TTC ENVIRONMENTAL CITIZENS' GROUP

TransitCamp 2008

2008-03-22T20:06:00.000-07:00

Give the TTC Union a peace of your mind, and remind them that they wouldn't have jobs unless they were paid by us, so in respect they should really remember who pays them, and our value to them!!!!

Write them at:atu113@wemovetoronto.ca,
Website: http://www.worthamillion.ca/

For TransitCamp Events of 2008 register at http://www.Metronauts.ca beginning Tuesday for the Toronto event Saturday April 5th 9-5pm at the Mars District, Lower Level on College West of Bay.

A LOT of TransitCamp stuff this year. Read the post for more background: http://remarkk.com/2008/02/05/accelerating-the-transitcamp-community/

Link to the Transit Camp wiki has a page of information for your reference: http://toronto.transitcamp.org/2008_Transit_Camp%3a_METRONAUTS!

We have some coverage in the Toronto Star today: http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/349619

2008-03-12T15:08:00.000-07:00

The Latest on the Zenn Car:
http://www.cbc.ca/national/blog/special_feature/green_rush/zenn_car_update_1.html

SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORTION COALITION
Next meeting is Wednesday, March 10 from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. on Spadina Avenue in Toronto. For information, contact janet@smartgrowth.on.ca.

METROLINX
For green papers and on-line public consultation, visit http://www.metrolinx.com/.

TRANSITCAMP
This innovative approach to gathering public input is coming to Metrolinx. TransitCamp is aimed at "transit geeks", cycling enthusiasts, and pedestrian activists. For information on TransitCamp, visit http://transitcamp.wik.is/.

TRANSPORT 2000 ONTARIO
Transport 2000 Ontario will hold its AGM in Metro Hall on March 29. Business meeting in the morning at 10:30 a.m. in room 302. Non-members welcome. Public forum led by speaker Richard Gilbert based on his book: His topic (not his book) title: Preparing Transport for Oil Depletion. 1:30 p.m. in room 310. Admission is free.

Facebook has a great new group called "TTC Petition" that has a lot of energy right now!

Same old same old..

2008-02-22T13:38:00.001-08:00

02/28/2008:
OTTAWA - Members of Parliaments are set to edge further into the top one per cent of Canadian income-earners with a $4,600 pay hike April 1 that will take their minimum salaries to $155,400 annually. As of April 1, vice-chairs of House committees will receive an extra $5,600, chairs will get $11,000, House leaders will earn $38,600, and the prime minister will receive an additional $155,400.
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/mps_pay

We continue to persistently hear from the City of Toronto and the TTC, there is no money but what about the money we give to the people who make the decisions and rapport away with reports over months and years without real community and Canadian feedback or participation?

THERE IS $$$$$.$$

Look at the amount that's given to them for their salaries; paid for "by the people". The TTC isn't really for transporting buses, & subway cars - it's for moving people around - many people say the newest Bus Station at Eglinton is better for buses but ten times worse for people, and the older station is still there and could be transformed into a Transithub by Trump International, and Metrolinx!

How are the people getting involved in relaying what they need and require from the TTC? Or is the TTC just being ignorant and don't want to create opportunities with involvement from people for solutions at no cost, and continue to ask for more money from us with little improvements that really make a difference!

They say there's always no money, yet they give themselves raises every year and if the TTC workers "don't get their raises" there's a strike......yet where is all this money coming from?

Why don't the people have a strike for not paying Income Tax, or demand to pay the bureaucracy less money to really get things done while we help them out?? We can also get the money we need from the Bank of Canada that we have access to by-law of 50%, not just 2%!!

David Miller could ask Dalton McGuinty to ask the Feds for money from the Bank of Canada at barely no interest, but they won't do that because they're not allowed to!!

But the "Laws" say we can have access to 50% of the money for infrastructure and programs for Canada from the Bank of Canada instead of paying interest on loans from Private Banks.
See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=888TNRfNnoU
- Another reason why the subways should be in control of the Province!, with community participation!

At the North York City Centre Subway Station, the concourse has been half covered up with construction since it opened, and Torcom is the construction company building elevators down to the platform, but nobody really knows why half the concourse is blocked off and they give no sign of why the blockage's blocked off are getting bigger. What's up with that?

And the squealing noise from the rails between Union and King is so bad, ask anybody and half the people in each car need or want to plug their ears, why don't they fix or renew it? No money? Well if they really did care about the TTC and the people riding the TTC or where they're money came from they should really consider either handing the subways over to Metrolinx and let the Province control the Subway, OR start new projects to revamp, revitalize and remodernize the TTC using creative means with no money needed.

Our coalition is having one-night question and discussion events at a few high schools in Toronto for students and parents who want to further their interest in transportation and politics. Locations and dates coming soon!

Janice!

Metrolinx take-over?

2008-02-18T12:23:00.000-08:00

Premier Dalton McGuinty is saying the people of Toronto wants the Province to take over the TTC, Metrolinx is a Crown Agency that represents the Province, it's structure is to decide where the money goes and Adam Giambrone and David Miller are two of their board members.

I feel it would be a great idea if Metrolinx took over the subways and the new subway extensions, while leaving the TTC in control of the bus routes, and operations., it would work better both ways, but more people are needed to tell the province and the Feds what they want them to do!

Do people want to see more art in the subway? or creative projects?
Or do people want more camera's and continue hearing about violence?

High Speed trains of the Future in Germany, and how it should be!
http://www.transrapid.de/de/medien/mpegs/hochtech_16x9_en.htm

Toronto City Councillors:
http://canadaonline.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ/Ya&sdn=canadaonline&cdn=newsissues&tm=33&gps=463_638_788_416&f=00&tt=14&bt=0&bts=0&zu=http%3A//app.toronto.ca/im/council/councillors.jsp

How to contact MPP’s in Ontario:
http://www.ontla.on.ca/web/go2.jsp?Page=/getting-involved/contact_an_mpp_legislator&menuItem=getting_involved_contact&locale=en

Participation in Committee’s at Queen’s Park:
http://www.ontla.on.ca/web/go2.jsp?menuItem=getting_involved_participate_committee&Page=/getting-involved/committee_participation_appear&locale=en

http://spacing.ca/wire/?p=2786
London, England has just unveiled a jaw-dropping new plan to greatly increase the amount of walking and cycling in the city. London plans to spend the equivalent of almost a billion dollars over the next decade on a series of massive cycling and walking initiatives throughout the greater London area. The schemes include a huge bikes-for-hire system in the city centre, designated cycle commuter routes, bike zones with cycle priority streets in shopping and school areas, and a massive new wayfinding system for pedestrians.

