Simon Tonekham’s Blog

As many riders are scrambling to find alternative ways in the event of the possible TTC strike this Monday, the City of Toronto has implemented a traffic contingency plan. Most streets will be prohibited to some taxis and cars with three or more people and reserved HOV lanes will be made available for cars with 3 or more people. In contrast with Toronto’s HOV network, HOV lanes along the Highway 403 and 404 corridor will be used frequently with buses (whether if they are any passengers or not) and cars with 2 or more people. Solo drivers be warned - the OPP is strictly enforcing these lanes and if you are caught using these lines you will likely to get a fine of $110CDN and 3 demerit points in your driving licence.

In other TTC-related news, Dalton McGunity the premier of Ontario wanted to make  the TTC an essential service. This is what he said in a press conference:

“If there was some kind of approach made during the course of the next three years by the city of Toronto, representatives of the city of Toronto saying we have decided ourselves that it would be a good thing for us to have our public transit system declared essential, that is something that we at Queen’s Park would have to consider,”

The majority of transit riders who used the TTC are post-secondary students because they have exams in the coming days.  Colleges and universities (notably York University) have posted up notices to inform students about the ongoing situation. For more information, you can view these respective links:

http://www.yorku.ca/transportation/

Centennial College has mentioned the situation too. Here’s the information:

In the event of a Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) strike on Monday morning, Centennial College students should make every effort to arrive on campus on time. All classes and exams will continue as scheduled.

Students who rely on the TTC should work together to arrange alternative transportation. The college has set up a voluntary carpooling service where you can register as a driver or passenger at http://rideconnect.centennialcollege.ca/.

Strike updates and related information will be posted on the main college website and Student Association site (http://www.ccsai.ca/).  Please note many of our college support services are available by phone at 416-289-5000.

Progress Campus and HP Centre are served by GO Transit buses. Check the http://www.gotransit.com website for routes and schedules. Thank you for your cooperation and understanding.

Other transit commissions in the 905 have posted their contingency plans. Durham Region Transit has one statement about the situation:

Route 9 Rouge Hill Shuttle - Service to the Rouge Hill GO Station via Route 9 Rouge Hill Shuttle will continue to operate in the event of a TTC strike. It may be necessary to provide boarding and de-boarding for our customers on-street, rather than enter the Rouge Hill bus loop during any strike action.

As for York Region Transit/VIVA, this is their own perspective:

The TTC’s employee unions (ATU Local 113 and CUPE Local 2) will be in a legal strike position as early as Monday, April 21, 2008. In the event of a strike, the 14 contracted TTC route that operate in York Region will not be in service.

For more information, you can view the dirt right here: http://www.yrt.ca/news/index.asp

GO Transit, Mississauga Transit and Brampton Transit (although yet to create such a plan) have their own contingency plans. As ongoing negotiations are coming, riders will have to suffer the consequences.

To finish this blog off, I’m leaving you a lyric from Aselin Debison. Her song is called “Life”:

I’m learning that I can say goodbye
I’m learning that I can be strong inside
I’m ready, I’m ready to get it right
I’m learning about…Life

Coincidently, I found her music video.  It can be viewed for your own pleasure:

Aselin Debison - “Life”:

References:

http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_21869.aspx

http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_21828.aspx

Toronto’s Contingency plan for the TTC Strike

How to get around if the TTC goes on strike

http://680news.com/news/local/article.jsp?content=20080418_141621_4460

http://www.thestar.com/article/415833

High Occupancy Vehicle information page

The other day when I board the 915 Taunton from Durham College/UOIT, I picked up the latest bus schedule for the Western part of DRT’s service. Just to know, service frequencies have been increased on the 915 Taunton with Weekday rush hours going every 15 minutes. However, there’s some changes to the 915 service. Weekday midday has been reduced to every 30 minutes, with the last bus from DC/UOIT leaves at 10:10p.m. and the last from Pickering GO leaves at 8:55p.m.

The 916 Rossland has been reduced to every 30 minutes - but that’s for Midday. After 8:00p.m., the service will run hourly with the last bus leaving from Ajax GO at 10:00p.m. and DC/UOIT at 10:10p.m. Existing Sunday services for the 915/916 stays the same.

