Commute / en StudentMoveTO: thousands complete transit survey created by students /news/studentmoveto-thousands-complete-transit-survey-created-students <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">StudentMoveTO: thousands complete transit survey created by students </span> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>sgupta</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2015-12-08T03:07:06-05:00" title="Tuesday, December 8, 2015 - 03:07" class="datetime">Tue, 12/08/2015 - 03:07</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">Four universities collaborated in the survey about commuting to school (photo by Sean_Marshall via Flickr)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/alan-christie" hreflang="en">Alan Christie</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-legacy field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Author legacy</div> <div class="field__item">Alan Christie</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/city-culture" hreflang="en">City &amp; Culture</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/current-students" hreflang="en">Current Students</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/ttc" hreflang="en">TTC</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/transit" hreflang="en">Transit</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/students" hreflang="en">Students</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/commute" hreflang="en">Commute</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/collaboration" hreflang="en">Collaboration</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/cities" hreflang="en">Cities</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/utsc" hreflang="en">UTSC</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/top-stories" hreflang="en">Top Stories</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-subheadline field--type-string-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Subheadline</div> <div class="field__item">Matti Siemiatycki: “We will have enough data to continue to engage with students, to push the conversation” about their transit needs</div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>More than 7,000 University of Toronto students have filled out an unprecedented survey about their concerns while travelling to and from school.&nbsp;</p> <p>The survey was launched on Sept. 30 at Toronto City Hall, with the four universities in Toronto collaborating on the initiative. More than 13,000 post-secondary students responded, including more than 7,000 from ˾ֱ.</p> <p><strong>Matti Siemiatycki</strong>, an associate professor of geography and expert on transit and infrastructure, helped design the survey and will be part of a ˾ֱ group analyzing the results in January. The survey closes on Dec. 8.</p> <h2><a href="http://news.utoronto.ca/tags/studentmoveto">Read more about the survey</a></h2> <p>Siemiatycki said in an interview with <em>˾ֱ News</em> the response so far is “good intermediate news. This suggests how interested students are in this issue. We are highly encouraged that they would take the time to do this.”</p> <p>When the results are analyzed, “we will have enough data to continue to engage with students, to push the conversation” about their transit needs. “We will get a really good picture of what their travel habits are across the (GTA) region.”</p> <p><strong>Zainab Abbasi </strong>filled out the survey. The fourth-year student majoring in urban studies and architectural design commutes to the downtown Toronto campus from Mississauga.</p> <p>“I was really surprised that so many students filled it out. I thought it would be just students in urban studies who would be interested,” Abbasi said in an interview.</p> <p>One section of the survey asked the students to essentially keep a diary of their day-to-day travels for one week. “It was very comprehensive and detailed,” Abbasi said.</p> <p>She takes the GO-Train from the Streetsville Station to get to ˾ֱ. “It is not the cheapest way but it is the most dependable. I know some students from Mississauga who can’t afford it and take a bus to the Islington subway station, but it really takes much longer” to get to school.</p> <p><strong>Bushra Nassab</strong>, president of the Association of Political Science Students at ˾ֱ, also completed the survey. She too commutes to the downtown Toronto campus from Mississauga.&nbsp;</p> <p>“My biggest issue regarding travel times is traveling during rush hour. In order to avoid making my one hour commute a one and a half hour one, usually I find myself avoiding travelling during such times. However, my biggest issue with the transportation system in the GTA is not so much the travel time, but how expensive it is.”&nbsp;</p> <p>Nassab said she studied in Germany and “while I was there, I was given a significant discount on transportation services by virtue of me being a student. I feel that the GTA transportation systems keep raising their fares and are not accommodating towards students. I feel like we can learn a lot from Germany.”&nbsp;</p> <p>In Germany she purchased&nbsp;a “monthly regional pass (the region being almost the size of the GTA) with unlimited travel on all buses and trains in the region for only 56 Euros, which is approximately $81 Canadian.</p> <p>“In Canada, I use a Presto Card and I spend approximately $54 per week just commuting from home to ˾ֱ and vice versa. I feel that the provincial government should really do much more to help students in this respect and save them some money,” she said. &nbsp;</p> <p>The survey was created by StudentMoveTO, a partnership between ˾ֱ, York University, Ryerson University and OCAD U. The launch at City Hall was attended by President <strong>Meric Gertler</strong> and representatives of the other universities and transit officials in the GTA.