BikingToronto: TheStar: Toronto BikeShare program kaput<script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.blogger.com/static/v1/common/js/1499043574-csitaillib.js"></script> <script>if (typeof(window.attachCsiOnload) != 'undefined' && window.attachCsiOnload != null) { window.attachCsiOnload('ext

TheStar: Toronto BikeShare program kaput

posted by Joe on Tuesday, April 10, 2007

"From the city's perspective, it looks like it's come to its end," said Glenn De Baeremaeker (Ward 38, Scarborough Centre). "We tried to shake the bushes and look under rocks and try every ... combination we could to assist that very worthwhile, small, non-profit group. "But the city just has nowhere it could fund it from," he said.
The Toronto Star

Here's a simple idea from a guy (me) that apparently an entire city bureaucracy with recently granted funding powers can't come up with to support a "very worthwhile, small, non-profit group":

The Toronto Parking Authority takes in over $90 million dollars in revenue every year from parking spaces in this city - with a profit of about $40 million (source: 2005 TPA Annual Report - PDF Format)

To produce $80,000 - you could add a 0.2% increase to parking fees. That's 1/5th of a penny for a $1/hour parking spot. 3/5ths of a penny for the city's most expensive spots which are $3/hour.

Oh, and this idea adds to the cost of operating a private motor vehicle in Toronto - don't we want to be The Greenest City in North America? I don't think we do - because there's a ton of simple solutions to provide cheap and plentiful bikes to all Torontonians, but no politician seems to want to think about it for a couple minutes.

Labels: infrastructure, news, politics