As I began to read the schedule, most of the bus routes that have been withdrawn (M26 Duffins, R/M10 Ajax, etc.) are no longer listed. However, there’s one error: the 922 Bloor/Victoria schedule was inadvertently posted on the DRT West bus schedule. It should have been listed on the DRT Centre/East schedule. The new schedule looks like it’s blue with the familar DRT cover at the front. I don’t have any access to a scanner to show you what it is look like, but if you happen to have one, please share me the picture!

The Bus Driver of Durham and the Durham Transit Review blog will have their say about this, as soon as they began to read my blog posting.

Changing gears, there was one person who wants to get fans all-access and up close to their favourite band at the popular punk rock festival, the Vans Warped Tour. A person named Lisa, spearheaded the Warped Repoters blog. It allows fans who fill out surveys prior to the Warped Tour’s opening and these surveys will help the production company on making the best tour possible. There is also an online community in which participants and take surveys and expand their social network (such as Myspace and Facebook).

After the surveys are completed, up to a number of 500 winners are chosen randomly to win a VIP pass - for 10 winners per Warped Tour stop. Those winners will get a wristband which grants them free admission, backstage access, and they will be taken ONTO the main stage to see a band of their choice.

I’ve spent almost 3 to 4 years on studying the possibility on going to the Warped Tour. Right now, i’m designated as an Warped Tour “observer”. My demand in punk music has increased over the years. Think of this in perspective: Ontario is not fully bilingual (The official language is English, but French is more common) - only selected cities can be designated French language centres after the passing of the French Language Services act in 1986. By law, provincial ministries in Ontario must provide services in French along in English.

Studying the possibility on going to the Warped Tour requires many steps (although many people do not necessarily follow my example): you have to provide some consultations from people who went to the tour in the past and find out all the logical, physical and financial factors on going to the tour. It’s like planning a rapid transit line or a highway for a big community. You have to:

• find where the line will go
• providing some public consultations from the public
• perform an environmental assessment on where that line should go
• plan out the specified options in which alignment is preferred
• present the final alignment on where the line will go and answer the public’s concerns
• perform yet another environment assessment
• secure funding from many levels of government (municipal, provincial, federal)
• make an announcement on the commencement of construction
• initialize construction
• perform the test runs
• line is ready for revenue service

If the project is constructed along with a private partner (known as Private-Public Partnerships), then the private partner will own the rapid transit system or highway for a certain number of years. After the contract has ended, the ownership is then transfered to the government. Examples of this is the already controversial Highway 407 in Ontario, and Autoroutes 25 and 30 in Quebec.

Changing gears, I’m starting to save up some money on going to the Warped Tour and on average, the cost that an average warped tour goer will take is between $200 to $300 CDN. The Warped Reporters website (at this time of the blog posting) is in the process of opening, so I have to keep posted for further details.

I still having my hopes that the Warped Tour is going to be held at Downsview Park in Barrie. I strongly oppose on having the tour being held at Park Place in Barrie (since been closed) and potentially, Burl’s Creek Park.  Downsview Park is the most preferred because it’s readily accessible by public transit.

References:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/616515/how_to_get_a_vip_pass_to_warped_tour.html

I was reading an article on Durham College/UOIT’s Chronicle (a campus newspaper) the other day and there’s some more exposed changes about the various bus routes of Durham Region Transit - primarily in DRT’s East division. The 4 (404, due to Durham Region Transit numbering scheme) College Hill bus route operates on rush hours (6:30a.m. to 9:00a.m. and 3p.m to 6:30p.m.), but weekend service has continued to be the same. Mid-day service is all but withdrawn. The 916 Rossland bus route from the Ajax GO station to Durham College/UOIT will run every 20-minutes during rush hours, and 30-minutes during the rest of the day until at 7:30p.m where it will run hourly until the end of service.

The ever-popular 915 Taunton will offer the similar service like the 916, except during rush hours where buses will run every 15 minutes. Next up is the 21 (421, again due to DRT numbering scheme) Townline route (which serves as the connector for the 916) will run hourly on weekdays. Finally, the 1 (401, again due to DRT numbering scheme) Simcoe from South Oshawa to Durham College/UOIT will run every 30 minutes during the summer months but will return to its usual 15 minute frequency when the school year has commenced.

