Car driving commuters are minority in Toronto

.@strobelsun Commuters who drive are, by far, the minority in Toronto. Time for drivers to make way for prevailing modes. #TOpoli pic.twitter.com/gFBz6k0ahJ

— Martyn Schmoll (@martynschmoll) November 29, 2016

#dumbtrack Toronto still ruled by oil trolls, sabotaging sensible #publictransit

Toronto now the last bastion of old-style conservatism: Hume | Toronto Star: "The Toronto the car built is giving way to another city, one that’s dense, highrise and compact. It is a city where bicycles make as much sense as cars, and in which pedestrians are demanding freedom of the streets.

It is no longer a city defined by ease of driving, but quality of life. As Toronto adopts contemporary values, it’s clear the old guard isn’t up to the task."

Toronto - Banks and oil companies want subways to create debt and get people out of the way of cars

Toronto Star: "City council has endorsed moving ahead with a one-stop subway extension in Scarborough, rejecting a push to revive a seven-stop LRT as part of a light-rail network that could serve more residents for less money.
The vote Wednesday was a conclusive win for Mayor John Tory, who has adamantly backed the need for subway connection to the Scarborough Town Centre he promised to build during the election. It also effectively killed the original seven-stop LRT that would have been fully funded by the province."

Cars subsidized by taxpayers in Toronto

Toronto Star : "Parking at 50¢ a shot is a great deal for individual beneficiaries but not so great for the city as it struggles to fund key programs and activities. When the city significantly under-prices parking it also encourages car use at the expense of objectives, such as promoting transit, improving physical fitness from walking and cycling, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change.

Some motorists will object to any proposal to increase the cost of driving, often asserting they already overpay for roads. While there’s no doubt motorists pay dearly to drive via car payments, insurance, and fuel this hardly justifies subsidizing (and thus hiding) the true cost of driving.

The assertion that motorists overpay for local roads is almost certainly false. For instance, a study, entitled “Whose Roads” by Canada’s Victoria Transport Policy Institute found cyclists and pedestrians — not motorists — overpay for local roads through general taxes. Anecdotally, even though I don’t own a car I pay as much in property taxes, which “fund most of the operating costs of roads,” according to the Residential and Civil Construction Alliance of Ontario, as my neighbours who own two and three cars."

There is a "war on cars," but the cars are winning

TreeHugger: "When Constable Remo Romano hit her with his F150 pickup truck he was going 115 (71MPH) in a 60 km/hr (37 MPH) zone. According to one article, her body was thrown 80 meters."

The "system" (auto-sprawl) is not blamed because too many powerful people are profiting from it. And the individuals can't go to jail -- the labor force would be unstable. So the fault is placed on the victim.



Cars are literally killing us. There is a mild sort of fight back, you know, "complete streets" and such. What we need is a real fight back.



It is time to admit the autosprawl system does not work. How many more will die before you join the campaign for fare-free buses?



Free public transit will break the critical mass of the private auto. Subsidies will then be seen as a burden, not a necessity.

Ontario plans massive subsidy for cars disguised as "climate" plan

The Globe and Mail: "$285-million for electric vehicle incentives. These include a rebate of up to $14,000 for every electric vehicle purchased; up to $1,000 to install home charging; taking the provincial portion of the HST off electric vehicle sales; an extra subsidy program for low– and moderate-income households to get older cars off the road and replace them with electric; and free overnight electricity for charging electric vehicles. The province will also build more charging stations at government buildings, including LCBO outlets, and consider making electrical vehicle plug-ins mandatory on all new buildings. The plan sets targets of expanding electric vehicle sales to 5 per cent of all vehicles sold by 2020, up to 12 per cent by 2025, and aiming to get an electric or hybrid vehicle in every multivehicle driveway by 2024, a total of about 1.7 million cars."

Ottawa transit fares help keep more cars on the road, while hurting poor people

Unlike numerous other Ontario cities, Ottawa does not have a low-income pass #OttawaInsights #ottpoli #ottcity pic.twitter.com/o60sZLt0Ts

— HealthyTransport (@HealthTransport) April 25, 2016

Road tolls -- more bureaucracy -- more contention -- more unintended consequences. Make buses fare-free to solve congestion.

Metro News: "Martin Collier, founder of Transport Futures, warned against only charging non-residents. One of the goals of road pricing is to encourage alternate transportation, he said, and giving Torontonians a free ride could do the opposite.
“It may even induce people inside Toronto to not take transit because traffic on those roads will decrease as people from Whitby and Oshawa choose other routes,” he said."