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Newsstand: February 3, 2015
The TTC leprechaun was reportedly arrested at Pape Station yesterday when he refused to remove his bike from a bus after being informed by the driver that it was full and he would be unable to board. Sadly, he was not wearing a derby hat of any kind. In the news: a new pregnancy clinic in Thorncliffe Park, the community benefit agreement of the Eglinton Crosstown, no snow tires for Toronto police or the TTC, and comparing the Union Pearson Express to airport shuttles around the world.
On Monday, Premier Kathleen Wynne opened a new pregnancy clinic in Thorncliffe Park that will provide care for up to 150 mothers and babies during pregnancy and through the first six weeks of life. Located on Leaside Park Drive, the office is funded through the Toronto Central Local Health Integration Network and will offer access to family doctors, midwives and obstetricians. Community organizers say is a step in the right direction for the area, which has the highest birth rate in the city but lacks access to health care services. Ahmed Hussein, the executive director of the Thorncliffe Neighbourhood Office, says that the ultimate goal is to have a full-service community health centre installed to serve the nearly 30,000 residents of the area.
It is a rare occasion that lets us ponder the upside of infrastructure project construction contracts in this wonderful city. Thanks to two formal bids submitted for the Eglinton Crosstown LRT, John Lorinc at Spacing has found occasion to look how some of Toronto’s most marginalized communities stand to benefit from the project. It all comes down to a community benefit agreement that Metrolinx appended to the proposal request last year, which stipulates that the successful bidder is expected to hire local workers, many from communities with high unemployment levels. Through training and apprenticeship programs, a pool of qualified candidates will be made available for the project. Steve Shallhorn, chair of the Toronto Community Benefits Network, says that four recruitment meetings have already taken place, with one session in Etobicoke garnering 90 registrants for apprenticeship programs that could eventually qualify them to work on the Eglinton Crosstown project.
After Monday’s walloping of snow, many have been extolling the benefits of winter tires. They are benefits that both Toronto police and the Toronto Transit Commission feel do not apply to them, since representatives for both say they do not use them. In the case of the TTC, spokesperson Brad Ross says that vehicles travel at lower speeds, which makes them unnecessary. When you add the challenge and cost of storing the tires, Ross adds, they become more trouble than they merit. While most police cruisers in the GTA are equipped with all-season tires, Constable Dave Hopkinson says some vehicles that operate north of Toronto do make the switch to winter tires. Taxis, however, are required by law to operate with winter tires between December and March.
The Union Pearson Express does not launch until the spring, and already the $27.50 adult fare strikes some Toronto residents as being overpriced. Metrolinx claims that the service was modelled after airport shuttle models from around the world, so how does it compare? The Union Pearson Express will run every 15 minutes between Union Station and Pearson Airport, with a trip that takes 25 minutes over 23 kilometres. Comparatively, the Arlanda Express in Stockholm, Sweden also runs every 15 minutes from the airport to the city’s central station for $38. The trip covers 40 kilometres in 20 minutes. London, England’s Heathrow Express also runs a similar schedule and costs a minimum fare of $38, like the Arlanda. The Heathrow Express also offers premium fares for access to a first-class cabin, similar to the tiered fares offered by the Narita Express in Japan.