So people are lining up at the pumps due to the increasing speculation that gas prices are going to skyrocket.

I say, let it happen. I am a big fan of anything that will increase ridership on public transportation. I will be honest, my reasons for wanting more people to be taking the TTC are not exactly noble or selfless. I am not claiming that my motive for wanting people to use public transit is to keep our air clean, or to promote alternative fuel sources, etc, etc.

I want people to take public transit so we can finally have a city, province, and federal government that will begin funding it properly. And I do not mean, fund it so we can buy more utterly useless streetcars - they look nice yes, but not at all practical. (This will be a subject of a future entry I promise) Instead, I want to see a serious overhaul of our subway system or alternatively, above ground light rail similar to what can be found in Vancouver in the form of the "Skytrain."

Our subway system is severly lacking, not to mention that we overpay for what it actually provides. Not only do I believe all the taxes received on gas should go towards funding the public transit (PT), but I also believe that we need to make this city less attractive to drive a car in. One way of doing that would be to start raising the price of parking. If you look at other major cities in North America (ie. New York or Washington D.C.), parking is insanely expensive. As a result, very few people can afford to drive, and as such, ridership is at a premium,and so are the revenues of their PT systems.

I know raising parking rates is only part of a bigger solution we need. We are all victims of a legacy of bad planning, and hopefully we can begin turning it around.

I would love to hear from other people on what they would do to improve the TTC - Let us know at blogTO.