But to sum it up he a Toronto City Councillor and chair of The TTC (Toronto Transit Commission) . And following the political way of life ... his is full of promises, initiatives and torrid affairs with undergrad students. (One that compromised him for running for Mayor of Toronto.) So as guest speakers go... this one was going to be pretty interesting.
People generally have a bad view of the TTC. Fare increases, bad routes, threats of strikes, sleeping toll collectors . (Again for people not in the GTA) http://www.cbc.ca/news/yourcommunity/2010/02/your-comments-debating-your-transit-transgressions.html.
Personally I am OK with the service that the TTC provides ... I am just happy that subways exisit here. I come from a province where when you say "Lets meet at the Subway" they think that you're talking about a place to get sandwiches... not an underground train. Any time I get frustrated with the service my mind goes back to my days in Halifax, Nova Scotia where I would wait for hours to get the number 4 bus from Clayton Park to downtown. A drive that would take someone 20 minutes tops, on the 4 bus takes well-over an hour because the route is the most nonsense route in the world. But I digress....
When I heard that the chair of the TTC was coming to class there was one question that has been plaguing me since I moved to Toronto. Why do the subways stop running 30 minutes before the bars close ????"
I would say not a Friday goes by without someone asking me, "When does the last train go by this station." At which point I say "1:35". (This is when the person looks at their watch and starts downing there beer frantically, running around the bar trying to gather up all their friends in hopes to catch the last train.)
This being the ideal situation, your other options are to jump on The Blue Night Bus (lovingly nicknamed "the Vomit Comet"), cabbing (fares starting at $4.50), walking, or driving. My bar is next door to a parking garage and I have seen MANY people get into their car who definitely shouldn't be driving . (None that have been at my bar I am SmartServe trained :)
Now the time came into my life that FINALLY I was going to get this mystery solved. What better person to answer this question then the chair of the TTC ..... well I was wrong. When I asked him why they couldn't stay open a little bit longer Adam Giambrone did was all politicians do best. Sort of answer the question then make the answer about something else. Stick to your key message. His reasoning was that the tracks needed to be repaired and apparently this wouldn't be possible if the trains ran an hour longer?? Anyone who has visited New York City knows that this is a load of crap. They manage to do just fine running 24 hours a day.... I am pretty sure an extra hour isn't going to make that much of a difference.
He also mentioned the cost, but again ... didn't fly with me. I assume with the amount of people crammed into every bus, subway and street car during rush hour, all holding their Metro passes tightly at the cost of $120 a pop and a one way ride costing $3.00, that they are probably doing OK. And then he began quickly talking about different bus routes that have been extended, cancelled and plans for the future. Spouting out names and jumbled sentences that made my head spin and when he looked at me to see if I was satisfied with the answer all I could do was nod. I figure that was just easier then telling him that his reasoning made no sense. I am sure that would have just led to more round-about, fast talking and would leave me with the same bad taste in my mouth. I think the taste was bullshit.
So for now it seems like my Friday nights will end with people checking their watches, chugging down their beers, gathering their friends and running to the subway in hopes to catch the last train.....This leads me to wonder how Adam commutes from downtown on late Friday nights ? Maybe he stays on rez with the undergrad ?
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