November 28, 2011
This month we had an opportunity to see mockup of new streetcar that will be coming to Toronto in near future, we hope. The vehicle is sometimes referred to with more up-to-date label, as LRV. It stands for Light Rail Vehicle. For those who love public transit and look forward to our future, seeing this mockup is a must. We have to allow that there are many people who will talk down about public transit and prefer cars at any cost. However, such attitudes are not urban. New rail vehicles can bring many changes, and we can hope that it will change attitudes, as well. Taking rails downtown for concert in Roy Thompson Hall of to go to Sony Centre for an opera should be as glamorous as taking a cab or driving a car there. Riding new low-floor streetcars should not be just for those on a budget, or a green thing to do, but a status symbol. Imagine, if, during International Film Festival in Toronto, some movie stars would go to the red carpet with our new LRV, rather than take a limo there? These pictures splashed all over the news might help to change minds of many stalwarts. I have seen some unfriendly comments about the event, posted on transit blog site. I think that these people are just ignorant and need some time.
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November 11, 2011
People living in Toronto love their cars. They like to drive the cars everywhere, but some signs show us that the blind love is on the way out. People search for alternatives to reduce living costs and public transit is becoming a better way for increasingly more and more users. Bad economy has impacted almost everybody. Saving money has become the order of the day. Many commuters now look for new ways and how to change their daily routines and economize in the process. Driving car downtown, midtown or uptown, means necessity to battle congested traffic across the city and to some it is like an obsolete habit. Some reasons are clear. Cost of gas is way up and so are the insurance costs for those who drive long mileages to work even for those with spotless driving record. Parking rates downtown and midtown are high and parking enforcers on city streets are everywhere, penalizing mercilessly for the slightest infraction. These costs can be called nuisance costs, and if we can eliminate them, or minimize our expenses, while changing of our attitudes and habits, we get our financial health under control. To reduce personal debt should be a prime objective by everybody.
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