by Selina Setrakian, Nikki Hashemian, and Abbey Kelly
Students express concerns about the faults of the current system
According to a recent poll conducted by second-year Ryerson School of Journalism students in October, 61 per cent of Ryerson students are in favour of free public transit in Toronto.
Of 1,081 responses, 396 strongly supported it, 263 mostly supported it, 249 remained neutral, 120 opposed it and the remaining 53 students strongly opposed it.
Anthony Petrovic, a third-year hospitality and tourism management student says the change could greatly benefit his wallet.
“I’m at school full time, I can’t work a lot, having to pay for transit costs me $400 a month. I’d be able to be less stressed and have more money for textbooks and supplies. Considering how much we pay for tuition, it should have been addressed long ago” said Anthony.
Candidate proposes free transit
Mayoral candidate, Saron Gebresellassi is promising free transit for Toronto in her campaign, stating it will assist in halting the growing issue of climate change, urban gridlock and sprawl, and cut down spending for road maintenance.
Watch above for additional information on the free transit movement and Gebresellassi’s campaign promises for free transit to the public.
Saron and the organization Free Transit Toronto continually use Estonia’s capital Tallinn, as a successful example of free transit.
However, Tallinn’s population consists of 450 531 people, whereas Toronto’s downtown population consists of 2,929,886.
Tracy Lindeman, a writer for Vice, reached out to Allan Alaküla, head of the Tallinn European Union Office and a leader in Tallinn’s free public transit initiative, who told her, “I have noticed only one ultimate and universal precondition: the service quality of public transit has to be at least maintained, but [ideally] improved. Otherwise free public transit fails.”
Kai Nan Zhou, a first-year in urban and regional planning, says theoretically he is in favour of it, but fears Toronto currently lacks the infrastructure to support public transit.
“It’s too big of a jump for Torontonians realistically from a capacity standpoint. Its an equity issue. Transit is some people’s only option to get around. If you make it free, are you making it more difficult for people who need the most access to it by overburdening the system?” said Kai.
Morgan Henderson, a first-year in urban and regional planning, says the idea is right but the timing is off since the system in Toronto is not ready.
“When I’ve been in cities like Pittsburgh, especially the downtown core, subway fare is free. We need to increase the capacity for transit in Toronto first. It’s not acceptable to have people without adequate access to transit financially, just because the system hasn’t been properly supported and improved.” said Morgan.
Veselin Rashev, a fourth-year in electrical engineering, says “ Do a test run for a week, and see the shitshow.”
Ryerson School of Journalism students conducted in-person surveys about Toronto election issues with 1,081 undergraduate and graduate Ryerson students in October prior to the municipal election. The results are considered accurate to within plus or minus three percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
See what people are saying on Twitter.
SOURCE’S
https://www.visittallinn.ee/eng/visitor/plan/good-to-know/tallinn-and-estonia
-Tallinn population
https://www.toronto.ca/city-government/data-research-maps/toronto-at-a-glance/
-Toronto population
FULL NAME: anthony petrovic
Phone/email: antoni.petrovic@torontomu.ca
Program: HTM
Year of study: 3
FULL NAME: veselin rashev
Phone/email:
Program: electrical engineering
Year of study:4
FULL NAME: morgan henderson
Phone/email: morgan.maire@gmail.com
Program: urban planning masters
Year of study: 1st
FULL NAME: kai nan zhou
Phone/email: kai.zhou@gmail.com
Program: masters in planning
Year of study: 1
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