This is what Phil Meagher, deputy general manager of operations for the DRT quote: “It’s not a perfect system. We are constantly reviewing our service, but we can’t be everything to everybody, and it can be difficult to work within our budget.“

He states that he is fine-tuning the entire transit system to deal with the pains of amalgamation. This is ongoing because DRT has suffered a massive deficit worth $2.3 million CDN. For those of you who rely on DRT everyday for work, school or just for play, you must be aware of the changes but they won’t occur until sometime in March. I wonder if my colleagues Andy Grant (who formerly worked for DRT) and David Harrision (who spearheaded the Durham Transit Review blog) has their say, in their own perspective….

To a follow up right now to my last blog posting way back on December 7th, 2007, I had a hunch on making this post right now when I took the bus home from Durham College all the way back to Ajax. There was one driver who likes to do the announcements on the 915 Taunton (although there is no “clear” policy that DRT should let drivers do the announcements, but drivers voluntarily do them anyway - if they like to or by request of the fellow passengers) and If I remembered correctly, one of the fellow passengers like to do it by request. As the driver goes down the road, he announces what the next stop is. He even announces the connections! This is what I had remembered so far:

“Highway 12. Brock and Baldwin. Connections to the 302 Brooklin/Whitby South, four corners on 2…” (or something like that). Probably he had inspired the idea from the TTC’s latest additional on announcing stops on streetcars, buses and subway trains - after two human rights complaints (which the TTC eventually lost and spent millions of dollars modernizing the entire system to make it better for all people). As for the Durham Region Transit, they have no plans for this at all since they are currently in the midst of a deficit (various routes being discontinued and/or hours being adjusted and/or frequencies changed). Eventually according to a posting on the Durham Transit Review blog, the provincial government recently announced that it will allocated $500 million for transit projects and help municipal transit systems across the province of Ontario to deal with the demands. Based on Durham Region’s population, they will receive at least $10 million.

As for the automated announcements, I’m not sure if DRT will hire a “famous” celebrity or utilize the Text-to-speech system. Anyways, here are my suggestions on who should do the announcements on either the whole system or divided in various divisions. Here’s my “dream” ideas:

• MuchMusic VJ Devon Soltentick doing the voices for the stops on the West division (Ajax/Pickering)
• Stu Holloway (known for the voiceover on The Olde Hide House of Acton and his tagline, “It’s worth the drive to Acton!”. He is also known on doing the voices for the Greater Toronto Airports Authority’s LINK-train system) doing the voices for the stops on the East division (Oshawa/Clarington)
• MuchMusic VJ Sarah Taylor doing the voices for the stops on the Centre division (Whitby, initially however DRT North is a contracted operation)

This is my impression of Devon Soltendieck voicing the stops on DRT’s West division (this is an example of the him voicing the 915 Taunton West):

“Next stop: Taylorwood Rd., Next stop: Niagara Drive, Next stop: Selleck Lane, Next stop: Glover’s Road, Next stop: Cayuga Ave., Next stop: Taunton Rd. Connections to the 1 Simcoe., Next stop: Somerville St., Next stop: Patton/Northbrook, Next stop: Stevenson Rd./Oshawa Airport, Next stop: Thornton Rd., Next stop: Sebastian St., Next stop: Garrard Rd., Next stop: Tom Edwards Dr., Next stop: Thickson Road., Next stop: River’s Edge Place/Chatterson St., Next stop: Anderson St. Connections to the 4 Anderson., Next stop: Sinclair Secondary School., Next stop: Fallingbrook St., Next stop: Garden St. - connection to the 3 Garden and 316 Garden/Otter Creek/Whitby Shores bus routes., Next stop: Riverwood St./McKinney Dr., Next stop: Brock St/Baldwin St. - connections to the 302 Brock/Brooklin and GO bus services to Port Perry, Next stop: Cochrane St., Next stop: Country Lane, Next stop: Baycliffe Dr., Next stop: Coronation St., Next stop: Lakeridge Road, Next stop: Audley Rd., Next stop: Warner Dr., Next stop: Gilett Dr., Next stop: Salem Road., Next stop: Harwood Avenue., Next stop: Westney Road, Next stop: Atherton Ave., Next stop: Williamson Dr., Next stop: Rossland Road., Next stop: Coughlen St./Sullivan Dr., Next stop: Magill & Delaney Dr., Next stop: Ravenscroft Rd., Next stop: Westney Road & Hwy. 2 - connection the the 94 Yorkdale/Oshawa and 95 Oshawa/Finch Terminal GO bus routes., Next stop: Bramwell Dr./Ritchie Avenue, Next stop: Ajax GO station, connections to the 916 Rossland East to Durham College/UOIT, 40 Applecroft, 20 Westney, 29 Elm, 35 Puckrin, 22 Audley South, 18 Beach and 32 Village bus routes, as well as the 94 GO bus route and Lakeshore East GO trains to Toronto Union., Next stop: O’Brien Ct., Next stop: Bayly St., Next stop: Church Street., Next stop: Squires Beach Rd., Next stop: Toy Avenue, Next stop: Brock Road, Next stop: Alliance Road, Next stop: Sandy Beach Rd., Next stop: Pickering GO station. Connections to the Lakeshore East GO train to Union station.”