</p> <p>(Image below: President Gertler at the launch/photo by Johnny Guatto)</p> <p><img alt="photo of President Meric Gertler at transit survey launch" src="/sites/default/files/2015-12-08-TransitSurveyLaunch.jpg" style="width: 630px; height: 420px; margin: 10px 25px;">&nbsp;</p> <p>(<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/7119320@N05/21370482678/in/dateposted/">See the original of the photo used above at Flickr</a>)</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-picpath field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">picpath</div> <div class="field__item">sites/default/files/2015-12-08-transit-survey.jpg</div> </div> Tue, 08 Dec 2015 08:07:06 +0000 sgupta 7516 at Just how bad is your commute? /news/just-how-bad-your-commute <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Just how bad is your commute? </span> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>sgupta</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2015-11-06T05:20:16-05:00" title="Friday, November 6, 2015 - 05:20" class="datetime">Fri, 11/06/2015 - 05:20</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">(All photos by Alan Christie)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/alan-christie" hreflang="en">Alan Christie</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-legacy field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Author legacy</div> <div class="field__item">Alan Christie</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/city-culture" hreflang="en">City &amp; Culture</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/transit" hreflang="en">Transit</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/toronto-transit-0" hreflang="en">Toronto transit</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/student" hreflang="en">Student</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/commute" hreflang="en">Commute</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/community" hreflang="en">Community</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/cities" hreflang="en">Cities</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/alumni" hreflang="en">˾ֱ</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/utsc" hreflang="en">UTSC</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/top-stories" hreflang="en">Top Stories</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-subheadline field--type-string-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Subheadline</div> <div class="field__item">For Aqsa Malik it's a two-hour journey between home and campus</div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>It’s Monday, 7:45 a.m. and <strong>Aqsa Malik</strong> is starting her long trek from her Markham home to ˾ֱ. She’ll be in class for three hours, but spend at least an hour more than that commuting to and from the downtown Toronto campus.</p> <p>Malik's travel adventure is not atypical. Thousands of post-secondary students in the GTA face a similar journey. ˾ֱ and three other universities in Toronto want to know more about it, and <a href="http://news.utoronto.ca/four-toronto-universities-join-forces-major-student-transit-survey">in&nbsp;September launched a transit survey</a> for students. Malik is taking part and says she's looking forward to receiving the survey in the mail.</p> <h2><a href="http://uoft.studentmoveto.ca/en/questionnaire/section/modes">Are you a student? Take the survey</a></h2> <p>Up at 6:45 a.m., she receives a car ride from older sister Aqdas, who drops her off at the corner of Steeles Ave. and Markham Rd., her usual bus stop at 7:45 a.m. A <em>˾ֱ News </em>writer accompanied her on the rest of the way downtown.</p> <p><strong>7:57 a.m</strong>.&nbsp;The Steeles Ave. bus arrives, half full. Malik&nbsp;is carrying her cell phone, a container of tea and her knapsack. &nbsp;In it she has two school books – <em>The Economy of Cities</em> by Jane Jacobs and <em>Rule by Aesthetics</em> by Asher Ghertner. &nbsp;She also has her lunch, sliced cucumbers and apples and a tuna sandwich, and her dinner, Chinese rice.</p> <p>Malik, 21, is in her first year of the master’s program in science and urban geography. She’s been interested in public transit since high school, then during her years as an undergrad at ˾ֱ Scarborough.</p> <p>“Going to UTSC was great,” she says. “It really prepared me for St. George. Scarborough was like a small community but its programs were really diverse.”</p> <p>She is one of five girls in the family, all born in Canada. Her parents are from Pakistan.</p> <p><strong>8:32 a.m.</strong>&nbsp;Steeles and Old English Lane. Standing room only on the bus. Many young people are listening to music on their smart phones but Malik&nbsp;begins working on a class project.</p> <p>“The bus is sometimes my desk, sometimes my breakfast table, and sometimes my bed,” she says, noting that she occasionally falls asleep both on the bus going to school and going home.</p> <p>She is working on a project for her methods class, taught by <a href="http://news.utoronto.ca/matti-siemiatycki-testifies-us-house-representatives"><strong>Matti Siemiatycki</strong>,</a> associate&nbsp;professor,&nbsp;teaching stream, in the department of geography and planning, and one of the organizers of the transit survey. It is being sent out to thousands of students and the results will be known in the new year.</p> <h2><a href="http://news.utoronto.ca/four-toronto-universities-join-forces-major-student-transit-survey">Read more about the survey</a></h2> <h2><a href="http://news.utoronto.ca/election-2015-will-new-government-pay-enough-attention-city-issues">Read more about cities and transit</a></h2> <p>Malik says getting a car ride to the bus stop is the only way she can travel. Cycling is out, with the narrow roads in Markham and the lack of street lights. “It’s just not safe,” she says.</p> <p><strong>8:44 a.m.</strong>&nbsp;Yonge and Steeles. The bus turns left and comes to a dead stop. It’s a slow crawl to the Finch subway station. Malik says when she finishes her master's she hopes to get a job with the City Toronto, focusing on community development.</p> <p><strong>9:02 a.m.&nbsp;</strong> The subway train leaves the Finch station. It is the first stop heading south toward the Yonge/Bloor station but virtually all the seats are filled. Malik&nbsp;continues working on her project.</p> <p>On this day Malik has one class from 1 p.m. until 4 p.m. She likes to arrive early to read or study, or work on a group project. At the end of the day, if&nbsp;she is&nbsp;tired, she&nbsp;might go straight home. Or she might&nbsp;wait and do some work or socialize. "That time between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. is really busy on the TTC,” Malik explains. She also has to synchronize the car ride home with someone in her family – the “last-mile issue,” she calls it.</p> <p><strong>9:26 a.m.</strong> &nbsp;Arrival at Bloor and Yonge for the transfer to the Bloor-Danforth line, and then a short walk from St. George subway station to Sidney Smith Hall.</p> <p><strong>9:43 a.m.&nbsp;</strong> Arrival at Sidney Smith hall. Despite the commute, Malik says it is a "real privilege” being in her program at ˾ֱ, and the trip is worth it. And, she says, there is a Tim Horton’s at the Finch Station on her way home, where she can get a nice cup of tea.</p> <p><img alt="photo of Aqsa Malik downtown" src="/sites/default/files/2015-11-06-aqsa-downtown.jpg" style="height: 417px; width: 625px; margin: 10px 25px"></p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-picpath field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">picpath</div> <div class="field__item">sites/default/files/2015-11-06-aqsa.jpg</div> </div> Fri, 06 Nov 2015 10:20:16 +0000 sgupta 7417 at