Better TTC

TTC riders have received a reprieve on cuts to 48 poorly subscribed evening and weekend bus routes.

City councillors on the transit commission have delayed till Feb. 2 a choice to reduce off-hours service. The delay provides TTC staff time to come up with alternatives to a few of the route reductions and supply much more time to inform the public of the proposed cuts.

The buses slated for cancellation account for about 1.three million rides annually but average 12 or fewer riders an hour at off-peak times. Riders would need to walk an extra 200 to 800 metres to one more bus if the proposed cuts take impact. Most of the service only came into impact in November 2008.

But the decision-making delay adds one more $1 million to the $8 million savings the transit program wants to accomplish following the city cancelled a proposed 10-cent fare boost this week.

The bus service cuts scheduled for March 27 were supposed to save about $7 million - funds that would be reallocated to overcrowded routes inside the fall.

But postponing the decision for 3 weeks indicates service reductions couldn’t occur till mid-May and any service enhancements might be pushed back from their September target.

“Effectively, the choice is that it’s $1 million less that we’ve got to allocate to service that needs it, and we’re going to need to manage that because we cannot afford another million dollars in price range cuts,” stated TTC chief general manager Gary Webster at a special commission meeting yesterday.

While she is concerned that the TTC not put the decision off indefinitely, transit chair Karen Stintz conceded that the city’s expedited spending budget process this year hasn’t left a lot time for residents to grow to be informed on the route adjustments.

The transit commission approved a $1.4-billion operating spending budget plus a 10-year, $8.2-billion capital plan. But the capital program has a $2.3-billion funding shortfall, the impact of which will commence to be felt subsequent year, Webster warned.