Sorry if this has gone too long, but that’s my idea. Now let’s do the same idea, if Stu Holloway voice one of DRT’s East route. In this case, the 916 Rossland East (Major areas are used in this simulation):

“Next stop: Ajax Plaza., Next stop: Highway 2, Next stop: Durham Centre, Next stop: Williamson Dr., Next stop: Rossland Road, Next stop: Audley Rd., Next stop: Lakeridge Rd., Next stop: Country Lane, Next stop: Cochrane St., Next stop: Brock Street. Connections to the 302 Brooklin/Brock bus route and GO bus services to Port Perry. Next stop: Garden Street connections to the 3 Garden and 316 Garden/Otter Creek/Whitby Shores routes., Next stop: Anderson., Next stop: Thickson, Next stop: Canadian Oaks, Next stop: Garrard Rd. Connections the 5 Thickson/Garrard and 9 Thornton bus routes., Next stop: Thornton Rd., Next stop: Stevenson Rd., connection the 8 Stevenson. Next stop: Gibbons Dr., Next stop: Simcoe Street. Connections to the 1 Simcoe to Durham College/UOIT………………………….Next stop: Durham College/UOIT. Connections to the 1 Simcoe, 915 Taunton, 950 Port Perry/Uxbridge and GO buses to York University and Scarborough Express.”

After that, they will say, “Thank you for riding Durham Region Transit. Have yourself a great day.” It takes a lot of time and effort for the system to become reality, but hey someday it will make life easier.

Here are my other recommendations:

• DRT should implement a time-based transfer system, like Mississauga and York Region. It cost a lot of money to implement, but that way the passenger won’t have to pay again to ride the bus back.
• Enforce all DRT buses to be fare-paid-zones, like the buses in Vancouver. The city there is cracking on fare evaders and eventually they will fine the violators who fail to show their ticket, transfer or pass.

That’s my “what if’s” for Durham Region Transit.

Hey guys, this just in!

It seems that a strike will not happen after all since GO Transit and their union reached a tentative deal, which marks the end of a possible walk-out.  However there’s one catch - the deal must be ratified by the members of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1587. It could have been a lot worse for many passengers. It’s not only the bus drivers who are planning to walk off the job. Many front-line staff were scheduled to walk off the job too.

Until the deal is ratified by the union, it seems that passengers must plan their routes - should the strike should go through unnoticed. With help of a conciliator, both sides are negotiating a possible deal between the two. It seems that many commuters (especially post-secondary students) can breathe a sigh of relief.  It seems that:

“All this time you were pretending
So much for my happy ending
Oh oh, oh oh, oh oh…”

“My Happy Ending” by Avril Lavigne

To see Avril Lavigne’s music video, “My Happy Ending”, you can do so by viewing it here:

I will cover more details about the deal tomorrow on this blog. It’s still little fresh at this point, but stay tuned.

References:

http://www.thestar.com/News/article/291186 

http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/January2008/04/c6849.html 

As many of you commuters who rely on the GO bus to/from work and/or school stayed “glued” to the ‘tube (TV) or tuned to the dial (tuning in to the radio) for complete updates through now leading up to the strike walkout, there’s some additional advice I want to point you guys out.

During the strike, ticket sales will be limited at most rail stations - they will run on weekdays only. If your lucky enough that your station has a Ticket Vending Machine (or TVM), use it there. However there is one drawback - these machines don’t accept paper bills. Only coins, Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Interac (Debit cards) will be accepted. As for an sudden event that the machines will break down during the strike - it’s anyone’s guess.

If you are currently participating in the Presto Card program (a smartcard project being tested between Toronto Union and the Milton GO line), please note that the service will be available at these times: 7:00 to 9:00a.m., 12:30 to 1:30p.m. and 4:00 to 7:00p.m. (Eastern Standard Time).

