We were very proud to present Brenda Thompson, chair of Scarborough Transit Action (STA), and Councillor for Ward 22 St Paul's, Josh Matlow, with transit champion awards. Brenda Thompson and the folks at STA has been relentless in exposing the flaws with the one stop Scarborough subway and pushing hard for the better alternative, a 24 stop LRT network. Josh Matlow has consistently pushed for transit planning to be based on solid evidence-based decision making. Thank you both for your inspiring work.
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Brenda Thompson at our Annual General Meeting[/caption]
Thank you also to researcher, Michael Collens, who gave the keynote address on how Metrolinx’s plans to introduce fare by distance will affect transit riders. Michael Collens is the co-author of the Metrolinx-funded report called "Next Stop Equity: Routes to Fairer Transit Access in the GTHA".
New TTCriders board member, Suhail Barot, did a great job sharing some highlights from our work over the past year, including:
- getting more funding for the TTC from the city (the subsidy per ride rate jumped to $1 a ride, up from about .90 cents)
- getting more than $173 million a year in funding for the TTC from the province
- convincing City Council to approve a low income pass
- organizing our first Transit Summit and
- keeping the dream of a 24-stop LRT for Scarborough alive
Our
2016 Annual Report provides our year's highlights in one beautifully designed report. Thank you to Aaron Millard for your great design work.
Guided by our MC, Adam Smith, each committee also shared their respective plans for the coming two years:
- Marco Covi talked about the board's plans to make TTCriders financially sustainable
- Susan Bender, talked about the Fair Fare Coalition's plans to implement the low income pass
- Helen Lee, talked about the Media Committee's plans to build our social media work and stay in the spotlight
- I, Jessica Bell, talked about the campaign's committee's plans to keep getting more funding for the TTC, help local groups and our members to be leaders, get involved in the 2018 elections, and more
- Bill Worrell shared the outreach and leadership committee's strategic outreach plans and
- Vincent Puhakka from Scarborough Transit Action explained how STA was going to make sure the LRT replaces the one-stop Scarborough Subway.
We encourage you to reach out to the committee chairs and get involved in our work for transit justice. If you want to get involved email us at
[email protected] and we'll connect you with the right person.
Joy Robertson, Helen Lee, and Suhail Barot's applications to the board were accepted, and we look forward to seeing the three of you at our next board meeting.
Thank you also to our organizational sponsors, members, volunteers, and donors for our making our night and year so successful. Our movement for transit justice depends on you. We look forward to working with you for another year.