Breaking down the wall

Excal.on.ca
September 14, 2018
Anna Voskuil

On September 6 from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m., just outside the York University subway station, a protest voicing concerns on the two-fare payment shed light on accessibility issues, as well as potential solutions in response to the rerouting of YRT busses.

The protest was lead by Vaughan Ward 5 City Councillor Alan Shefman and Vaughan Regional Councillor candidate Fred Winegust. Signs reading “Unfair 2-Fare Wall” were held behind Shefman, as he addressed the York community with this message: “We are here today because we cannot stand idly by with our residents so disadvantaged.”

According to Winegust, the main goals from the protest are: “Restore YRT service to the heart of the York University campus as it was prior to September 2; call on the TTC to respect all two-hour hop on-hop off programs from 905 transit authorities who interconnect with the TTC bus or subway lines; and call on the provincial government to fund the extension of their Ride to GO programs, so it becomes Ride to GO/TTC.”

Winegust also proposed another solution--“Buck A Bus,” which, he says, “is a renaming of a program that has been funded by the provincial government and has been in place at the YRT for a number of years prior to the recent provincial election. On YRT, Buck a Bus is currently known as ‘$1 Ride to GO.’

“I am calling on the provincial government to extend their program to any YRT bus route that connects to the TTC,” he adds.

Besides Buck A Bus, Winegust also mentions “a more radical approach,” which, he says, “would be that the TTC and YRT recognize each other’s two-hour hop on-hop off implementation.”

“We are asking the TTC to recognize the two-hour hop on-hop off of 905 Local Transit Authorities, which have bus routes that can interconnect with TTC,” he continues.

Another major focus of the protest was accessibility, particularly for those at York with disabilities.

Jordanna Miller, a part-time fifth-year applied mathematics student who lives in Vaughan, expresses her concern regarding the walk from her bus stop on Founders Road to campus. “I have back problems, and the 25-minute walk with my heavy backpack--I’d never be able to do it,” she says.

On this lengthy, potential walk she and many other commuters would have to take to campus, Miller adds: “People keep saying ‘why are you whining, it’s doable.’ Yes, but for someone who has accessibility problems, who can’t walk that well--it’s not doable.”

Another concern brought up at the protest was the possibility of a two-fare integration system between YRT and TTC services.

Regarding whether or not this is possible, TTC Senior Communications Specialist Stuart Green says: “We are currently working with Metrolinx and PRESTO as well as YRT on an integrated fare, but there’s no timeline as to when that might be introduced.”

Miller says: “This area is bigger than just the City of Toronto, it’s expanded to the GTA. It’s time for integrated fare.”

If students wish to sign the ‘Break down the Unfair-2-Fare Wall at York University’ petition, they may do so here: https://www.change.org/p/ttc-commission-break-down-the-unfair2farewall-at-york-university