A Motorcycle without noise, and with eco friendly fuel cell:
http://www.envbike.com

A place for cars that gas guzzle:
http://www.carheaven.ca

Excellent resources for helping our planet:
http://www.wiseearth.org http://www.naturalstep.org

2008-02-12T10:25:00.000-08:00

Metrolinx Board Meeting, Open to the Public
Friday, February 22nd 10am-4pm.
Location: Westin Harbour Hotel, (across from the Queen's Quay Ferry Docks Station from Union Station), Convention Level (in the hotel), Pier #2. If you are attending and would like printed material email the request to: Deborah.Camacho@metrolinx.com

The word around the Transit Advocates is that a Gag Order was released from the TTC and Metrolinx for the dramatic changes they are now letting people know about..?

The Ontario College of Art has competitions for art being displayed on the Monitors of TTC stations, and the new competitions will be for high school students, but we should see much more art in the near future for TTC stations, and not just on monitors. Public pressure?
With 3/4 million taking the TTC, why don't they display their art, and have them permanently displayed at stations?, Commissioners would pay for the projects!
http://www.ocad.ca/Page1479.aspx?newsid=100

Commission meetings are held generally on Wednesdays at 1 p.m. in Committee Room #2, 2nd floor, Toronto City Hall, 100 Queen St. W.

Here are the next meeting dates:

Wednesday, February 27
Wednesday, March 26
Wednesday, April 23
Wednesday, May 21
Wednesday, June 18
Thursday, July 10
Wednesday, August 27
Thursday, September 18
Thursday, October 23
Wednesday, November 26
Wednesday, December 17

Tyler Hamilton, Energy Reporter in the Toronto Star Monday February 11th:

PROVINCE GIVES $15 MILLION TO GREEN PROJECTS, but industry observers say it won't address or solve anything long term or for environmental problems.
~~~~ Don't you find that ironic?

On Friday, the gov't announced investing $8.7 million to support development of next-generation green vehicles.

Yet I still don't see ZENN cars on the roads, but we allow bicylces and scooters, so do they need the tax from gas sales that bad or do Auto Corporations define their policies? (Mike Harris works at Magna International and the Fraser Institute right-wing think tank, I think his monthly pension would be more than want David Miller gets a month)!

I emailed Bob Nicols, about that he's the Communications Director for Transport Canada, his # is 416.327.1158, and his email is bob.nichols@ontario.ca., if anybody else wants to request a list of what the $8.7 million is used for and where the money is going.

I think the money is being used to pay for the people to try to change the policies!

But foreign corporations own Canada, (due to the Free Trade Agreement, which isn't a real genuine agreement.... and Corporations own the government, yet stockholders are the owners of corporations,......?

Canada could design a new genuine free trade agreement due to a clause which allows them to do so if they give the US 6 months notice but Canada isn't interested, but this is precisely why manufacturing jobs are leaving the country like crazy, if you google Paul Hellyer on YouTube, he explains the situation, and has written a book called "Goodbye Canada". 2% of the money flow comes from the Bank of Canada, the rest we pay interest on which is from Private Banks and has been since 1974 when Canada joined the G7.

2008-02-09T18:38:00.000-08:00

TORONTO TRANSIT 4CHANGE

(website coming soon)

We’re a Non-Profit Grassroots group designed to engineer a greener transit system in Toronto, including the TTC, with many projects on the go. We're looking for people who want to become involved (see events below), and other transit systems worldwide at the side. Our Coalition aimed to raise the awareness of transit riders to change the system, is called the TTC Environmental Citizen’s Group. We want to change the policies which primarily can only be done through the people who vote!

Electric Cars and others forms of clean air fuel technology have been around since the beginning, however we don’t have the Policies in place in Canada for “Real Changes” to be made in transit. Meanwhile thousands of people continue to die every year due to air pollution and the government has those statistics! Imagine the ZENN car driven through roads in Canada, no noise and zero emissions powered by solar and wind power…..a lot less stress and a 50% cut in accidents!

1% of the people in Canada create and design the policies we live by, 11% of the people educate others and try to change the policies, the other 88%.... are to busy working to live and pretty much believe whatever is advertised to them through the media. According to urban planners the world’s population has tripled since 1936, and in 2030 will become 50 billion people, with 75% still living in cities. The water is difficult enough to purify in Toronto with the sludge water going to the country on farmlands. (Movie: Crapshoot, National Film Board of Canada).

We are players of the words written by policies that we continue to let politics govern - even though - it’s not in favor of the environment and future generations of life

With TTC buses usually kept forever until they die, it doesn’t matter how good the type of Biodiesel is - tail emissions are smog crap that idle consistently; plus our stations are hardly anything to look at with a management and provincial government that doesn’t care about revitalization or the health of public safety. Look at any washroom, and then look at the cameras and the constables Liberals have the money for; why are they focusing on violence instead of enriching the system for people? The media, and our society breed on violence, why do the politicians we vote for play into this?

The Coalition is looking for community groups that will draw stencil art on subway tiles if the TTC concurs. The TTC received 1.25 million from the budget to paint subway stations. 75 cents of every dollar from the public goes towards the operating costs and salaries, more than other other city in the entire world!
Why can’t the TTC Commissioners and Top Management throw 2% or 10%
into TTC projects if they have so much money for charities and themselves?

The TTC fought with 1.5 million dollars of taxpayers money against calling out all streets. As pertaining to David Lepofsky's request with the Canadian Human Rights Commission, and they used every excuse they could with tooth and nails. When I ask Adam Giambrone about why they fought using so much money he quoted he wasn't a lawyer but thinks the call out screens are a great idea. David Lepofsky quoted it's probably mismanagement in the top levels of the TTC.

Did they have the right to use 1.5 million dollars of taxpayers money?

WHY? Is it because the people are so numb and keep voting for governments that don’t do anything?

Global News quoted in Jan.2008 that later next year we should be able to purchase cars that run off air, London UK has buses that run off Hydrogen each year, Oakville, ON has 3 at no cost to them, the Liberals aren’t interested in green technology except hybrids only. The technology will change quicker only when people consistently demand change, not what the industry keeps marketing as the newest car of the year!

Writing 10 letters to Constituents have 10 times more impact than any petition, because they are listened to! People need to step up and raise an awareness on issues politicians do on a daily basis, you are the voice of your country, not just them. Get involved if you want your children and grandchildren to be able to breathe air and drink water.

Thousands of groups exist throughout America to change the car dominance culture of our society, however the system NEEDS the taxes from gasoline sales for profits. Ever ask where the interest goes to pay down the debt from all the countries? It goes to private banks and that interest goes to the banking cartels owned by the 13 richest families in the world. Only 2% of the money flowing in Canada is Used and since Canada joined the G7 in 1974 – 98% of the money is from the private banks we pay interest on to use the money. We could use 50% of the money from the Bank of Canada, but mayors, MP’s, all Parties and the Prime Minister are told we can’t touch it, and their fearful of doing so.

Taxes continue to go up, fare’s for the TTC continue to go up and the infrastructure built from the $$$$ from the Bank of Canada continues to falter and gets worse each month yet they continue crying out for more money. We are feeding the tails of the dragons that continue to mould and shape our societies as they see fit, but who are you and who were you created by? We are here to create the future which is NOW, we are here to create the dreams we have and see the possibilities take shape, shape your creations and your dreams to enrich a greater planet for our reality!

Each and every single one of us has a voice and we should use it. Each City Councillor represents 55,000 people in Toronto since the Amalgamation when David Miller took office, use City Hall as your Boardroom, and make your voice heard in deputations; for more information about making a deputation: http://www.toronto.ca/city_council/deputation.htm