Here’s the full details from GO’s on-time service status page:

IF THERE IS A STRIKE, GO Transit will be offering limited ticket sales on
WEEKDAYS ONLY at most rail stations.  Tickets will also be available at
GO ticket agencies.  Please refer to the list below for station ticket
selling times.

* = GO stations equipped with Ticket Vending Machine(s) (TVM)

UNION STATION*

GO Concourse will remain open until 0045
0600 - 2045 GO Concourse
1530 - 2030 VIA Great Hall

LAKESHORE WEST LINE STATIONS

Hamilton GO Centre* 0500 - 0715 (building will remain open until 2200)
Aldershot GO Station* 0510 - 1008
Burlington GO Station* 0455 - 1014
Appleby GO Station* 0500 - 1020
Bronte GO Station 0510 - 1025
Oakville GO Station* 0510 - 1030
Clarkson GO Station* 0515 - 0908
Port Credit GO Station* 0520 - 0844
Long Branch GO Station* 0530 - 0849
Mimico GO Station* - closed - TVM sales available
Exhibition GO Station* - closed - TVM sales available

LAKESHORE EAST LINE STATIONS

Danforth GO Station* 0525 - 0927
Scarborough GO Station* 0525 - 0922
Eglinton GO Station* 0530 - 0918
Guildwood GO Station* 0525 - 0913
Rouge Hill GO Station* 0520 - 0907
Pickering GO Station* 0505 - 1100
Ajax GO Station* 0510 - 1054
Whitby GO Station* 0455 - 1047
Oshawa GO Station 0445 - 1041

GEORGETOWN LINE STATIONS

Georgetown GO Station 0605 - 0746
Mount Pleasant GO Station* 0610 - 0755
Brampton GO Station 0620 - 0801
Bramalea GO Station* 0540 - 0905
Malton GO Station* 0545 - 0910
Etobicoke North GO Station* 0550 - 0916
Weston GO Station* 0550 - 0921
Bloor GO Station* - closed - TVM sales available

ALL OTHER LINES

Milton line (except Kipling), Barrie line (except Barrie South* and York
University*), Richmond Hill line and Stouffville line (except Centennial*,
Milliken*, Kennedy* and Agincourt*) will be open during MORNING train
time only.

If you are a student currently enrolled at a post-secondary institution, please consult your student association’s web page for further information. Many of them have contingency plans in place such as local transit tips and carpool offerings. In this case, the Student Association at Durham College/UOIT have such a plan in place. They will set up bulletin boards for carpooling sign ups throughout the main halls and the student centre. I’m praying for my friend Rohen Yogendran (who is currently doing his studies at Durham College) for his luck on coping when the strike occur.

Back to the strike news, many local transit authorities have alternative options in place should the strike occur. In this case, Durham Region Transit offers some alternative routes that operate in parallel (or directly in the path) of GO bus routes:

Oshawa Hwy. 2 Corridor (Parallel):

915 Taunton - provides frequent weekday and weekend service from Pickering GO via Bayly and Westney to Taunton and Simcoe to Durham College/UOIT

916 Rossland - daily service from/to the Ajax GO to Durham College/UOIT

922 Bloor/Victoria - rush hours only service to/from Whitby GO station connecting with the Oshawa GO station and towards Courice.

Oshawa Hwy. 2 Corridor (Directly on the path):

6 (or 306, due to DRT numbering scheme) White Oaks - daily service from Jeffrey & McQuay in Whitby via Kendalwood & Burns to the Oshawa Centre.

2 (or 402, once again due to DRT numbering scheme) King - service from Courtice to Oshawa GO.

Please note that GO trains are NOT AFFECTED by the strike, although picket lines will be set up at stations furthering delaying the journey. Also, please be advised to plan ahead to avoid further “mishaps”. I hope that GO will come to a conclusion anytime soon. That’s “My Happy Ending” (Avril Lavigne reference). The GO bus drivers (and it’s associated staff: maintenance, office staff, etc.) will walk off the job on Monday at 12:01a.m. (Eastern Time). By that time, many drivers will finish their shifts and to make sure that no passenger is left behind.

