Fewer Than 1 Per Cent

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Here’s another good-sounding argument that is hollow.

This morning’s Toronto Star ( http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/504815 ) contains a story about Toronto’s transit (poor) system.

A leading quote runs “With fewer than 1 per cent of all travelers getting to and from Pearson by public transit, MacIsaac says access needs to be a priority.”.

Sure sounds like something needs to be done. Fewer than one per cent.

Fewer than one in a hundred.

One in a hundred OF WHAT?

Anyone who is stuck in a car, or anyone who is stuck in a bus behind a car would agree that we need to do something about congestion in (your city here).

This report says “The GTA is a provincial planning area with a population of 5,555,912 at the 2006 Canadian Census”

This GTAA page says “On an average day, about 85,000 passengers travel through Toronto Pearson”.

We are to understand that one per cent of these, or 8,500, use public transit to and from the airport, so we need vital airport public transit expansion.

But 5.5 MILLION people are in the region, and I bet half of them work or play here. I’d be prepared to bet in this car-oriented society, that very few of them jet in or out of the airport on a regular basis.

Which would want me believe that the needs of about 80,000 travelers is more important than the needs of about 3,000,000.

I can’t believe that.

I fails to see how catering to ALL of the airport travelers would make any sort of a dent in our congestion problems.

Good public transit to and from the airport is nice, but it doesn’t do much for the real problem, which is that of weaning 5.5 MILLION people off their cars.

Basing public opinion on scare statistics is evil.

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