Mike Harris who the majority of Transit Advocates and Environmentalists blame for "why" things aren't possible, now works for the Fraser Institute a right-wing think tank, and Magna International, so he's in the automobile and policy industry, and his pension is probably more than what David Miller makes per year, so how does that look to you? In a perfect world and fair society Mike Harris would be in jail, we would just ship all the bills for the TTC to Steven Harper, hold him accountable (considering bureacracy is split up into a million different pieces, so that no one is ever held responsible) and let the system fuss over the issues. Meanwhile Toronto would become the biggest and most valued transit system of the world, have more money (but they don't want people having money??, tourism would increase & add 100 times in value to our city with expansions outward.

City Council and TTC Commission meets once a month open to the public. The phone number for Access Toronto is 416-338-0338: to reach any of the 22 MPs in Toronto and 44 Councillors at City Hall. Think of what it would be like if everybody drived ZENN cars, and other clean fuel vehicles and people would be much more socially conscious of what the world will be like in another 500 years, because we are the sustainers of life!

With the backlog of $300 million dollars to repair it’s aging roads and sinkholes all the new TTC buses won’t even last ½ as long as they should, so shouldn’t the Roads and Transportation department of the City of Toronto pay up a large portion of the TTC costs? And how does the Toronto Board of Trade fit into the policy making decisions regarding this? (something to consider)…..Eye Weekly Magazine Dale Duncan, Feb 07th, 2008.

http://www.streetfilms.org/archives/ciclovia
Every Sunday and holiday every week the City of Bogota, Colombia closes down over 70 miles of roadways to cars and let people bike, walk, talk, etc. The best thing about Ciclovia is the participation within the city.

Congestion in Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, and Greater Vancouver is estimated to add $300 million to the cost of goods movement every year. The cost of poor air quality in the Province of Ontario is estimated at $600 million annually in health care costs. This is equal to an estimated $1.875 billion in annual health care costs for Canada.
http://www.cutaactu.ca/content.asp?ID=134

While people by the thousand continue to die of air pollution it’s not right for the people in the government whom we pay to research more studies and review more reports and waste years and decades of idle talk when things must be done now! We are the future, what world do you want to live in? If you’ve ever experienced a close death from air pollution you’d stay a fly on the wall or wake-up and see things in ways that exist but aren’t because our ignorance fails to see past the illusions.

Events:
BIG EVENT that will rock the City & the TTC at the End of July: For people who have solutions for the TTC and complaints about vital issues and never get responses, location undecided at this time but it will be open to the media. Participating are many of the Transit Advocate Groups in Toronto, with David Fisher, Roger Brook, etc.

Fall 2008 we’ll have facilitators teaching drivers in Toronto how to use vegetable oil in cars at the University of Toronto.

Coming in 2009, we’ll have a Worldwide Transit Documentary that’s never been made anywhere in the world and will have a very strong impact in Canada.

We will have monthly meets again starting in March 2008 at the OISU, and regularly at Metro Hall.

Daily Tours of Queen's Park:
416-325-7500, tours open to the public 1 & 4pm weekdays. Media work there full-time, and at City Hall.

Next TTC Commission Meeting: February 27th 1pm-6pm, Meeting Room 2, 2nd Floor.

Links:

Our society took decades before realizing the effects of tobacco smoke, now government employees help people quit. When we do have clean fuel technology there will be a wealth of new jobs and new technologies, but the illusion of it all is that we’re not that educated and don’t know it all, there’s a whole world of new things waiting for us to leap into the future!

Green Transit for a Better Future:
http://www.transitorienteddevelopment.org/

Remarkable Metro Stations Worldwide:
http://mic-ro.com/metro//metroart.html#rating

METRO NEWS/METROLINX 01/24/08
Madrid built 150 Kilometres of subway between 95 and 07 for about $90 million per kilometre. The Shepperd subway by comparison, is about 6 kilometres long, took 8 years to build and cost $200 million per kilometre. The difference in costs between Madrid and Toronto is only 10-20%.
http://www.metrolinx.com/

Natural Resources Canada reports that Canadian drivers idle their vehicles an average of five to ten minutes a day. If every driver of a light duty vehicle avoided idling by 5 minutes a day, collectively we would save 680 million litres of fuel, over 1.6 million tonnes of GHG emissions, and $646 million in fuel costs annually. There are reports TTC buses idle all night long in garages in the winter! http://www.ecoactionteams.ca/pub/index.php

Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, ZENN Motor Company is dedicated to being the global leader in producing zero emission transportation solutions for markets around the world. Our current ZENN car is the perfect vehicle for urban commuters, fleets (such as resorts, gated communities, airports, college and business campuses, municipalities, parks and more), the environmentally conscious driver, and consumers who just want to save money. The ZENN is sold through a growing network of retailers across the United States. Air pollution caused by traffic is costing Canadians their health and our health care system billions of dollars.http://www.zenncars.com/

The ZENN Car on the Rick Mercer Report:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8M88k6Ipp3c

TODAY IN FREE ENERGY PODCASTS:
http://www.podcastdirectory.com/podcasts/6041
China's experimental nuclear fusion device goes into testing; Rare Earth magnets ..... Ram implosion wing and electrogravitic implosion propulsion system; ...

CARS THAT RUN OFF AIR: (from Global TV in Jan/2008) For Sale in 2009, Cdn. Price $7,300.00 http://archives.tcm.ie/businesspost/2000/10/29/story812873138.asp

The automakers know that they can still sell automobile dependency in smaller packages. They can still make money putting hybrids on the roads. What they really fear is not emission regulations or fuel-efficiency standards, but mass transit, high-speed rail, human-scale development, and anything else that cuts against the carefully cultivated grain of private automobile dependency.
- Dan Korn http://groovygreen.com/groove/?p=2149

Mayor Miller ignores good advice regarding new Toronto taxes, Deputation by Sydney White!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=888TNRfNnoU
Author and Speaker Derrick Jenson says Gas Corporations are looking forward to the icebergs melting as it will be easier to get gas. and we choose to continue paying enourmous prices for gas. http://www.derrickjenson.org

TORONTO DEBATING SOCIETY:
Every 2nd & 4th Tuesday of the Month at 7:30pm
Swansea Town Hall (75 Lavinia)
http://www.debating.ca/

Canadian Action Party our Democracy, the real story about our money around the world and in Canada.
http://www.canadianactionparty.ca/democracy.html

Information everyone sends to Transport Canada is stored in Personal Information Bank # DOT PPU-079. Personal information that you provide is protected under the provisions of the Privacy Act. The Act provides you with a right of access to your information.

Monitors of the Centre for Sustainable Transportation for Canada
http://cst.uwinnipeg.ca/monitor.html

Oakvillegreen Conservation Association Newsletter
Issue 10 January 2008
In Scotland, citizens are getting rebates on bus fares when they turn in left over cooking oil which is then refined into diesel to fuel the buses. In Thailand, many police forces ask hotels, restaurants and shrines to donate their used cooking oil and in Bangkok, they are able to produce 150 liters each day for their patrol vehicles. (From page 5).