Video:

Link: http://www.mediamash.ca/media/3103/Strike_Deadline_Set_for_GO_Transit/

References:

http://newsdurhamregion.com/news/article/91777

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080103.GOTRANSIT03/TPStory/TPNational/Ontario/

http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_18243.aspx

http://toronto.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20080104/go_transit_080104/20080104/?hub=TorontoHome

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2008/01/04/go-talks.html

Well folks, say it or break it - a strike by GO bus drivers is just around the corner. If the strike does drag on, it’ll mean many bus passengers who rely on the service everyday will have nowhere to go. This includes many college/university students at Durham College/UOIT (and Trent University at Oshawa) and many other colleges/universities within the Greater Toronto Area in which GO buses serve those areas.

I stumble upon a person named Ed Drass who is an editor for the popular Metro daily newspaper (Toronto Edition, and I would like to thank him for my contribution to my last blog posting) and he sent me a link, which leads to a Facebook group. That Facebook group is about discussing alternate ways of getting to work or school - either by ridesharing, taking local transit (a pain in the ass for some) and driving solo (worse). If you are a currently serving at a post-secondary institution in which GO buses serve, I highly recommend that you join this discussion board and post some interesting tips and many more. The link can be founded here: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6703001951

Negotiations between the union and GO’s management will continue tomorrow. In the meantime, you should try to plan your options. If you live in the 416 area, here’s one way on how to get to Durham College/UOIT (this is one of my options):

1) Board the Lakeshore Eastbound GO train to either Pickering or Ajax GO stations.

2a) If you stop off at Pickering GO, board the 915 Taunton East. It’ll take you directly to DC/UOIT

2b) If you stop off at Ajax GO, board either the 915 Taunton East (It’ll take you directly to DC/UOIT) or 916 Rossland East.

3) If you board the 916 Rossland East, continue staying on the 916 Rossland until the bus reaches DC/UOIT or if you prefer, stop off at Simcoe St. and Rossland Road and board the 1 (or informally due to DRT’s numbering system, 401) Simcoe. The 1 runs every 15 minutes and it will take you to DC/UOIT.

Please note that you cannot use DRT fares on the GO Train service. The same applies for the U-PASS. The “One Fare Anywhere” agreement (in which you can use your DRT ticket, pass, or transfer - but not cash fares) on GO buses within Durham Region will be suspended when the strike by GO bus drivers’ occur.

Here is a statement from GO Transit’s website:

The Amalgamated Transit Union has advised GO Transit that job action
will begin at 12:01 a.m. on Monday, January 7, 2008. Bus drivers will
finish their shift that began Sunday night so that passengers will not
be stranded.

GO and the ATU will keep working to try to reach a settlement before
the strike deadline date. Both sides are meeting with a labour conciliator
Friday morning, January 4, to try and avert a strike. ATU’s Local
1587 represents most GO employees including bus drivers, ticket sellers,
maintenance personnel, and office staff.

There would be no GO Bus service during a strike, but we plan to keep
running regular GO Train service (our trains are maintained and operated
by other unions). Bus customers should consider other means of travel
including taking local transit and carpooling. Train customers should buy
their monthly pass in advance to avoid ticketing lineups if a strike
occurs.

We regret the disruption this would cause, and we will keep you
updated.

I hope things will be settled for GO bus drivers and their union. If they don’t settle on a new deal - all hell will break loose. As what the late-Danny (aka Tourettes Guy) said, “THIS IS BULL(CENSORED)!” To view this funny video, you can do so by clicking on the video below. To close off this blog posting, I’m leaving you a song quote from a band based in Franklin, Tennessee called “Paramore” (one of my favourite bands). This song to coincide this blog posting is called, “That’s what you get”:

That’s what you get when you let your heart win
Whoa
That’s what you get when you let your heart win
Whoa
I drowned out all my senses with the sound of it’s beating
That’s what you get when you let your heart win 

Also here’s a line from a song called “Time Bomb” by a song from this Mission, British Columbia quartet, Faber Drive (also one of my favourite bands):

Uh oh, oh no it’s bombs away
Gotta get away
She just can’t take it
Time bomb
Tick, tick
She’s gonna flick the switch
If it stays crazy
Time bomb
Tick, tickin away

To top it all off, I’m leaving you a few quotes by Dr. Phil McGraw (you know, the guy who is known for his talk show, “Dr. Phil”). Here’s the quotes for all of you GO bus riders to remember:

“Sometimes you make the right decision, sometimes you make the decision right.”

“Failure is no accident.”

“The quickest way from A to B is not always at the most feverish pace.”

