calimehtar
Active Member
I did not vote for Rob Ford. However, since I consider myself a moderate fiscal conservative, I hope that a shift to the right at city hall can result in some change for the better. This thread is for people to discuss ways to improve the city that Rob Ford might approve of - cost practically nothing.
Here are some ideas of mine to get started:
Make more city property available for development. I would love to see the area around Sunnyside beach, including the sunnyside bathing pavilion, turned back into a coney island-style boardwalk. The grassy parks around the area are mostly underused - too close to the Gardiner and not big enough for soccer, baseball etc. The traffic is there, and so is the parking. All that's required is private money, and the will. I think there are similar opportunities in TTC stations, and at Ontario Place and Exhibition Place.
Open the management of various aspects of the TTC to competition. The TTC seems to lack the will to run things efficiently or improve customer service. I have no doubt that opening parts of the system to private companies would immediately improve service or cut costs, or both.
Convert the entire TTC to a proof of payment system as is common in Europe. This would be a low-tech way of making the entire system run more smoothly. Doing it right would require ticket dispensers and punchers, but nothing particularly high tech. They already have staff standing at stops counting riders or holding doors during rush hour, they could simply assign them to check for proof of payment instead. I admit this doesn't seem likely, but I think it's long overdue.
Start rolling out signal priority for streetcars and busses. They already have GPS in most or all busses and streetcars. It seems like it couldn't be too difficult or expensive to add the complementary technology to traffic lights. This might seem contrary to Rob's anti-streetcar rhetoric, but if streetcars and busses run more smoothly, the cars stuck behind them will benefit as well.
Here are some ideas of mine to get started:
Make more city property available for development. I would love to see the area around Sunnyside beach, including the sunnyside bathing pavilion, turned back into a coney island-style boardwalk. The grassy parks around the area are mostly underused - too close to the Gardiner and not big enough for soccer, baseball etc. The traffic is there, and so is the parking. All that's required is private money, and the will. I think there are similar opportunities in TTC stations, and at Ontario Place and Exhibition Place.
Open the management of various aspects of the TTC to competition. The TTC seems to lack the will to run things efficiently or improve customer service. I have no doubt that opening parts of the system to private companies would immediately improve service or cut costs, or both.
Convert the entire TTC to a proof of payment system as is common in Europe. This would be a low-tech way of making the entire system run more smoothly. Doing it right would require ticket dispensers and punchers, but nothing particularly high tech. They already have staff standing at stops counting riders or holding doors during rush hour, they could simply assign them to check for proof of payment instead. I admit this doesn't seem likely, but I think it's long overdue.
Start rolling out signal priority for streetcars and busses. They already have GPS in most or all busses and streetcars. It seems like it couldn't be too difficult or expensive to add the complementary technology to traffic lights. This might seem contrary to Rob's anti-streetcar rhetoric, but if streetcars and busses run more smoothly, the cars stuck behind them will benefit as well.