http://oakvillegreen.org/images/stories/newsletters/newsletter_january_2008_issue_10.pdf

The Executive Summary from the report Green Transit:
(Environmental Innovations Benefiting all Canadians)
http://www.cutaactu.ca/sites/cutaactu.ca/files/GreenTransit.pdf

TTC Policy Advisors are the Toronto Rocket Riders - Started by Councillor Gord Perks and Ed Drass – Meet every first Tuesday of the month at Metro Hall 6:30-9pm, 3rd floor, usually Room 304 or 307. Spokesperson is Roger Brook: green22@sympatico.ca

Health Effects of Air Pollution
Air pollution exacerbates the condition of people with respiratory and ... effects of air pollution by introducing cleaner vehicles and fuels in Canada. ...
www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ewh-semt/air/out-ext/effe/health_effects-effets_sante_e.html

Emissions from ocean-going ships are responsible for about 60,000 deaths a year from heart and lung-related cancers, according to research published on Wednesday that calls for tougher fuel standards. Reuters, 7 November 2007. http://www.stcwa.org.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1989&Itemid=134

Case Study: Oaklands Zero Emission Bus
http://www.popsci.com/environment/gallery/2008-02/how-americas-greenest-cities-got-green

Hydrogen Hyper-Jet New York to London in 2 Hours – Emission Free.
http://www.popsci.com/military-aviation-space/article/2008-01/green-skies-mach-5

2008-01-05T01:19:00.000-08:00

WEBSITE COMING SOON

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=5784038545

A COALITION TO END AIR POLLUTION & REVAMP TRANSIT AS WE KNOW IT.

WE ARE PLAYERS OF THE WORDS WRITTEN BY POLICIES WE CONTINUE TO LET POLITICS GOVERN - EVEN THOUGH - IT'S NOT SUPPORTING THE ENVIRONMENT & FUTURE GENERATIONS OF LIFE. THE FUTURE IS NOW, WE MAKE IT SO!

VICTORIA PARK REPLACEMENT PROJECT:
Furthur information: station.modernization@ttc.ca

Oakvillegreen Conservation Association Newsletter
Issue 10 January 2008

In Scotland, citizens are getting rebates on bus fares when they turn in left over cooking oil which is then refined into diesel to fuel the buses. In Thailand, many police forces ask hotels, restaurants and shrines to donate their used cooking oil and in Bangkok, they are able to produce 150 liters each day for their patrol vehicles. (From page 5).

http://oakvillegreen.org/images/stories/newsletters/newsletter_january_2008_issue_10.pdf

St. Johns, Newfoundland and Saskatoon, SK use French Fry Vegetable Oil in their buses, the C-Rail in Calgary is powered by a windmill farm. (news from CUTA, Cdn. Urban Transit Ass.)

What the rest of the world could learn from Bogota, Columbia:
In Part 2 of what the rest of the world could learn from Bogota, Colombia, here is a good video that gives an overview of how their bus rapid transit system works. In part 1 we looked Ciclovia, a weekly auto-free Sunday on main streets and boulevards opens them to cycling, skating and all sorts …. http://nyc.theoildrum.com/ and see: http://www.streetfilms.org/archives/ciclovia/

Choices of Green and Better Forms of Transit for a Better Future!
http://www.transitorienteddevelopment.org/transportation.html

Canadian Public Transit Discussion Board (really good)

http://www.cptdb.ca/

The Biodeisal the TTC currently uses isn't any good with old buses. In the US buses are only used for 10 years, in Toronto over 18 years or until they die. And think of the noises from the rails travelling from Union Station to King, it's unbearable!, does the TTC care? Yet in Montreal, Quebec the subway's are ultra-quiet & play soft soothing music! Why do their politicians get favors and handouts and not the most populated city in Canada? And why can't we throw Mike Harris in Jail? And why do the Transit Riders pay the salaries of the top manangement within the TTC, that's millions of dollars right there, do they put in 2% or 10% for TTC Projects? no way And Mike Harris still receives a huge pension most people would only dream of having!

BIG EVENT that will rock the City & the TTC at the End of July: For people who have solutions for the TTC and complaints about vital issues and never get responses, location undecided at this time but it will be open to the media. Participating is the Toronto Rocket Riders and TTC - Time for a Change (York University), TTC Executives will answer to the Transit Riders.

http://www.toronto.ca/toronto_facts/government.htm

22 Members of Parliament representing Toronto sit in the House of Commons. Toronto's Municipal Government has 44 elected councillors representing approx. 55,000 people each. They don't have enough people to get the information they need from the people.....there's not enough interaction with the public; so use City Hall as your Board Room, and apply to make deputations at City Hall (& use Powerpoint)!
Ten Letters to your constituents' have 100 times more impact than any petition, because they are listened to!, (although petitions are still good for names and emails).

WEBSITE OF REMARKABLE METRO STATIONS WORLDWIDE: http://mic-ro.com/metro//metroart.html#rating

"AMAZING" TRAMS OF GENEVA, HUNGARY, VIENNA, EUROPE......

http://hampage.hu/trams/e_index.html

CNN.com - London's big red buses go green - Aug 30, 2004

London may be well known for its big red buses, but things are turning ... It plans to convert cars, buses and fishing trawlers to run on hydrogen fuel. ...
http://edition.cnn.com/2004/TECH/08/30/green.buses/index.html

The TTC has 1.25 million dollars from the City's Budget to paint subway stations, now on a 3-year schedule instead of 7 years. Toronto Star, Monday Jan 27th, 2008, they also have money for more janitors but what's the point in hellhole subway stations??

Natural Resources Canada reports that Canadian drivers idle their vehicles an average of five to ten minutes a day. If every driver of a light duty vehicle avoided idling by 5 minutes a day, collectively we would save 680 million litres of fuel, over 1.6 million tonnes of GHG emissions, and $646 million in fuel costs annually. There are reports TTC buses idle all night long in garages in the winter! http://www.ecoactionteams.ca/pub/index.php

The San Francisco Municipal Agency (MUNI) is embracing the hybrid diesel-electric bus as an environmentally responsible alternative to traditional diesel buses. June, 2006. http://www.metro-magazine.com/t_newspick.cfm?id=9063531

The TTC fought with 1.5 million dollars of taxpayers money against calling out all streets. As pertaining to David Lepofsky's request with the Canadian Human Rights Commission, and they used every excuse they could with tooth and nails. When I ask Adam Giambrone about why they fought using so much money he quoted he wasn't a lawyer but thinks the call out screens are a great idea! ?? (maybe it's because of the parties we keep voting for/my quote)....? David Lepofsky quoted it's probably mismanagement in the top levels of the TTC. The Operations Departments don't even talk to Executives who need them to get their jobs done properly. Look at the washrooms, do they even care what a disgrace they are?

Metrolinx Looks to Europe: The January 25th agenda for Metrolinx contains a number of reports well worth reading. Metrolinx has the advantage, for now, that it is a planning agency.
http://stevemunro.ca/?p=737

METRO NEWS/METROLINX 01/24/08
Madrid built 150 Kilometres of subway between 95 and 07 for about $90 million per kilometre. The Shepperd subway by comparison, is about 6 kilometres long, took 8 years to build and cost $200 million per kilometre. The difference in costs between Madrid and Toronto is only 10-20%. http://www.metrolinx.com/

The TTC is sending it's own engineers to Madrid this year:

Adam Giambrone is already rejecting England's idea of using public-private partnerships to extend subways, or is it only to save his job? Metrolinx has already travelled to England and Spain in November 2007, isn't the public curious to know everything?

The TTC spent $500,000 to purchase a stimulated training device to train 800 new bus drivers starting spring 2008. Washrooms are a public disgrace, but it's not a health issue for public safety Constables have to know CPR though! If someone needs to use the Washroom, they should ask for a free ticket to get back on the TTC and go use an office washroom, THAT should be in the regulations.

Public Space Committe and TTC TV's:

http://www.publicspace.ca/ttcvideo.htm

In Paris, France they had 3/4 strikes in the later half of 2007 yet even during a strike their service was far more superior than the TTC on any given day, and that's because in France they tell the government what to do everyday and how to work. http://www.ratp.com/

Transit Advocates in Melbourne, Australia publish "Transit News and Views", and their LRT system is "out of this world", but buses move 70% of the people in Melbourne. http://spacing.ca/archives/30/

Overview of the Montreal Subway:

http://world.nycsubway.org/canada/montreal/

Vancouver Transit Discussions vs. other cities.
http://www.flickr.com/groups/vancouvertransit/discuss/72157601996623072/

Outreach, Adopt a Bus and Town Hall Meetings at the Washington Transit. http://www.wmata.com/about/community/default.cfm#townhall?fromMenu=Outreach.4

Advocacy Groups for Better Transportation in the US and Canada
http://www.bettertransit.ab.ca/connect.html

FOR STUDENTS, LAWYERS, REPORTERS AND ANYONE WHO CARES ABOUT AIR POLLUTION AND REVAMPING THE TRANSIT SYSTEM, MY ORIGINAL SOLUTIONS ARE NEAR THE BOTTOM.

Contact Janice@TorontoTransit4Change.org

EVENTS:

THE TTC POLICY ADVISORS ARE THE TORONTO ROCKET RIDERS- Started by Councillor Gord Perks and Ed Drass - meets every first Tuesday of the month at Metro Hall 6:30-9pm, 3rd floor, usually Room 304 or 307. Spokesperson is Roger Brook: green22@sympatico.ca

4 firefighters were awarded January 19th, 2008 at Queen's Park for saving the lives of 8 TTC workers in a tunnel fire and the TTC was slapped with a fine of $165,000.00. Yet what about the air pollution we breathe on a daily basis from fuel emissions while hundreds and thousands continue to die each month ??

It helps the GDP; the environment isn't an equation of the economy, and we remain ignorant of the future which is NOW!

University Metro Pass: Tuesday, February 5th - York University starting at 4:30pm to 6pm. Curtis Lecture Hall L. (with Adam Giambrone and David Miller)

Worlds Cheapest Cars Not Permitted in the US or Canada for Safety Regulations. (or is that the truth)! http://ca.autos.yahoo.com/p/267/the-worlds-cheapest-cars

Report Card on TTC Commissioners from Spacing Magazine (see bottom)

http://spacing.ca/votes/?cat=2

VIRTUAL TOURS OF LA METROS: http://www.metrovr.net/metro/

MOVIE OF TOKYO STATIONS (SEE BOTTOM): http://www.makoto-architect.com/subway/syb_e.htm

http://www.cutaactu.ca/en/webfm_send/211

Canadian Urban Transit Association Plans For National Transit Forum
Feb. 13th - Ottawa:
Canada's Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, Lawrence Cannon, & CUTA will be organizing a 1-day National Transit Forum on Wednesday 13 February in Ottawa. This event will be held immediately following the CUTA Executive Committee meeting and the annual Transit Awareness Days on Parliament Hill, and preceding the Federation of Canadian Municipalities Sustainable Communities Conference.

INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC TRANSIT ASSOCIATION:
UITP is the international organisation for public transport authorities and operators, policy decision-makers, scientific institutes and the public.
http://www.uitp.com/

CANADIAN URBAN TRANSPORTATION ASSOCIATON:
Represents the Public Transportation Community in Canada, i is a leader and active partner in national and international education and outreach initiatives, designed to strengthen the industry and build support for public transit.
http://www.cutaactu.ca/en/public_affairs

AMERICAN PUBLIC TRANSIT ASSOCIATION, ADVOCACY & LINKS:
An international organization for the bus, rapid transit and commuter rail systems industry, based in Washington, DC. Extensive directory of transit systems.
http://www.apta.com/links/others.cfm#A1

Jim Bradley, Ontario Ministry of Transportation: 77 Wellesley St W, 3rd Flr. http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/about/minister.htm

(Daily Tours of Queen's Park : 416-325-7500, tours open to the public 1 & 4pm weekdays)
Attending Committee’s at Queen’s Park Committee on General Government http://www.ontla.on.ca/web/go2.jsp?Page=/getting-involved/committee_participation_attend&menuItem=getting_involved_participate_committee&locale=en

2008 ANNUAL TRANSPORTATION CONFERENCE AND EXHIBITION. SEPTEMBER 21-24TH. TORONTO!
Transportation – A Key to a Sustainable Future
http://www.tac-atc.ca/English/annualconference/sponsorship.cfm

FCM BIG CITY MAYORS CAUCUS:

A national organization of major city mayors, advocating for cities at the federal level.

http://www.fcm.ca/english/about/bcmc.html

http://www.cutaactu.ca/sites/cutaactu.ca/files/GreenTransit.pdf
The Executive Summary from the report Green Transit:

Environmental Innovations Benefiting all Canadians.

Canadian Transit Forum Magazine
http://www.cutaactu.ca/en/canadian_transit_forum_magazine

LIGHT RAIL STUDY TOURS WORLDWIDE: (Awesome photos)http://www.lightrail.nl/studytours/studytours.htm
~ Imagine Queen Street having a Light Rail. There's already a Lower Ghost Queen Station!

TRANSIT METRO'S ALL OVER THE WORLD:
Rotterdam, Kiev, Lisbon, Maps and Photos.
http://www.urbanrail.net/index.html

TODAY IN FREE ENERGY PODCASTS:
http://www.podcastdirectory.com/podcasts/6041

China's experimental nuclear fusion device goes into testing; Rare Earth magnets ..... Ram implosion wing and electrogravitic implosion propulsion system; ...

CARS THAT RUN OFF AIR: (from Global TV in Jan/2008)http://archives.tcm.ie/businesspost/2000/10/29/story812873138.asp
For Sale in 2009, Cdn. Price $7,300.00

CITY BUS ECO MAKEOVER California, Schwarzenegger sues EPA over green house gases http://www.nowpublic.com/politics/california-schwarzenegger-sues-epa-over-greenhouse-gases

Schwarzenegger: California will sue federal government - CNN.com Arnold Schwarzenegger plans to sue the federal government over its decision not ... Schwarzenegger: Bush administration not taking global warming seriously ... http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/12/20/california.emissions/

http://www.terena.org/publications/
MONEY FOR RAIL MODERNIZATION in Switzerland is coming from taxes of one kind or another. The biggest single source is the Heavy Vehicles Tax (paid by trucks for the right to cross Switzerland by road); some of the finance is coming from VAT, where 0.1 % of the receipts has been earmarked for the project, and an oil tax will be a third souce. The remainder comes from loans.

Grants from Washington for 12 people per year to study International Transit in different cities of the world from 2005:
http://www.wmata.com/board_gm/board_docs/092205_AgendaItem6InterTrav.pdf (they quote that no one has grants to travel anymore).

http://www.uitp.com/project/susdev_intro.cfm
Sustainable Development, International Association of Public Transport (UITP),
and American Public Transport Association.

Gateway to Public Transportation Links
http://www.apta.com/links/

Newsletters for Hybrid and Electric Vehicle Progress
http://www.bccresearch.com/newsletters-hevp_new.htm

Transit Systems Worldwide
www.subways.net/railinks.htm

The TTC Story : Mike Filey
Author Mike Filey Born in Toronto, Mike Filey's bestselling Toronto Sketches series is more popular now than ever before. His Toronto Sun column "The Way We Were" has a devoted readership and he has written more than a dozen books about Toronto.