Tourettes Guy video:

References:

http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_18222.aspx 

http://newsdurhamregion.com/news/breaking_news/article/91677

http://www.yorkregion.com/article/66026 

http://www.thestar.com/News/article/290640 

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080103.wgostrike0103/BNStory/National/home

I was reading an article on the National Post this morning and I was very impressed that the TTC has (slowly, but surely) implementing the new automated stop announcement system. The transit authority cost them $6.6 million CDN dollars to implement. This was necessary for the TTC because of a recent Human Rights Commission complaint about announcing automated stops as a recommendation.

The person (or persons) behind the new automated system is Ms. Cheryl Bome, a single mother who is hard-working and recently provided the voices for the new automated system. It was a big challenge for her, recording all the streets in the City of Toronto. Now she has finally shown and heard her “Famous” status. Most recently, she is hired by the Chinese City of Chongqing to provide the automated announcements in English and at this time, preparations are now underway.

This is what the console of the automated system looks like (the console is at the left):

With the announcement system in Toronto in place, I was wondering, could Durham Region Transit and/or GO transit could follow suit as well? If they were, I would be impressed. What’s more both transit authorities must choose either an automated Text-To-Speech system (TTS) or must be recording by a person. In my case, I wish that either MuchMusic VJs Devon Soltendieck, Matte Babel, Leah Miller, Sarah Taylor, Hannah Simone or maybe Tim Deegan should voice either the automated announcements for either DRT or GO. This is my impression if Devon Soltendieck voiced the DRT automated stop system:

“Next stop: Sandy Beach Rd. “Next Stop: Brock Road.” “Next Stop: Squires Beach Rd. “Next Stop: Church Street.” “Next Stop: Westney Road.” “Next Stop: Ajax GO Station.” “Next Stop: Richie Avenue/Bramwell Drive.” “Next Stop: Kingston Road.” “Next Stop: Ravenscroft Road.” “Next Stop Magill/Delaney.”, “Next Stop: Coughlen/Sullivan.” “Next Stop: Rossland Road.” “Next Stop: Williamson Drive.”, “Next Stop: Taunton Rd.”, “Next Stop: Salem Rd.”, “Next Stop: Audley Road.”, “Next Stop: Country Lane. Connection to the 301 West Lynde/Otter Creek bus route.”, “Next stop:  Cochrane Street.”, “Next stop: Brock Street. Connection to the 302 Brock/Brooklin/Whitby GO Station route and the GO bus service to Port Perry.” “Next Stop: Garden Street.”, “Next Stop: Anderson Rd.”, “Next Stop: Thickson Rd.”, “Next Stop: Garrard Rd”, “Next Stop: Thornton Road.” “Next Stop: Oshawa Airport”, “Next Stop: Simcoe Street”, “Next Stop: Glover’s Road.”, “Next Stop: Durham College/UOIT. Connection the 1 Simcoe, 916 Rossland, York University Hwy 407 GO bus service and the 950 Port Perry/Uxbridge route.”.

This is just an example if Devon Soltentick voiced the 915 Taunton bus route. As for the GO Transit bus and train system, Stu Holloway (the guy is known for the Old Hide House commercials and provided the voices for Pearson Airport’s Link Train System in English) announce the GO train stops in English. As for the French portion, Monique can voice that (to listen to her voice, go here: http://www.greatvoices.ca/greatvoices/Monique)

With all due respect, here are the automated voices for the TTC - in action:

Video #1:

Video #2:

It is expected that the new system will be full implemented for both bus, streetcar and subway system this February. I can’t wait to see everything is coming together, just like Hannibal and B.A. Baracus says, “I love it, when a plan comes together.“.

Reference:

http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/toronto/archive/2007/12/06/ttc-pair-tell-riders-where-to-get-off.aspx

It seems that there is no GO bus strike after all.  GO Transit and their union Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1587 has finally reached a tentative agreement. Therefore, GO bus and train service will continue to run, throughout the holidays. It could have been worse as I was planning alternate routes to do some Christmas day and Boxing day shopping….lol

In other transit news, there is some more fallout about Durham Region Transit cutting their routes and changing service. In addition, no service expansion is planned for 2008. Right now DRT’s deficit stands at $2.3 million CDN. The transit authority is trying to “reel” in from the transit strike of 2006. From my perspective, they are slowly but surely catching up. DRT did a survey to all riders about the future of the transit authority. I don’t know what it’s about, but as far as i know the riders want to improve the services.

