'I'm thinking about getting a car.'

Our offer as a city is slipping.

Cannot take the bus because it no longer gets me where I need to go on time is not a good look for a city that is seeking to reduce reliance on cars, rather than increase it.

Remarkable women in Canadian urbanism, including Toronto's Becky Katz.
womeninurbanism.ca/words/14-mobil…

Less frequency means fewer riders.

See the problem?

Oh this is hostile.

A decade ago we consulted on and recommended revenue tools for transit b/c we were worried about starving transit, which is the backbone to our growth and densification. Torontonians said ‘do it.’ We saw this coming. Politicians failed to act.
thestar.com/news/gta/2016/…

Toronto has multiple - 16! - revenue tools at it’s disposal to fund transit operations as per the City of Toronto Act that it does not currently use. Majority of them do not require any permission from the Province. They are not being used due to the inaction of Council.

Jennifer Keesmaat Same. Grew up in Toronto, although I'm a bit of an outlier, I didn't get a license until I was 28 and working in Sauga.

Jennifer Keesmaat Me too. I didn’t get my license until I was 30 & one of my daughters is now 43 and still ruminating over the thought.

Jennifer Keesmaat Shirley Turnbull I didn’t learn to drive when younger, Lived & worked in the town centre, didn’t see the point. Fast forward 15 years, living in a suburb (wouldn’t want to move back to town), reliant on public transport & struggling with the cost of driving lessons.
Needs can change.

Jennifer Keesmaat 'Wait till they can drive' == wait until we are made of money and can afford multiple cars, insurance, parking, and fuel?

Jennifer Keesmaat I was once that 12 year old and at 32 feel even more strongly about never being car dependent. No licence and have made car-free life work in a few different cities and towns. It's exciting to see so many young people pushing back against car dependency!

Jennifer Keesmaat I was so lucky. I learned road riding early (11yo) and cycled everywhere in and around Georgetown and north Etobicoke. Once in 1986 I cycled from Rexdale to Ballinafad. However, the roads were not congested and much safer. I did get my license although I didn’t have a car. 1/2

Sounds like freedom to me….

Toronto. By way of a careful reply, I was baffled in 2022 that Gil Penalosa didn't just say 'look what I could bring you with this authority.' Strong mayor powers made Penalosa's wins as Bogota parks commissioner possible, ditto his brother's wins (as Bogota Mayor) on transit.

Toronto just spent $700 million upgrading subway train signals so we could run trains closer together + increase service levels. Despite this, due to operating cost pressures, we now run trains with less frequency than before this investment. This is nuts. We need to fix this.