Bikes Bikes Bikes Invade Ford Nation

You need to read this carefully

Bixi bike-sharing program ready to roll in Toronto

They will come in basic black like those in London, England. Starting May 3, Torontonians can expect to see 1,000 Bixi bikes cruising all over downtown.

That’s when the long-awaited bike sharing program, already available in Montreal, Washington and Minneapolis — and also launching this spring in Ottawa — rolls out here, with 1,500 docking stations and 80 bike stations.

Designed for tourists and residents, the program gives cyclists the option of 24-hour passes or annual memberships, which allow users to grab a bike and park it at the station nearest their destination. Trips under 30 minutes are free. After that, a user fee applies.

Locations for the Bixi stations are expected to be announced in April.

About 1,200 of the $95 annual memberships have already been sold.

While demonstration bikes shown in Toronto in recent months were blue, in the end the city and the program supplier, Public Bike System Company, decided to go with classic black, said Daniel Egan, Toronto’s manager of Pedestrian and Cycling Infrastructure.

ING Direct signed on as a major sponsor last year and other corporate sponsors will be announced in April. Last fall, the city was short about $150,000 for the $600,000 it needed in sponsorships to bring Bixi here.

For people who don’t want to cycle to work, Bixi will provide the option of hopping on a bike to go to lunch or a meeting, said Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong, who chairs Toronto’s public works and infrastructure committee.

Minnan-Wong also said he’s getting “positive signals” from residents and council colleagues to the idea of creating physically separated bike lanes in Toronto.

The Montreal program had 11,000 members within its first six months of operation. Last year there were 5,000 silver Bixi bikes on the streets there.

Lets read that line again

Minnan-Wong also said he’s getting “positive signals” from residents and council colleagues to the idea of creating physically separated bike lanes in Toronto.

More Bicycle Lanes? Traffic is grid locked already and you want to help 1200 bicycle riders? What about the 400,000 car driving tax payers that pay for parking and lunch and work?

Toronto the Poor

Yes the MEGA city, Toronto the good! We voted them in; we are responsible. Proposed Tax increases absolutely! David Miller is proposing a modest tax increase of 4% PLUS new user fees and services cut backs.

Toronto’s proposed 2010 budget includes a property tax hike of four per cent as well as new user fees meant to narrow its $382-million shortfall.

So what will they cut back? Yup! essential services Library Hours; Court offices will close a half hour earlier, More user fees at $50 per family at Parks and Recreation. Lets look at a few of these issues a little closer.

Call in a False Alarm? It could cost you $350. Dad! Dad! Are those really severe chest pains?

Libraries will be closed on weekends, Kids are not in school on weekends. Need that homework finished for Monday? Sorry, We are Closed Sundays. Court Services? Had your licence suspended recently? I know someone who forget to pay a ticket and had her licence suspended by the MOT. The waiting times in many of the overcrowded court systems are 2 - 3 hours to deal with setting a trial date or a walk in guilty. Maybe a re-instatement? The solution from the City of Toronto is to close earlier. Waiting times and Tickets issued have no relationship with the hours of service for the court houses. Parking on the street permit still doesn't guarantee you a space. OK. Get your parking pad! OOPS! Application fees for those are going up too! Don't forget that home heating and fuel prices will go up 8% also July 1st. That's HST.

These solutions do not reduce salaries or employees. This does not save on building management or premises operational costs. These are public relations strategy or activity to show that someone is doing something. Increased waiting times for the general public to line up for any City provided service at a kiosk or 311 is not increasing CUSTOMER service.

Remember they can just as easily slip over to the 905. John Tory very eloquently pointed out that the east end of the city is rather undervalued compared to the west and equally close to the downtown core.

The Honourable Mr. Doug Holyday patiently explained the process to me in an interview a few weeks ago. No one has been able to gain benefits from the consolidation of services. Amalgamation was intended to save people money. Whats happening with Transit City? Listen for yourself.

Yes I have an opinion. You cannot buy or rent a house when your credit stinks. You cannot keep spending when your wallet is empty and your credit cards are maxxed out. We need strong City Management with a vision to future planning. Please participate and vote.

