Tory wants earlier Sunday subway service, new ideas to ease congestion

Toronto Mayor John Tory outlined a series of measures the City of Toronto is undertaking to ease congestion, and some loftier goals that may take longer to put in place, at a news conference Friday morning.

The mayor said he’s been telling TTC officials that he wants Sunday subway service to start as early as 7 a.m., because Sunday isn’t the sleepy rest day for all that it used to be.

“Sundays are a busy day now,” Tory said. “It’s a day of shopping and commerce, whatever people’s opinions are about that. People have to go to work, other people go to church or their kids sports events. In a modern city like this, the subway should be open earlier than 9 a.m.” TTC officials said that 7 a.m. subway service on Sunday will take until around 2020 to implement, and only then for the Yonge-University-Spadina line.

The TTC says it uses the time on Sunday mornings to conduct vital maintenance on its signals and track infrastructure.

Tory said there must be some sort of way to gradually start service earlier on Sundays, as the TTC is starting subway service at 6 a.m. on Sundays during the Pan Am/Parapan Am Games.

A survey conducted for the City of Toronto found that a combine 42 per cent of respondents feel poor transit infrastructure and congestion are the city’s biggest problems.

It also found 52 per cent of respondents feel it’s getting harder to travel from place to place in the city.

Tory told reporters residents will soon be able to access more information about the scope and duration of road construction projects along with more camera feeds of major roadways.

He added that the city is speaking with organizers of summer festivals and races to see if one of them could be altered or rescheduled to ease traffic impacts.

“I’m optimistic somebody will move to the fall or a different route,” Tory said.

He also expressed a desire to hire a tow truck to be on call during rush hour, ready to tow away disabled vehicles that can snarl up long sections of road when traffic is heavy.

Tory also confirmed another tag-and-tow blitz of delivery vehicles, shredder trucks and illegally parked cars will begin sometime this fall.