Rating: NNNNN
The TTC released subway expansion plans in what amounted to a PR exercise last week. Fact is, there isn’t enough money to maintain the current level of service. A transit system that’s the envy of the world? Try Bloor and Yonge at 5:15 pm.
ROCKET IN THE RED
Number of bus and streetcar routes: 128
Number turning a profit: 7
Least efficient surface routes:
Mt. Pleasant, Willowdale, Wilson Heights, Yonge, Queensway, Leslie, Calvington, Downtown and Kingston, Anglesey, Huntingwood, Van Horne, Silver Hills, Esplanade
Proportion of inefficient routes that go through affluent neighbourhoods: more than half
Average revenue these routes collect per week: $32,060
What it costs to operate these routes per week: $67, 810
Average amount TTC pays to subsidize these routes: more than $1 per boarding
Average amount of subsidy received by other TTC routes: about 35 cents per boarding
Amount TTC would save if it eliminated least efficient routes: more than $3.5 million a year
DELAYS DOWN UNDERAverage number of delays on the subway per day: 6
Average length of delays: 20 minutes
Longest delay reported so far this year: 1 hour and 53 minutes
Number of passenger complaints received by TTC about subway delays so far this year: 76RUSH HOUR CRUSHNumber of passengers boarding at Yonge/Bloor and St. George stations during rush hour: about 250,000
Number of passengers at other busy subway stations during rush hour: more than 50,000 an hour
Number of passengers each subway train can hold: 1,080 (seated and standing)
Number of trains passengers are likely to let pass before they can board at Yonge/Bloor and St. George during rush hour: 2
Number of passengers moved by subway in 1992: 32,000 per hour
Number of passengers moved by subway today: 27,000 per hourA question of deploymentNumber of subway cars not in service during rush hour: 132
Number of buses not in service during rush hour: 164
Number of streetcars not in service during rush hour: 56
Amount service would improve if they were in service: 20 per cent or more
THE BETTER WAYTime it takes to get to York University from St. Clair and Dufferin during rush hour: 1 hour and 15 minutes
Time it takes to get from Bathurst and Wilson to Yonge and Dundas during rush hour: 50 minutes
Time it takes to get from Bathurst and Wilson to Dundas and Yonge by bike: 35 minutes
Time it takes to get from Bloor and Christie to Dundas and Yonge by TTC: 40 minutes
Time it takes to get from Bloor and Christie to Dundas and Yonge by bike: 20 minutes
Time it takes to get downtown by bike from North York, Etobicoke or Scarborough: about 45 minutes
Sources: Toronto Transit Commission/The Track Ahead, Richard M. Soberman/Rapid Transit Expansion Study, August 2001newsinsight: The trouble with the TTC
