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Originally Posted by J.OT13
Who doesn't pay taxes? Even if you don't own a house, you still pay taxes. Landlords charge the taxes to their tenants through rent. They don't just charge tenants enough to cover the mortgage and maintenance while keeping taxes off the price out of the goodness of their hearts.
And I wouldn't call transit riders a "small minority". Prior to the pandemic, about 15% of commuters took transit, and about 50% of downtown commuters. A good chunk of that has been lost due to, yes, issues with the O-Train, but also Sutcliffe's bus and train service cuts.
Better transit and cycling is absolutely the better way to decrease congestion. Wider roads only makes things worse.
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15% isn't a small minority? Indirect taxes sure but rent is controlled for most renters and the clearing price is going to change very little for rent based on tax rates. Regardless the 15% can all agree to a big tax increase to improve transit service and it isn't going to win elections.
The idea cylcling infrastructure is going to decrease congestion is laughable. Yes rapid transit can get people out of cars but increasing bus frequency or any other realistic options we are looking at are very marginal at best. LRT got support when people imagined all their neighbours taking it to improve their driving commute. The loss of one seat busses certainly caused some to flee transit but it was as much about being in the office less and being willing to pay for a few days of massive increase in convenience. The time savings to driving and paying $20 a day for parking is easy math from almost anywhere outside (and a lot of places inside) the greenbelt.
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Originally Posted by golfguy9
I disagree. My hypothesis is that most commuters in this city have gotten used to the luxury of commuting by car post covid and would never return to taking transit even if service was better. I could be wrong but I think it's too far gone to recover.
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I mean it's not really too far gone we are talking about like less than 10% of commuters who abandoned transit. But 100% you are right barring a fast efficient one seat journey near both origin and workplace. (impossible with our development pattern)
Quote:
Originally Posted by J.OT13
People are constantly complaining about congestion and the cost/lack of parking Downtown (and DND Nortel Campus). Good transit is the solution to all these problems.
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For DND it's really not. It's building a parking garage.
We could have shuttles from the LRT every 2 minutes. Or even have moved Moodie Station to be under the Campus and it's still a hour minimum from the most convenient to a bus locations in Orleans. Closer to 90 minutes for many.
Downtown should have good commuting for many but you can increase the transit budget by 20% and not make a noticeable difference for most. Those of us who actually pay a property tax bill will notice it though.
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