The alternative is unimaginable for me. The downtown core turned into a ghost town after 6 PM in the evening. No Business, no cafe, no restaurants, no nightlife; just empty. Will the last person leaving please turn off the lights?

How would you handle these issues?

We already have Metrolinx Lands

The land is already dedicated to rail use; whether it is along the Lakeshore, Humber Bay Shore community or the Rail way lands that are using diesel technology that made the news last week with protests about additional trains. Georgetown to Union. How about downtown to the Airport? Downtown to the airport in 30 minutes .... be still my heart.




OK, So its a flash monorail. We're in a recession. We need manufacturing jobs. Employees pay taxes and buy houses. Who makes it Bombardier!

Makes ya wanna take out a Canadian flag and wave a little huh.

It began with a brilliant idea...
The Monorail was originally envisioned as a joint venture between MGM Grand and Bally's Hotel, with the idea to create a one-mile transportation system linking the hotels.This exciting and forward-thinking idea took flight in 1993 and soon included plans to expand to other locations along the Strip. In 1997, the State of Nevada passed Expansion plans evolved and a professional team, including Nevalegislation that enabled a private company to own, operate and charge a fare as a public Monorail system. da-based Liaise Corporation, Granite Construction Company, Gensler & Associates, Carter-Burgess and Salomon Smith Barney, was assembled to develop the Monorail system.

Bombardier Transportation, a Canadian company and one of the world's largest transit system manufacturers experienced at turnkey operations, was contracted with operating and maintaining the trains, automatic train controls and other control subsystems.

Lets Recap.

Environmentally Friendly, Promotes regional and local employment. Creates Employment, Saves Hydro, reduces car pollution and traffic. A hotel(s) had the foresight to plan, organize and implement a transit system.

Lets get our fingers off these silly petitions to (please) stop the huge tax rip off of the HST that people do not yet comprehend and get your fingers dialing (pushing buttons) your member of parliament and elected official. Call your Member of the Ontario Legislature.

Buzz Hargrove on the CFRB was recently overheard to say that 250 k Ontario employees have lost their jobs. Lets focus on the important issues. Employed people buy houses, furniture, appliances, TV's. electronics, landscaping, pools, flooring, carpeting. Add something to the list.

We need serious people for serious issues; Who cares about WHO's riding the Olympic Torch is being displayed in. It's being Displayed in a Canadian Riding! Lets address employment and power generation issues instead.

What do you think? Do you agree? Add your comments here.

Lake Shore LRT Transit Survey

The results to the Lakeshore Transit Survey are in and as promised they are posted on the Our Lakeshore website.

Thank you very much to the almost 600 of you who participated in the survey and contributed to a valuable measurement of the pulse of this community. The survey results have been passed onto the City, TTC officials, and local politicians in the same form that it is being passed on to you.


Lakeshore TTC Survey Results

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Brochures & Catalogs Lakeshore etobicoke

Oh, I hope you're not teasing us with LRT

I so hope that the Municipal and Provincial levels of government can finally get together and improve the Lake Shore Humber Bay shore area with the Proposed LRT.

This Humber Bay Shore area encompasses approximately 7,000 condo units plus the SFD.

This will provide economic stimulus, improved neighbourhood pride, and make the west end envied by the "other" boroughs.

If someone could guide these wise politicians to see their way to JOINING the Mississauga Lakeshore into the Communities of Lakeview, Port Credit, and even as far as Walden Spinney at Erin Mills / Southdown Road, the sigh of relief will be felt to generations.

Slide Show about Lake Shore LRT

Additional Information and Mapping of proposed routes

As part of the Transit City initiative, the TTC is studying the idea of replacing the existing Lake Shore Blvd streetcar with LRT (Light Rail Transit) line in a dedicated right of way in the middle of the road from Parklawn Road to the end of the existing streetcar line.
While we applaud efforts to improve our public transit system, we have some serious doubts about this plan. We fear that an LRT in this area will have a negative effect on both transit service and neighbourhood businesses. Read More details

As always your comments are respected and invited.