Unused TTC ‘ghost shelter’ will stay put
Despite complaints, city officials say fixture provides an amenity for transit riders
Toronto’s most despised transit shelter will not be moved, even though it could be put to much better use at just about any other TTC bus stop.
And people who live near it are dumbfounded by the city’s response to their complaints that since only a few buses a day stop there to pick up students after school, it is all but useless.
We’re still waiting to hear from the TTC about the list we sent it from readers who identified shelters that are often in locations where nobody waits for a bus.
The TTC has agreed to provide an opinion on the necessity of shelters in those locations, while the manager of city street furniture said he is open to the idea of relocating some to places where they’ll be put to better use.
But a decision has already been made on the one shelter we heard more about than any other, installed last summer in front of Neil McNeil Catholic High School, on Victoria Park Ave.
Karen MacNeil has been trading emails about it with Ryan Lanyon, who’s in charge of street furniture, pointing out that only a few chartered TTC buses stop there after school to pick up kids on their way home.
Residents told us that dozens of students assemble around the shelter after school to wait for the buses, but don’t stand in it. Even if they wanted to use it, they noted there’s room for only a few.
Lanyon’s reply to MacNeil is a head-scratcher: “This shelter does fit our intention to provide amenities for transit riders at all stops; the TTC operates various types of services that run at limited times or special circumstances across the city.”
He also told her it “meets all installation guidelines and already has the support of the (local) city councillor, adding that residents are welcome to complain, but “I’m not sure of the efficacy of escalating . . .
“We strive to respond to the needs and requests of those who live and work in the area adjacent to street furniture elements, but we must also take into consider the needs of other users of the space, and provide a balance to the best of our ability.”
MacNeil said she’s incredulous that the city would defend a decision to put in a shelter where it’s not used, needed or wanted.
“I actually had to read his response a few times to make sure I had read it right,” she said. “It defies logic.
“The fact that this shelter is a barrier for students and not being used by anyone is being completely ignored by the city. The only action they are taking is to deploy technicians, at taxpayers’ expense, to assess and repair the motion sensor light.”
Given its verdict on complaints about this particular shelter, we expect the city’s response to complaints about other unused shelters will be no less Byzantine, no matter what the TTC says about them. What’s broken in your neighbourhood? Wherever you are in Greater Toronto, we want to know. Send an email to jlakey@thestar.ca. Report problems and follow us on Twitter @TOStarFixer.