[Riverdale Rink Rat]

Not really. Porter passengers don't hate the ferry, but it's definitely an inconvenience. I, my family members, and my colleagues all take Porter, and the ferry ride just seems totally superfluous... cuz it is.

If given the choice, as far as I can tell, most would prefer a bridge. And yes the lack of a bridge limits business. It adds cost and it adds delay.

It's just plain stupid. It was a complete waste of money to spend money NOT to build a bridge. It's like City Council is going out of its way to limit Toronto's chances of furthering its role as a business hub.

I like the ferry. I think people who want a bridge just want to shove it in Miller and Vaughn's face, quite frankly. With the new ferry and terminal, what cost? What delay? The 4 minutes it takes to get on the ferry?

 

[jn_12]

Not really. Porter passengers don't hate the ferry, but it's definitely an inconvenience. I, my family members, and my colleagues all take Porter, and the ferry ride just seems totally superfluous... cuz it is.

If given the choice, as far as I can tell, most would prefer a bridge. And yes the lack of a bridge limits business. It adds cost and it adds delay.

It's just plain stupid. It was a complete waste of money to spend money NOT to build a bridge. It's like City Council is going out of its way to limit Toronto's chances of furthering its role as a business hub.

ya you're right... what do I know? I only worked for Porter for 2 years.

 

[js97]

A pedestrian bridge to the Island that gives Torontonians access to the island would be great. It should be built to access not just the airport, but the trails of the island.

The push against it is the bunch of selfish residents living on the Island that want their publicly funded backyard to remain private.
The amount of crude and maintenance that is required to keep that boat going, I'm suprised the environmentalists haven't jumped on that.
Again, union, special interest labour outweights the environment.

 

[vicente]

I like the ferry. I think people who want a bridge just want to shove it in Miller and Vaughn's face, quite frankly. With the new ferry and terminal, what cost? What delay? The 4 minutes it takes to get on the ferry?

That's because you don't need to go to the airport every week. The time and money adds up for people who need to fly regularly. Someone needs to stick it to these NIMBYs.

 

[Eug]

I like the ferry. I think people who want a bridge just want to shove it in Miller and Vaughn's face, quite frankly. With the new ferry and terminal, what cost? What delay? The 4 minutes it takes to get on the ferry?

And how much does it cost to maintain the ferry? I'd wager it's more than $0.

No, wanting a bridge is not because we want to shove it in Miller's face. It's just more convenient and simpler. Now that you mention it though, it would be good payback, for his shoving the stupid pay-them-not-to-build-a-bridge idea down our throats.

ya you're right... what do I know? I only worked for Porter for 2 years.

Well, I think you might have a Porter-employer centric view of it then, because all of us think the ferry is dumb. I'm a Porter customer, not a Porter employee.

Did you ever ask if your customers would prefer a ferry vs. a short bridge? I think deep down you'd know what the answer really would be.

In fact, if it really weren't an issue, Porter itself wouldn't be talking about it on a regular basis.

That's because you don't need to go to the airport every week. The time and money adds up for people who need to fly regularly. Someone needs to stick it to these NIMBYs.

Indeed. I don't go to the airport every week either, but when I do take Porter, it's the ferry bottleneck that annoys me the most.

 

[Redroom Studios]

The 5c plastic bag charge may be a moot point if legislation passes to ban plastic bags altogether. But for those that missed it at the time, atleast half of the money collected is to be donated to environmental issues.

As for the question posed in this thread, Ford himself has siad the first thing to go will be the $60 car registration fee. Nobody likes to pay more fees, but as Miller pointed out, that was more dollars going towards maintaining roads which the car users benefit from anyway. My biggest fear (as someone who doesnt live in the city) is that Ford will dismantle Waterfront TO and cancel many of the planned projects for the east bay... though why anyone wouldnt want to beautify the city eludes my logic.

 

[PinkLucy]

I agree Redroom; I'm concerned about that too. The thing is, Ford doesn't see the value in beautifying the city (or in a lot of other things either)

 

[Eug]

I personally don't care that much either way about the bag fee.

However, if they do keep it in place, I don't think the money should be earmarked for specific reasons. It should just go into the general pot.

 

[ttk77]

A pedestrian bridge to the Island that gives Torontonians access to the island would be great. It should be built to access not just the airport, but the trails of the island.

The push against it is the bunch of selfish residents living on the Island that want their publicly funded backyard to remain private.
The amount of crude and maintenance that is required to keep that boat going, I'm suprised the environmentalists haven't jumped on that.
Again, union, special interest labour outweights the environment.

It really sounds like you don't know the islands at all. The airport is located on the north-western side of the islands, and any pedestrian bridge to the airport would not provide access to the rest of the islands...unless you're talking about building two bridges, one at the foot of Bathurst to replace the airport ferry, and one at the foot of York to replace the main ferry to the islands.

The main problem with an airport bridge IMO is the boats that currently use that channel to get out to the lake. If Porter wants to pay for a tunnel, I have no problem with that.

 

[UrbanVigor]

My biggest fear is that Ford will dismantle Waterfront TO and cancel many of the planned projects for the east bay... though why anyone wouldnt want to beautify the city eludes my logic.

This is my biggest concern too. I'm worried that Ford will be taking on a very simple minded approach. It's easy to cut this and cut that, but you need to continuously improve the city at the same time. Waterfront TO is perhaps the greatest initiative in this regard.

 

[Eug]

Haven't they remained on budget?

If so Ford will stick his nose to claim he's enforcing deadlines and budgets and then later claim he's a leader that helped facilitate the Waterfront transformation with fiscal restraint and efficiency in mind.

Well, that's my optimistic view anyway: He won't interfere as much as some fear, except to get his sound bites in and to claim his guidance ensured the project's success.

 

[jn_12]

Well, I think you might have a Porter-employer centric view of it then, because all of us think the ferry is dumb. I'm a Porter customer, not a Porter employee.

Did you ever ask if your customers would prefer a ferry vs. a short bridge? I think deep down you'd know what the answer really would be.

In fact, if it really weren't an issue, Porter itself wouldn't be talking about it on a regular basis.

The thing is, Porter doesn't talk about it on a regular basis anymore. Porter is years beyond that point especially since it got its new ferry and since the tunnel proposal came about. Would they like a bridge if someone said it could be built? Sure, but it's so far off the radar that they couldn't care less since the lack of one isn't eating into their business.

Also, I'm speaking from the perspective of having talked to a lot of passengers about the ferry (I can guarentee it's more pax than you've talked to about the ferry - including business people, CEOs, leisure passengers, the premier, past prime ministers, current federal and provincial ministers and so on - and that it's enough of a sample size that we would have no problem accepting it if it was an election poll). Considering most airports have internal transportation systems like monorails that people are forced to use, a ferry ride is nothing big, and in fact people like it's quaint uniqueness. I'd say the people who dislike the ferry the most are porter customer service reps and that's just for operational and scheduling reasons.

 

[MisterF]

I don't see the big deal about the 5 cent shopping bag charge. Grocery and drug stores all over Ontario are charging it now. And they're going to keep charging it no matter what Ford does.

I think a better question might be what initiatives will Ford be able to get through Council?

 

[js97]

Transit CITY!

Thank god they've decided to scrap the patchwork of Street cars that will frustrate people...
Looking forward to a subway to get to scarborough Town Centre.

 

[doug]

The main problem with an airport bridge IMO is the boats that currently use that channel to get out to the lake.

Why? Can't the boats go under the bridge?