However, the media release for the report coincided with the first day of the Toronto Transit Commission’s 15-cent increase per adult single-ride ticket. Although officials say the connection was coincidental, the irony is not lost on clear-air advocates.
"The report hits the nail squarely on the head,” says Eva Ligeti, executive director for the Clean Air Partnership.
“Regions like Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area have been left behind in coordinated traffic-reduction programs from the provincial and federal governments,” says Ligeti.
She says that part of the problem is that so much effort and money went into the city’s amalgamation of six municipalities in 1998. “We are 10 years behind other cities like Montreal,” says Ligeti, “And while the province of Quebec is supporting them, we don’t get that support.”
Toronto is suffering because of urban sprawl, she says. People come to Toronto to work, for entertainment and for shopping, but have few options besides driving.
Monica Campbell, who works for the city’s health department, agrees.
“We need to make it easier for people to get out of their cars. The big thing holding us back is a lack of funding for public transit,” says Campbell.
A city report released in June states that 67 per cent of all trips made in and out of the city are by single-occupancy drivers. Cecile Blenke, an avid pedestrian, says that rate is ridiculous. Blenke walks everywhere in the city except when the weather is bad or she is late. In regards to the health department’s report on air-traffic pollution she says, “Yeah, it’s terrible. I’m walking to work, taking the back alleys to avoid the major streets.” She adds that more trees and greenery should be added to the streets to encourage walking.
Campbell agrees this is important. She cites the 1997 revitalization of St. George Street in the city’s downtown area near the University of Toronto as an excellent example of how this can work.
Trees were added, the sidewalk doubled its width and the road was reduced to two lanes of traffic. As a result, the $6 million project decreased speeding, reduced traffic collisions by 40 per cent and increased the number of cyclists from 1,500 per day to 1,600. The St. George revitalization and four other projects which narrowed downtown streets and added bike lanes increased cycling by an average of 23 per cent.
“If people thought the pedestrian environment was more pleasant or engaging, and if cycling felt safer and we had better connected paths, more people would walk and cycle,” Campbell says.
However, she adds, there is a lot of commuter opposition. Even though she says she believes cycling and public transit can use resources more effectively, she adds, “People just don’t want to give up their road space.”
Ben Marans agrees and adds that environmental plans must acknowledge this. He works for the Toronto Atmospheric Fund, an initiative that provides grants and loans to special projects to reduce emissions in Toronto. The group is currently piloting a plug-in hybrid car project testing the effects of the cars in a business context on greenhouse emissions. While the project’s realm is only 10 cars, Marans stresses that its potential is what’s important. While the City of Toronto has only two cars in the project, they have 1000s in total. Consider, he says, the final effect if the City replaced all their cars with hybrids.
Already things are looking good. While the results aren’t in, he says that the preliminary results have shown up to a 50 per cent reduction in fuel consumption.
Says Maran, “We have to try to accelerate green vehicles in Toronto, especially in a fleet or business capacity, where cars and trucks are out on the roads every day.”
He applauds cities like Winnipeg, which has 146 hybrid taxis. Marans says the cabbies there have saved up to $80 a day.
“That goes into their pocket,” he says.
But, Marans acknowledges, there are obstacles. He says hybrid vehicles typically cost $6,000 to $10,000 more than their regular counterparts and purchase waiting lists in Ontario can be up to a year.
Maran says a faster solution is for the country and the province to fund public transit and recognize that it is an important part of the infrastructure and economy of both Toronto and Canada.
He offers the example of the 401 Highway. “There are cars there in traffic, idling and dead. Billions of dollars of commerce is trapped on the highway,” he says. “We need to get these people moving and getting to their jobs. We need to invest.”
Councillor Joe Mihevc, who is the vice-chair of the Toronto Transit Commission says although the city needs to increase public transit and keep fares low are possible it needs to balance its books first.
“We are between a rock and a hard place,” says Mihevc. “Quite frankly, the city is broke.”
He points to Mayor David Miller’s fight to get Toronto and other Canadian cities one cent of the GST, calling it an all-out campaign to get provincial funding.
Even though the city’s bike plan schedule is behind schedule, and Mihevc estimates the city will not meet its 2007 target of approximately 30 kilometres on-time (less than five were done by the middle of November), he is optimistic that the city will complete the bicycle network in as little time as possible.
“We’re doing the best we can,” he says. |
