, you can't get on and off as you please with the same fare.

[John Smith]

Dear Julia,

Please check with the TTC before writing this article. You are currently allowed to make a 30-minute stop, do some shopping and get back on the bus with a transfer.

[Ashley]

Vancouver also has a 2 hour hop on/hop off system, making public transit much more desirable. Interestingly, the transit system in Vancouver is under attack in the Keep TTC public campaign...

[Maria Selimovic]

This means that the TTC should be moving to a system-wide time based transfer system, same as those applied in YRT/VIVA, Brampton Transit, MiWay (Mississauga), Burlington Transit, Milton Transit and Oakville Transit. But, the TTC is afraid of losing money since it will pave the way to accepting transfers to and from the 905. But the TTC should accept them anyways.

[Kev]

Takes money to do something like that, and the lost revenue that would happen is what's really stopping the TTC from doing this. If people are willing to pay more to subsidize the TTC then more good things can be done, but right now with a per rider subsidy of $0.63 you just can't do it. Now if you want to provide what York Region does to transit, over $4 per rider subsidy, then we would have one of the greatest transit systems in the world, with all the fancy perks, but we all saw how people cried foul when the TTC fares went up a whole quarter. If you want good things you have to pay for it.

[RichardB]

When I lived in Vancouver in 1980 I was able to hop on, hop off the buses within a 2-3 hour period of time. When I moved to Toronto in '85 I found this was not an option with the TTC and have complained about it ever since. Its just another one of those things demonstates the TTC is NOT the better way.

[k]

As disappointed as I was with the Ottawa Transit system when I first moved here from Toronto a few years back...

I must say... the system you described has been in Ottawa for ages.

In fact, Ottawa, Montreal, Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary all have better transfer system's than the TTC.

Its not just a "Euro" or "Asian" thing to have innovative transit options.

Its a Canadian thing, less your in Toronto. The fare system is so out dated. Montreal already has a system similar to what PRESTO is suppose to be, except its already up and running.

Heck, even on the Quebec side of Ottawa (Gatineau), they have a smart card fare system in place.

[Karinky]

In Portland,Oregon streetcar use is FREE in the downtown core.

[Phil]

This would be ideal, combined with a proof-of-payment policy system-wide.

It baffles me that public transit systems in Canada, not only the TTC but VIA Rail and I think Go as well, make people stand in line to get on so that their tickets can be checked, after they just finished standing in line to pay.

Most trains and transit systems in Europe use proof of payment because, if you fine people who are caught without proof of payment consistently, it works as well and maybe better ensuring people actually pay. And you can then allow people to board through any door (on a bus or streetcar) or gate (on the subway) which would practically eliminate waiting in line.

[Adrian]

This is one of the big issues I have complained about for the past few years. Cities as close as Mississauga allow the timed transfer system, the TTC still doesn't. It is very inconvenient to have to pay one fare to stop at the store for 15 mins, and another fare to go back. Has the TTC every addressed this issue, explaining why it isn't feasible?

[Josh]

"And the TTC’s Metropass is actually one of the least generous among major Canadian cities in providing a net financial benefit to the average transit user"

Julia, do you have a source for this information? I had thought it was the opposite - I'd always heard the Metropass was one of the better deals in Canada. Thanks!

[Tuan Tran]

Dear Helen:
This is the first time I heard that. It is great if there are any references from what you have just pointed out.
Thanks

[DavidSu]

Helen is NOT correct, there is no 30 minute "shopping window" - though you can, of course, usually pop in to buy something IF you are at a connecting point and it doesn'rt take too long. You can't get off Bus A to shop and reboard Bus B on the same route.

The main problem with TTC transfers is that it's a stupid system that confuses people (why can't you start walking and then catch a bus?). It is also a major cause of arguments with drivers. Has the 'test' on St Clair worked? If so expand it. If not find out why, as noteda bove it works in MANY other Cities.

[CityPainter]

Helen, if that 30-minute rule is true they've certainly not publicized it well. The TTC transfer I picked up on the 504 yesterday says on it "This transfer can be used at TTC transfer points for a one-way continuous trip with no backtracking" and "Must be used at first available transfer point (cannot walk to next stop)" and "Not valid for stopover" -- the last one is bolded. None of these rules give me the impression that making extra stops along your route to do chores and re-boarding is okay.

[Michael]

..one of the many reasons why the TTC is not an option!