This week, supporters of the open data movement celebrated a major victory in Toronto, as Mayor David Miller announced that not only would the City release all its transit data to Google Transit by mid-2009, but that the City of Toronto would explore options to “open source everything” that it does.
The announcement was made at the City of Toronto Web 2.0 Summit, which started off as an extremely frustrating exercise because the morning featured a panel by city councillors that had no clue what they were talking about. I’m glad I suffered through the panel and stuck around, because Mark Surman’s luncheon keynote was exactly what the mayor (and the rest of the city) needed to hear.
Mark’s presentation is embedded below, but I do recommend you all to visit his post so you can listen to the audio of his presentation as well — not only because he gave me a shout out, but also because he’s remarkably engaging. His keynote obviously made an impact on the mayor, who made his bold promises based on the challenges that Mark outlined during the talk.
Torontoist has a great breakdown of the Summit, but for some more insight into building a better Toronto through participation on the open web, check out some of the posts by some of the luminaries of the Toronto web community.
The moment was the culmination of a lot of our hopes and dreams for a city that understands the power of open, the meaning of participation and a signal of a more effective and responsive government of and for the people of Toronto. Will Pate and I have offered our assistance to make this vision a reality and we hope others will join us.
Some kind of “next steps” to keep moving the discussion and planning forward and encourage participation — there are, as we saw at the event, a lot of talented individuals inside the government who could easily be the point persons to manage something like a wiki (which if the two days had included workshops or similar direct participation could have been frameworked) to solicit ideas and keep the citizens who wanted to engage and share informed of what was on the agenda (and recruit organically from their local circles - build momentum). It’s a challenge of course to coordinate in government, but “idea labs” are something that should be on the radar.
So I ask, what do you think about the premise, the conversation, and do you want to participate in this conversation (or maybe you are already having it)? A couple of us have floated the idea of having a conversation at MaRS the morning of Dec. 11th.
Toronto has always been a hotbed for web-savvy people that are engaged in civic issues (see Metronauts, SustainabilityCamp, OpenCities, OneBigLibrary, etc.) and it’s great to know that the City is now committed to listening to those people.
There are exciting times ahead for this city, and I’m glad that I’ve been invited to be a small part of the excitement ahead.
Last week, I had the chance to hop in a cab and have a pretty good conversation with Roger, an independent taxi owner-operator in Toronto who told me all about the legal battles and tension in the city’s taxi industry.
Before that conversation, I was completely oblivious to any kind of struggle happening between taxicab operators in Toronto. I’ve shared some of my conversation over on the Metronauts blog:
“If this situation gets sorted soon, the entire city will benefit. More business means more opportunity for independent cab drivers, means a better economy, and means better fares and a better experience for the people that actually ride in my cab. Also, we won’t be wasting all that gas going to the airport and coming back empty. That’s got to be bad for the city. It’s already smoggy enough as it is.”
You can read the whole post over at the Metronauts blog, which has also featured some other amazing posts in the past few weeks. If you’re not already reading it, head over there and subscribe.
The TTC’s plan to remove the parking perks is estimated to bring in about $3 million in net revenue — revenue that could, ideally, be put into building better feeder routes, investing in better bus service around commuter hub stations, and increasing subway service in heavy commuter areas.
Tomorrow’s vote, however, does not address those issues directly.
The benefits of a congestion charge are evident: a reduction in traffic in the core, increased revenue for local public transit development, increased use of alternative forms of transportation and energy-efficient vehicles, and clearer routes of access for emergency services, to name a few.
The drawbacks are a little harder to find, but they are there. Retailers in the core are bound to complain about a reduction in customers, fraudsters are bound to develop number plate clones, and a swarm of cars are bound to congregate at commuter hubs that can’t accommodate them.
The new design and functionality comes after a longseries of consultations with the city’s web community, and promises to make information about transit services not only more accessible to residents, but also to position the TTC as a forward-thinking and rider-friendly transportation service.
