Beer is the Reason: More TTC Mob rule.
To piggy back off
this blog, now the City is strong arming the construction workers to absorb the cost of "giving" away a Metropass with every Condo bought.
I first heard about this issue on 680 News this morning when they were doing an interview with Ward 15(don't remember his name) councilor and Stephen Dupuis the head of building group. Every point that Dupuis put towards the councilor was met with stock answers and his inability to articulate why giving away free Metropasses was a good idea. Depending on the condo buyers lifestyle they either will just walk to work/school/wherever, will need to drive, or will use the TTC. The estimate given by Dupuis was, for example, 1/3 of all buyers would use the Metropass. Whathisname councilor was unable to give any hard studies on %, instead vacillating from anywhere from 75-90% buyers would use the Metropass, in the same sentence! One of his retorts was that if they buyer didn't want the Metropass it could easily be transferred to a family member. Bonus! WTF?!
That this bill was approved without debate infuriates me. Apparently there was a 3year discussion on this but I question that as well. More likely it was 3yrs of backburner talk and boom, passes before Christmas. More of Millers last minute hurrah of anti-car, pro-mass transit before he gets kicked off the mayorship? Do as much damage as possible before you leave eh?
The anti-car, pro-mass transit policy most cities push does not work in this city because this city's mass transit system is horrible and third tiered at best. Buses coming in packs, streetcars running late, subway system that is completely outdated etc etc etc. They say that the developers won't be allowed to offload the cost onto the buyer. I wonder just how creative the developers will be to rename the new tax as some kind of additional service they had to provide before selling the unit. Just wondering is all, not that I can blame them for having to subsidize something that might even be RETRO'd onto older developments.
I probably wouldn't be so against this if I thought that the TTC was a well run organization. I sincerely don't think it is. It's a system that with no viable mass transit competitor that has become fat, bloated, bogged down and complacent. European transit is superior and my recent trip to cities in China, the land of the "Commies", show that it's transit system in Beijing and Hong Kong will deliver at beat down on the TTC with both arms tied behind their backs and using only one leg! But hey the TTC Mob has the City in it's back pocket so whatever criticism's we level at it, they'll just laugh and keep going to the bank.
An example of the City being in the TTC's grip, William R. Allen Road/Dufferin stretch from Sheppard to Finch. They have managed to take away the HOV lanes, both north and south bound, to promote a Bus only lane while adding two stoplights less then 50 meters on both sides of Sheppards already existing stoplight so that buses can easily turn in lanes made especially for them. They've forced car-pooling people into single person lanes causing more congestion causing more delays causing more road rage and hatred towards the TTC.
Raging, foaming at mouth over the TTC and it's anal raping of the tax paying citizens of Toronto so I'll stop here.
http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/toronto/archive/2009/12/05/city-orders-condo-developers-to-buy-annual-metropass-for-every-unit.aspx
