Why Toronto is not a World-Class City

I have called Toronto home for 26 years, and have a good idea of how this place is. What I did not quite realize is how things are done differently (read: better) elsewhere. Having just returned from a trip abroad to several fine European capitals, I have to recognize how far we lag behind in being a world-class city. You can look at assessing this in different ways, and my focus is on transit infrastructure.

If the world is a living organism, with breathing ecosystems that are all interconnected, it goes without saying that if you industrialize and burn fossilized fuels for hundreds of years, the fertility of the organism will decline. Hence, in order to maintain the fertility of our planet, we must take measures to reduce our human impact on the natural ecology. Does anybody remember how the deserts of Iraq were once the fertile plains of Mesopotamia? If you smoke like a chimney everyday, it is well known that you have a high risk for life-threatening health problems. How is our planet any different? If we burn coal and oil profusely for hundreds of years, how can we not expect life-threatening health problems?

My idea of a world-class city is one that balances its size and modernity with liveability and sustainability. Here are my reasons why Toronto is not a world-class city:

1) Bicycles

Toronto is not a bike-friendly city. Cyclists are not embraced as equals on the road. There is no good cycling infrastructure here. Some paint lines in the road which most motorists ignore does not qualify as bona-fide cycling infrastructure. As a short-term temporary measure it is a good start, but without more permanent raised (or at least separated) lanes dedicated to pedal power and/or real enforcement of the lane as a bike lane (not a temporary parking spot for a car), it is just a half-measure. Also that at every intersection the lane mysteriously disappears and becomes a car turning lane is a joke, and speaks to how half-assed our 'bicycle lanes' really are.

A current cycling debate revolves around a city-council decision to retrofit a portion of an underused parking garage at city-hall as a bicycle locker station complete with showers. The papers and naysayers are all over it as an excessive waste of 'taxpayer' money -- as if cyclists aren't taxpayers too... However, this plan is exemplary of how disconnected our city planning is with reality. Why start building bike lockers at city hall? Firstly why do we need bike lockers to begin with? In Copenhagen people leave $1000+ bikes unlocked outside overnight and they remain when they return. Shouldn't we be focusing on the bike theft problem at the core, rather than putting these bike locker bandages over the existing problem? Secondly, why choose city hall? Does it not make much more sense to install these things (which unfortunately are useful at the moment, as bike theft is currently rife in Toronto) at a transportation hub such as the currently under-renovation Union Station, where tens of thousands of people on the move travel through each day?

2) Public Transit 

The TTC has an extensive network of buses, streetcars and a small number of at capacity subway lines. However, during rush-hour the main lines are so overcrowded that the experience is very unpleasant. Information regarding when the next bus or streetcar is coming is left to those with smartphones to check for themselves (not very public or equal, is it?). Why can't all stops have readouts that give a precise estimate of the next arrival? Standing in the cold wondering when the next ride is coming is not a world-class experience. Having no direct rail connection to the major international airport is not a world-class experience. Needing to fumble for exact change or tokens that feel suspiciously like really expensive dimes in your pocket is not a world-class experience. Needing separate fares and multiple tickets to travel to the nearest suburb is downright embarrassing. It will only take until 2016 (!) for the Presto fare-card system to be fully implemented, which is beyond playing a little bit of catch-up. World-class cities lead, they don't follow.