According to the TTC, there are a ton of features planned for the near future including a trip planner, service updates by SMS, and online Metropass purchase options.
The site is still currently in beta, so there are obviously a few bugs (and lack of content) to be worked out, so don’t expect any harsh criticisms just yet. Instead, I wanted to congratulate the TTC for considering a key interface element that is extremely obvious but often ignored.
Give the people what they want
When I go to the Canada Post website, I want to know one thing: how much does it cost to mail my letter? (That information is easily available in one click.) When I go to the Toronto Public Library website, I want to know one thing: when is my local branch open and when does it close? (Getting that information requires multiple clicks in a very non-intuitive interface.)
Similarly, when people go to the TTC website, they have certain questions in mind, the most notable of them being:
How do I get to my destination?
How much will it cost me?
Am I going to run into any trouble?
By putting fare information, service disruptions, and the trip planner on the front page of the new site, the TTC is giving people what they want immediately.
In a world where traffic numbers and web stats reign supreme, it’s comforting to know that the TTC cares more about serving their ridership than pleasing their marketing teams.
Kudos to Adam Giambrone and his team for making this happen. Looking forward to the official launch soon.
In the past two months, there has been a lot of talk about Mayor David Miller’s proposed ban on all firearms in Toronto. Many people agree that removing access to handguns should help reduce the amount of gun-related crime in the city, but there are others in uproar over their right to bear arms.
To be honest, I think a ban on firearms in this city would be a great idea. Funny enough, I don’t think it will be a crime-deterrent, but I do think removing potentially lethal weapons will go a long way in changing a culture of fear that handguns have cultivated in Toronto.
Instead of providing any fresh insight into the topic today, however, I wanted to take a quick look back at some essays I wrote some years ago about handguns in Toronto, and perhaps see how those thoughts are probably still relevant today.
The problem is on the demand side: why do the youth in our city feel the need to carry — and worse, use — guns? It’s a proven fact that people of all ages will begin to do irresponsible things if they are not productively engaged. So it’s only fair to say that by keeping the youth across the city, and particularly violence-prone areas, engaged in productive activity, we can keep them out of trouble.
Later that year, on October 31, 2005, I loudly declared that the terrorists had won. In this case, however, I was referring to the people bringing terror to Toronto through gun crime, the people who were cultivating a culture of fear that needed to be addressed before we could even begin to solve the gun crisis:
On Saturday, I attended the funeral of Aleem Rehmtulla and Fahim Talakshi — childhood friends of mine that were shot to death early last week — and I realized, amongst the over-2000 people that attended the ceremony, that fear was not only crippling us, but it was contributing to the sad state of our city’s crime scene. Sure, the undercover cops and security guards may have been a necessary precaution, but it also sent a message: you’ve made your point and succeeded in making us feel afraid. Perhaps instead of battling the source of the gun trade, we should instead invest in propagating a culture of love, cliché as it may seem.
I closed the 2005 year on December 22 with a look at Prime Minster Martin’s proposed handgun ban, similar to what Mayor Miller is recommending now. Through a quick and informal study, I discovered that the only thing a handgun ban would affect back then would be the price of obtaining an illegal weapon:
Price may be a deterrent in this case, but my above example only shows how control of access will not be a real hindrance, but instead just an easily-surmountable obstacle to obtaining weapons. Add that to the fact that only 16% of gun-related homicides in Canada are committed with registered firearms, and it is clear that the solution to this problem is not in access control, but in working with affected communities in eliminating the perceived need for violence in dispute resolution.
After 2005, I didn’t think much about access to firearms and gun crime in Toronto. There seemed to be a lot of talk, but very little action taken on the subject. That was, until the Toronto School Community Safety Panel came out with a report earlier this year that showed that students in our city were afraid to go to school.
The report released yesterday stated that there was an abundance of guns in our city’s public schools, that sexual assault and harassment is widespread, and that some schools are breeding grounds for gang violence.