TTC archivist Ted Wickson
http://web.presby.edu/~jtbell/transit/Toronto/
History of the 501 - paying two fares.Once upon a time, the Humber loop was on a fare-zone boundary, so passengers had to transfer here between the Queen and Long Branch routes and pay an extra fare. In the mid-1970s, the extra fare was eliminated, but the two routes remained separate until 1995, when 507 Long Branch route was absorbed into the 501 Queen.

~ TORONTOTRANSIT4CHANGE ~

The Municipality of Toronto can get the Provincial Gov't to ask the Federal Gov't for interest free money from the Bank of Canada, it can be done - they choose to raise our taxes and fares instead!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=888TNRfNnoU
Mayor Miller ignores good advice regarding new Toronto taxes, Deputation by Sydney White!

Toronto Public Space Committee, TTC Posts
http://illegalsigns.ca/?cat=99

The TTC (and the Liberals and the people) can be a powerforce of change to clean air pollution and Transit in Toronto. The Cities say it costs far too much money to learn new technologies. The Consequences are more fatal than any of us realize!

The Solutions are "clear and simple" BUT for politics it's all issues of what men have created, unless you've been to the other side and back!

Temperatures in the summers are getting hotter leading to more deaths of air pollution, diseases caused by toxins, germs, and unhealthy foods North Americans eat. The pollution in our Solar System is so dreadful for politics and industries who create it for consumers, and yet it kills ~ the people and the environment!

Author and Speaker Derrick Jenson says Gas Corporations are looking forward to the icebergs melting as it will be easier to get gas. and we choose to continue paying enourmous prices for gas. http://www.derrickjenson.org

We are players of the words written by policies that we continue to let politics govern - even though it’s not in favor of the environment and future generations of life".

Cities being creatures of the province, can use
sustainable resources if we collectively wanted to.

Steven Harper has said Cities are NOT a Federal Responsibiltiy, ~ wonder what would happen if everyone who lived in cities choose NOT to pay income taxes!

The Bank of Canada, unlike the Federal Reserve in the USA, is wholly owned by the people of Canada. It was nationalized in 1938 and used very successfully to fund infrastructure, social programs, education, for the benefit of all Canadians. It helped bring us out of the Depression, funded World War II, highways such as the McDonald-Cartier freeway, public transportation systems, airports, the St. Lawrence Seaway, our universal healthcare system, our Canada Pension Plan.
http://www.canadianactionparty.ca/_Library/docs/Policies.pdf

Mayor Miller Taxes Citizens Instead OfBorrowing ‘Free’ From Bank of Canada!!http://canadastreetnews.com/vol%209%202%20july%206-%2019/Page1July19.pdf

GLOBAL IDEAS
http://www.globalideasbank.org/site/bank/idea.php?ideaId=776
Pegg-Karlsson is enthusiastic about her Association's potential: 'Humanity can today create what a few years ago was thought of as a very distant future society. And it's all about positive development, caring for the earth and taking steps towards a sustainable future society. Hydrogen power is Jules Vernes' old dream come true - using water as a fuel. The technology is already available. It is largely a question of people and politicians taking brave decisions.

http://www.yepcanada.ca/toronto.htm
Young Environmental Professionals

http://www.transitcity.ca/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=14&Itemid=28&limit=1&limitstart=4
The Plans of the Transit for Toronto’s future

http://www.torontoenvironment.org/transitlinks
Transit Links at the Toronto Environmental Alliance.

http://www.toronto.ca/ttc/coupler/coupler.htm
Magazine for employee's of the TTC!

http://www.transport2000.ca/ontario/
Transit Advocacy Group - Province Wide

http://stevemunro.ca/?p=448#comment-31157
Where the idea for Transit City came from!

TRANSIT ADVOCACY GROUPS:
http://stevemunro.ca/
http://transit.toronto.on.ca/
http://durhamregion.typepad.com/transit_nightmares/
http://durhamtransit.wordpress.com/
http://blog.fawny.org/category/ttc/
http://gttavisions.blogspot.com/
http://www.transport2000.ca/ontario/
http://wilsonlau84.googlepages.com/transit
http://www.greentrans.org/
http://hamiltontug.com/

COMMISSION MANDATES:
http://www.toronto.ca/ttc/the_commission.htm#meeting_highlights

TTC REPORTS:
http://www.ttc.ca/postings/gso-comrpt/

TORONTO DEBATING SOCIETY:
Every 2nd & 4th Tuesday of the Month at 7:30pm
Swansea Town Hall (75 Lavinia)
http://www.debating.ca/

GREEN DRINKS -
See the Regenesis Project on Facebook.They meet once a month near the U. of Toronto.

VIDEO OF TRANSIT IN TORONTO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdh9QUWJT4w

RECENT NEWS:

TORONTO WIKIPEDIA:
http://transit.toronto.on.ca/subway/5111.shtml
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheppard_%28TTC%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toronto_subway#Future_expansion

LIGHT RAIL SYSTEM IN CALGARY 28 MILES OF TRACK
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C-Train

MOVEONTARIO 2020
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MoveOntario_2020
A plan proposed by the Government of Ontario that would fund 52 different transit projects throughout Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area in Ontario, Canada.

CURRENT FUEL THE TTC USES:
For buses is 95% Ulta-Low Sulphur, and 5% Soy Bean Based Biodiesal. Personally in my view the black smoke coming out of the pipes could be cleaner and smell better, but that's just my view, IT COULD HAVE NO POLLUTION!

TTC KICKBACKS:
Include Lunches, Construction Companies for Election Time, etc:
http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&q=TTC+Kickbacks&meta=

FEDERAL TRANSIT SECURE PROGRAM:
(The Tories gave the TTC $18 million from the Feds Transit-Secure program for 12,000 camera's more than LA, and New York City - but the dryers in the washrooms don't work in Toronto - they need paper towels, yet they have money for constables!

CLEAN WASHROOMS ARE NOT A SAFETY ISSUE ACCORDING TO OUR GOV'T'S?
- Yet paying thousand for posters to tell people HOW to go up the escalators is -

CURRENT HYDROGEN-FUEL BUSES:
While Oakville, ON has buses run off hydrogen-fuel presently (a few a no cost), and Mississauga is looking into it, Toronto and the TTC won't choose to because the Liberals are giving them money for only hybrid buses!

The automakers know that they can still sell automobile dependency in smaller packages. They can still make money putting hybrids on the roads. What they really fear is not emission regulations or fuel-efficiency standards, but mass transit, high-speed rail, human-scale development, and anything else that cuts against the carefully cultivated grain of private automobile dependency.
- Dan Korn
http://groovygreen.com/groove/?p=2149

Now AC Transit in Oakland, California, is making bus travel as appealing as light-rail. Each day, over one thousand people ride on three hydrogen fuel cell buses in Oakland and in environmentally conscious Berkeley. By 2012, five thousand people daily will be riding on twelve such buses. The only emission is water vapor.
http://www.cleantechblog.com/2007/09/riding-on-sunlight.html

http://youtube.com/watch?v=bgGlE97rJl4.

http://www.youtube.com/businmotion

http://www.octa.on.ca/forum/printthread.cfm?Forum=20&Topic=1567
Oakville has first hydrogen-powered buses

UNLESS WE GET MONEY FROM THE BANK OF CANADA,
THIS IS A GREAT SOLUTION:

Adam can purchase whatever he needs to make the TTC the greatest system in the world, by having all the bills shipped to The Prime Minister, Steven Harper.