If you want to read an article about the news, it can be founded here: http://www.newsdurhamregion.com/news/ajax/article/90396

Here’s a chart explaining the Transit service cuts and adjustments for DRT along with the statistics on the routes (source: http://featuresdurhamregion.com/special_images/BusRoutes_120507/index.html) :

Municipality	Route	Per Hour Boardings	Service Adjustment	Routes Affected As of January 1, 2008
Pickering	M3 Amberlea	8	Eliminate weekday midday and Saturday
Pickering / Ajax	R10 / M10 Ajax	27	Eliminate	R10 Ajax
Ajax	M26 Duffins	12	Elminate midday service on weekdays / combine with Harwood
Ajax	Flag Bus 3	4	Eliminate weekday peak
Pickering / Ajax Whitby / Oshawa	915 Taunton Rd	12	Change Saturday headway to hourly from 30 minute, no service after 10 p.m.
Oshawa	4 College Hill 5 Central Park	6	Elminate midday service on weekdays	4 College Hill 5 Central Park
Oshawa	2 King	4	Terminate after 8:20 p.m.
Oshawa	14 Community	4	Change weekday start to 10:50 a.m. from 9:50 a.m.
Whitby	302 Brock	4	Terminate Sunday after 10:20 p.m.

And as the old saying goes, “If you build it, they will come.”

 I was reading the press release from the Durham Region Transit website and the press release stated that a number of DRT bus routes are being discontinued or have their hours reduced. The bus routes goes as follows:

Hours Adjusted:
915 Taunton will operate hourly on Saturdays until 22:00 (10:00p.m.)

302 Brock/Brooklin service will terminate at 22:20 (10:20p.m. )

M7 (or 107) Rosebank service will be adjusted to serve Dunbarton High School

4 College Hill/5 Central Park (404 and 405) respectively will be rush-hours only but weekend service will continue

14 (414) Community Bus service will begin at 10:50 on weekdays

Flag Bus 3 service in Pickering weekday and Saturday services reduced from 10:30 to 16:30 (10:30a.m. to 4:30p.m.)

Routes discontinued:

M3 (103) Amberlea (weekday midday and Saturday)

R10/M10 (110) Ajax from Pickering Town Centre to Pickering GO station

M26 (226) Duffins midday service

Source: http://www.durhamregiontransit.com/durham/index.aspx?ArticleID=448〈=en-CA

This was necessary because Durham Region Transit had suffered a $2 Million CDN deficit from their operations since they formed back in January 2006. The Deficit wasn’t revealed when the local newspapers in Durham Region mentioned about DRT’s deficit The R10 and M10 routes were probably the “Victims” of the DRT/GO “One fare anywhere” agreement meaning you can use your DRT ticket, transfer or pass on the GO bus within Durham Region. I’m not sure how the system will work if someone decides to show his/her transit pass, ticket or transfer for travel within Durham only and then pay the remainder (difference) of the GO fare if he/she wants to travel outside Durham.

Adding to that is the success of the $37 CDN per month Access Pass for ODSP recipients, the $1 Million CDN shortfall and the changes in ridership patterns. You can read about this on this link: http://newsdurhamregion.com/news/article/85639

For myself, I always ride on the R10/M10 (110) from the Pickering Town Centre every Saturday (I live in Ajax however) to the flea market. Now, it’s time for me to plan some alternate arrangements - possible take the GO bus to the Ajax GO station and transfer to the 915 Taunton.

In other news, the GTTA (Greater Toronto Transportation Authority) has finally released a new name: Metrolinx. I first read about that in the news today and the reason that the officials want to change that because the GTTA name would confuse the GTAA - the Greater Toronto Airports Authority. As a result, Metrolinx is the new name - but the GTTA remains for legal purposes. Metrolinx will assume responsibility of GO train operations and create a region wide transit plan. I wonder what will happen if the Los Angeles commuter train authority, Metrolink will think about that name change…possibly sue the GTTA for misusing the “Metrolinx” trademark? We’ll have to wait and see.

As for the DRT situation, here’s a line from a song called “Bones Shatter” from my favourite band Hedley:

“We’ll never stop
Cause we’re only getting better
We’re not making this up
So just write another letter
I’ll be fine
Alive again, another day, I’m not afraid to get over
We’ll never stop
Cause we’re only getting better, I’ll be fine.”