The Lowdown on the Slow Down on Lansdowne #TTC

Lansdowne bus

Allow me to complain about something that impacts me directly and not so much the majority of my readership. Public transit, most notably, the Lansdowne bus (RT 47) once it hits Dundas West. In a word – embarrassing.

Oh it is not actually the Toronto Transit Commission’s fault (TTC) that transit on this route has reduced to a crawl most days, but they certainly did not help the fact (will get to that later).
First, the pain in the ass problem my wife and I face daily.

We both work downtown and are on the subway line. It makes it super easy to get to and from work and in an efficient manner. The average trip for me usually takes 25-30 minutes door-to-door. That’s amazing right?
Since we moved to our new house, our boys have moved to Parkdale PS school. Thankfully, there is a bus route right next to it, so whoever drops off or picks up, it’s very convenient. Or so it should be.
The problem is that southbound on Lansdowne once you drop below Dundas West has been under city construction for 5 years. Okay, exaggeration on that. Since the start of the summer. Every time we think it’s over, it’s extended. Right now it has been pushed to the end of October.

So what’s that mean?

Well, every day at 5pm, my wife and I generally sign off with “good luck on the TTC”. It’s a battle to get door-to-door in less than an hour.

Why? Because of the construction that clogs up the road and slows down all the Line 47 buses.

To add to the mess, there is now construction at Queen and Dufferin. So before the bus would detour down Dufferin. Now it has been pushed over another street to Gladstone. So during rush hour, you have two bus routes and a streetcar route all meeting up and causing a real snarl.

It’s pretty normal to get to Lansdowne and Bloor and see 50+ people waiting for a bus. The fancy sign will then say, bus coming in 20 minutes.
Now going to work in the morning, this is not as urgent for me. If I roll in past 9am, not a big deal.

BUT – when you need to get to your kid’s school by 6pm because that is when their daycare closes and the staff starts to hate you and they start charging you extra, it’s stressful.
Stressful to the point that now my wife and I need to leave work early every day just to get to the school on time. Yes, that 3o minute trip now can be over an hour.

The real kicker is, I can walk from Lansdowne and Bloor to the school faster than a bus can get me there. Glad I am paying that $140 bucks for a Metropass. At least it is exercise.

It snowballs from there. I am stressed, hot, sweaty, annoyed and then I take all that out on people who don’t deserve it. Thanks city of Toronto for hindering the TTC even more than it already is. I had no idea that was possible.

What also is frustrating is for a good seven week stretch, I never even saw anyone working on the road. It’s a beehive of activity now of course. Crunch time.

I feel horrible for the residents of that street. Living in a dump for several months. There is actually a portable with the picture of a giant penis sprayed on it. So family friendly.
I have no idea who the company is but they sure are slow. Maybe it’s the same band of jokers who the city hired to work on College Street? Yep that’s a disaster.

I hope it’s over soon. I want to enjoy my trip home from work again. I want to get to wear I need to in the time it’s supposed to happen.

I want to never have to take the Dufferin bus (RT 29) home every again. That’s a whole other mess that I can’t even talk about.

So John Tory, Gord Perks, or anyone who has some pull on this, can we get this moving and help out the residents of lower Lansdowne? Let’s stop being an embarrassment when it comes to moving people around by bus. I know it’s not the glamour route but we all need to get to work, to school and many other places as well.

If anything, let’s get rid of the penis drawing at least and call that a win?