Everyone knows Steven Harper doesn't care about the environment, so lets make him accountable! Some argue that the constitution exempts Harper from having to care about Municipalities - that's the job of the province - another good reason to get money interest free for Municipalities from the Bank Of Canada! (http://www.canadianactionparty.ca/)

If the government complains, we sue the government for negligence to millions of people in Toronto, since they are choking on the smog coming out of buses; the buses idle too long in the summer and thousands of people die every August in Toronto from the heat and the effects of prescriptions drugs combined, never mind that the buses hardly wait for someone in the 40 below weather!

With the extravagant system in place - people will be more relaxed, creative, productive and therefore Toronto will have more money. So why is the government scared of sharing the money they have, which is our money?

2008 TTC ARCHITECTURAL CONTEST WORLDWIDE
The TTC can hold a 2008 Architectural Contest around the world, or in Canada. It would be great publicity for Toronto and the TTC, and cost the TTC pennies for prizes, such as: *TTC Keys to the City, Free Tickets to Theatre’s and Shows in Toronto whenever the architects family is in town, etc.*

The people and the government don’t pay a single penny for the 2008 Architectural Contest to Rebuild, Revitalize and Re-modernize into the future old TTC stations a few at a time. Makeovers would be done quickly and it’s done with Art Galleries and the Hummingbird Centre all the time, (most recently the Royal Ontario Museum) so why not the TTC?
Adam knows how and what can be done.

As a society we want people to look outside the box, however when the government doesn’t want to change things and former politicians say the government won’t change, and it’s up to the people ---

*WE ARE* the generation who will make this difference!

“We Are the Caretakers of the Planet”. So why are we allowing air pollution to continue; and people are dying yearly with the heat and prescription drugs combined, we are breathing toxins our bodies can’t eliminate and eating foods that don’t do our body justice?

When you look at how environmentally conscious people are in Europe and France in comparison to Canada, it’s a HUGE difference, but it is really our social conditioning.

Back in the early 70’s remember when everything was so secretive in the liquor and beer stores – everything had to be in a bag because they were afraid people would cause a riot, yet now we walk up and down the aisle’s because they realized we wouldn’t cause terror!.

If the TTC stopped paying so much for camera’s in the buses and protection for bus drivers and used that money to make the system better for the people, those people inclined to make trouble wouldn’t and it’s all a change of perception of our social conditioning and culture.

The people are actually the government, we are the employers of our government, so like in France we should stop being so scared of the government! We do not need Doctorates, Law Degrees, Bachelors, or any other post secondary education to realize our planet is in trouble if you don’t act responsibly RIGHT NOW!

Each person has a right to state what they believe, and have the freedom to say so. Let’s fix the problems before it gets any worse, and costs more than we can bear, before it’s too late!

HISTORY OF GIAMBONE AND MOSCOW TTC CHAIRS OF TORONTO:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Giambrone

Elected at 26, he was the youngest member of the 2003–2006 Toronto council. He is also a former president of the federal New Democratic Party (NDP).

An archeologist by training, Giambrone has participated in excavations in Tunisia, Libya, Sudan and Yemen. He speaks English, French, Italian, Portuguese and Arabic. He is of Italian ancestry. Growing up in the Davenport area of Toronto, he first became active with the New Democratic Party in its youth wing at age 15.

While studying at McGill University in Montreal, he served as treasurer of the New Democratic Youth of Canada, and ran for the NDP in the riding of Mount Royal in the 1997 federal election, in which he finished fifth out of six candidates with 966 votes. The Liberal candidate, Sheila Finestone, won with 30,115 votes. Returning to Toronto, he took up employment with the Royal Ontario Museum, where he became vice-president of his Ontario Public Service Employees Union local. He ran for Toronto city council in the southern Davenport ward against Mario Silva in the 2000 municipal election. Giambrone lost 6,037 to 3,338.

The president of the NDP is the administrative chairperson of the party, chairing party conventions, councils and executive meetings. Giambrone was 24, and no younger person had ever become president (or leader) of a major Canadian party. He became a frequent guest on television and figure in the news, and travelled the country extensively speaking to New Democrats.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Moscoe

Moscoe recommended several reforms to transit policy following his appointment to the TTC in 1991. He supported lower rates for Toronto's poorer residents, arguing that transit passes could be mailed out with welfare cheques. This idea was opposed by then-TTC chair Mike Colle.

Moscoe also advocated lower advertising rates for small businesses, noting that a national recession was resulting in many spaces being left unused. He opposed the TTC's elimination of environmentally-friendly trolley services in January 1992, and led a successful initiative for their restoration later in the same year.

Moscoe also opposed a 16% fare increase in 1992, arguing that the TTC could cut expenses through administration instead. He criticized the service cutbacks introduced by the provincial government of Mike Harris in the mid-1990s, and spoke against a 43% fare increase for students and seniors in 1996. Moscoe later argued that the Harris government's funding cuts were the start of a long period of decline for the TTC, from which it had not entirely recovered by the mid-2000s.

Moscoe joined with other NDP councillors to support increased funding for WheelTrans, a transportation service for Toronto's disabled persons, 1995. After the Harris government introduced its funding cuts, however, he reluctantly brought forward a motion to scale back WheelTrans services. He described the motion as "the most difficult decision I've had to make", but argued it was necessary to prevent a total collapse in the city's transit system. He recommended that WheelTrans users voluntarily limit their non-essential use of the service, so as to ensure that it remained accessible for work and school transportation. He opposed further cuts in 1996, and subsequently supported initiatives to make regular buses wheelchair-friendly.

TTC Chair, 1998-2000
Moscoe was appointed as TTC chair in January 1998, and soon emerged as a prominent rival to David Gunn, the TTC's chief general manager. The two disagreed over policy issues, including the proposed purchase of low-floor buses to benefit elderly and disabled passengers: Moscoe supported the purchase, while Gunn argued that it was beyond the TTC's budget. Gunn also accused Moscoe of interfering in TTC management issues, particularly after Moscoe renegotiated a contract for condominium development at the TTC's Bayview station. Gunn threatened to resign in mid-1998 if Moscoe was not removed, but retracted this threat when the TTC reaffirmed its confidence in Moscoe's leadership. Gunn eventually stepped down in April 1999, saying that Moscoe was "ruining his reputation". His replacement, Rick Ducharme, was openly critical of his predecessor's management style and initially had a more cooperative relationship with Moscoe and other elected officials.