Urban development in North America is easily synonymous with suburbs, highways and cars but cities like New York and Toronto seem to lie a little differently. Their saving grace - as NY to TO import Jane Jacobs (rest in peace) pointed out - is multiplicity. Variance within structures, streets and neighborhoods in a city creates a sense of community and keeps the downtown core from stagnating…and turning into, say, downtown Miami after dark. No offense if you’re repping Miami, love the vibe overall but that core is scary at night, for real!
The debate between strip mall and neighborhood market, in growing cities like Toronto, often turns into an outright cars vs. public transit fist fight. The main point of contention that puts public transit at a loss is money. So it’s about time someone paid heed to successful transit systems in cities where skrilla is not only scarce but is only a portion of the problem. Toronto’s one-stop read for all things concerning public space, Spacing mag, has a new transit issue out and they are beefing it up with special transit-related articles on their site. The first of such articles is a report by Robin Rix on the things Toronto can learn from amchi Mumbai. This piece is 100 % curry free! Oh, wait, there is a cow but it’s…charming:
Can you imagine buying a cup of chai for 11 cents while on your morning commute from Finch to King? Clutching a handrail while sticking your head out of the Lakeshore GO train? Waiting on the Dundas streetcar for a cow to pass? While such occurrences are unimaginable in Toronto, they’re a part of everyday life in Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay), India. Here in Toronto, we tend to look to such cities as London, New York, or Tokyo when coming up with ideas for improving our own system. But is that necessarily the best approach? If we’re looking for innovation and resourcefulness, wouldn’t we be more likely to find them in cities where they must make do with much less? [Link]
Hear hear! The Greater Toronto Area has about nine different transit systems, all of which are poorly connected to each other, as the transit folks seem to have missed the amalgamation memo. So that bus pass will only get you so far until you have to shell out for a whole different one. On the other hand, Mumbai’s unified network that spans city and suburbs alike is your average Torontonian commuter’s wet dream.
Mumbai enjoys a combined commuter-urban rail system that connects its vibrant downtown to the shantytowns that ring the core, and then to its generally prosperous suburbs. There aren’t separate systems for such different regions as South Bombay, the Western suburbs (Bandra, Juhu, Andheri), the Chembur district, and Greater Mumbai. It’s all one system, meaning that the same rail lines go from the urban hub to multiple points in the suburbs, with stations all along the way. Practically, this improves people’s access to all parts of the region. Conceptually, it promotes a greater sense of collective identity.From station design to easy usability of different modes of transport, the Mumbai model is a useful concept for newly and heavily populated cities in North America. While projects like the Mumbai Urban Transport Project, aided in part by the World Bank, are necessary to increase rider safety there, projects like “Nosy Auntie” are needed here to keep tweenies from feeding on each others tonsils in the back seats. Who says Toronto transit isnt charming? Still,we have much to learn from each other.
If two of the goals of a transit system are to move people quickly and cheaply from one point to another, Mumbai somehow succeeds in the face of overwhelming odds against it. If a third goal of a transit system is to move people safely, Mumbai is borrowing ideas from us - and strengthening its system as a result.Now with the new Mumbai metro getting a green light, I can only slobber in awe. Trains, buses AND subways? Not fair (for me) as I spend three hours every day communting on two different fare systems and two different types of transport within the same dang Greater Toronto Area. My commuting heart, will make me weep. Ill cry and cry and try to sleep. Im this close to barricading myself with Rajni and crew and the Space Jam soundtrack in the bunker biodome forevermore :-)
