Highway 401 Widening - Highway 8 to Townline Road

[danbrotherston]

That seems defeatist. If we had two-way all-day GO trains running Kitchener to Toronto, every 30 mins or better, 60 min end-to-end travel time, I bet we'd make a huge dent in 401 passenger volumes. That doesn't even require the ambitious HSR proposals, running some EMUs and upgrading the track to class 5/6 standards would do. GO had a proposal to do something similar for Toronto-Hamilton they called Super GO.

The only reason we need to keep widening the 401 is that we refuse to invest in any alternatives. We're stuck in a cycle of "people don't take trains because service sucks" so "let's not improve trains because no one uses them" so "people don't take trains because service sucks" so....

Not sure if even a good quality GO system would put a huge dent in it. You have a family and friends, and anything by train is too expensive, and too time consuming. Last time it cost us $120 round trip from Kitchener to Toronto plus $24 for TTC, grand total was close to $150. Never again. 401 to Downsview Station, $15 gas ($1.15 per litre), $5 parking, and $24 TTC. Transit was the most expensive component still, but total cost less than 1/3.

It isn't just a matter that 'service sucks' - any sort of transit isn't geared to families, those with disabilities, those who don't have copious amounts of time on their hands, and those that don't live close to the mains.

Now, if you're single, without children, not taking care of an elderly parent, don't have a disability, you have time, then sure, transit is better.

I sometimes wonder for those people that don't drive, and/or those that hate cars, even have a slight understanding why people actually drive.

Though I think in the future transit will be different -- we'll have self driving vehicles that can pick up people and families at a cost that is more favourable than car ownership. But that's still a ways away.

First lets address "disability"...because this one drives me freaking crazy. Driving...IS NOT...a solution to accessibility. There are in fact MANY disabilities which make driving challenging or impossible. Those who have a disability which prevents them from driving are in fact, disadvantaged by the refusal to invest in transit and other modes.  It makes me down right angry when people try to use, yes USE, disabled people as an excuse for prioritizing driving over other modes. I know you are not exactly doing that here, but you are perpetuating the mistaken belief that disabled people are universally benefitted by cars...which is completely untrue.

Now, all the legitimate grievences you list are not reasons that driving is better, they are reasons that our economic incentives for driving vs. transit are backwards.

Now why you think I don't understand why people drive I have no idea. I live in the same world as you do, I damn well know, I suffer through all the disadvantages of not owning a car every single day. I know better than most, and I seem to know better than you, why people drive because I've also looked deeper. We've discussed these issues at length here. So I just don't get this statement, you are the one proving you don't know why people drive, you say, it's cheaper, do you know why it's cheaper, that's part of knowing why people drive.

For the record, I don't hate cars, I'm a tech guy, cars are a form of tech!  But as I sit here typing this listening to some fuckwad rev his fucking tuner in Downtown Kitchener, disturbing literally tens of thousands of residents, I hate the policies which have ensured that unfettered car use is prioritized over all facets of our city including environment, equality, accessibility, safety, and enjoyment.  These policies destroy our cities.

Self driving vehicles have the possibility of being transformative in our cities, I would hate for that transformation to be a further destruction of the cities by increasing dependence on the worst possible transportation system.