Rebecca Sadler
OP-ED EDITOR

Rob Ford said we would feel the cuts, but he didn’t say how.

Look at the comments section on any newspaper website – many Torontonians who use the TTC for daily transportation are confused and enraged.

I should know. I’m one of them.

Here’s the situation as it stands, even before cuts – I’m waiting for the 36 Finch, either to get to Finch Station or Humber College, and it’s still busy as hell. In the winter, it’s often snowing and freezing.

The TTC says this bus comes once every 10 – 15 minutes – though sometimes it even takes up to 30 minutes. Once the bus finally arrives, I often can’t even get through the doors because riders are nearly piling on top of each other.

Rob Ford confirmed in November that there will be a 5.3 per cent cut to the TTC’s funding from the city.

So how exactly is Ford improving our transit system?

Increasing the wait time for busy bus routes like this seems idiotic and nonsensical. Though the TTC has said wait times will only rise by up to a minute or two, in reality, TTC riders could now be waiting up to 40 minutes for these buses – much like the route times in much smaller cities, without the thriving population found in Toronto.

Again, I know; I’ve waited 50 minutes for a Finch bus.

It’s been reported these budget cuts will cause the removal of 422 TTC jobs and the review of 500 others for possible outsourcing, including union, management and trades.

The majority of the cuts will happen to the management positions in the TTC, and the cutbacks are supposedly going to hit a majority of TTC managers, according to the Sept. 13 story in the Toronto Star – something that could prove disastrous when it comes to service and planning.

Ford is making major budget cuts – not only to the TTC but other city programs as well – so the city can spend less money than last year.

This is something Ford claims has never been done before, and touts it as a big deal. It’s understandable that the city cannot run at a deficit, and in tough economic times, Ford has strict constraints to which he must adhere.

As he says, these budget cuts will “remarkably” improve city expenditures and affordability, but at what cost? What we will we lose? The TTC is certainly going to be a big one.

Not long ago, the TTC was deemed an essential service for commuters, but how essential can it be when we’re slashing its budget? If anything, the TTC should be receiving a bigger budget to improve amenities for a growing ridership.

The TTC is seeing a three per cent rider increase from last year and over 500 million rides this year alone, and Ford is still insisting on cuts.

Clearly, Torontonians are committed to using this transit system. But instead of accommodating them appropriately, the city is making TTC even more inconvenient than it’s ever been.