Say what you want about guns in the city, but there can be no arguing that schools should be safe havens to foster learning, imagination, and creativity. The fact that some educational institutions are synonymous with violence and fear demonstrates a lack of commitment by our political and community leaders to the cause of eliminating violent crime in the Toronto.
So Mayor Miller, I applaud your efforts in banning handguns, but only if you are truly committed to taking the other steps necessary to ensure that violence doesn’t determine the actions of the community. Before launching your firearm ban, couple that idea with increased funding for recreation, better processes for identifying and promoting good role models, and a strong rehabilitation program for young offenders that does more than just incarcerate them.
What do you think of Toronto’s proposed handgun ban? Does it actually tackle the root causes of violent crime in the city?
Frequent topics of conversation with strangers: the weather, the time, the fact that it’s still snowing in April, the reason the bus is always late.
If you’re one of those people that loves bemoaning traffic, public transit, bike access, and a lack of great walkways, keep reading. If you’re one of those people that is not only frustrated, but has some fantastic ideas and solutions as well, I urge you to read the rest of this post.
Still reading? Good. I’d like to introduce you to Metronauts.
Uh, what is it?
To put it simply, it’s a way for people passionate about transportation in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton region to voice their opinions on the upcoming Regional Transportation Plan being drafted by Metrolinx. But how about I let the project introduce itself:
Metronauts.ca is an open community of people from across the sprawling greater Toronto region who care about the future of their cities. Metronauts are explorers of the future form of our cities and the role transportation has in our lives.
The Metronauts community exists online at Metronauts.ca, and also includes a series of physical events taking place across the region over the next few months.
Cool, so what can I do?
The first thing you need to do is get involved in the online community. The only way we can encourage good discussion and share exciting ideas is if we get a diversity of voices involved. You don’t have to be from Toronto; you don’t have to be a transit junkie to voice your opinion either. All you need is some ideas and a willingness to discuss them with others. So go register now.
Once you’ve got yourself signed up for the online community, come out to an event! The first Metronauts Transit Camp (sweet, it’s an unconference) is this coming Saturday, and even though registration is closed for now, if you put your name on the waiting list, there’s a good chance more spots will open up.
Wow, are you a rockstar?
I’m no rockstar, but I am pretty proud to be working with a great bunch of people on this project. Here are the members of the band:
I didn’t have a chance to get through all of the recommendations during the hour or so during which I was flipping through the document, but there was one thing that came across very strongly in the few pages I was able to peruse: going to school is a very scary experience for many students in Toronto.
Growing up, school wasn’t a scary place for me. Sure, as the class bookworm I was an easy target for bullies, but there wasn’t a single day when I was fearing for my life by stepping inside my school. I grew up and went to school in Rexdale — which is one of the areas of Toronto that is often cited for violence and crime — but I never felt as though my learning environment was threatening to my personal safety.
Not so much these days. The report released yesterday stated that there was an abundance of guns in our city’s public schools, that sexual assault and harassment is widespread, and that some schools are breeding grounds for gang violence.
Color me naive, but apart from a few incidents that I knew of growing up, these kinds of concerns didn’t cross my mind when I was going to public school in Toronto.
While this news might be frightening for parents, I applaud the Toronto District School Board for opening up and acknowledging that there is a problem. A statement released yesterday by the Chair of the Board and the Director of Education promises more accountability:
As we have demonstrated throughout this precedent-setting process, we will continue to be completely accountable and open with the public and with our staff as we moAmonve forward. Regular updates on our website and through the media will ensure that our staff, students, parents, and communities remain confident in the work that we are doing every day to support every single one of our students.
Minister of Education Kathleen Wynne also released a statement yesterday referencing the report, assuring parents and Ontario public that she “strongly believes that our publicly funded schools offer Ontario students the best education possible. Ontario’s schools should be as inclusive, welcoming and safe as possible.”
Among the recommendations that I was able to find in the report are measures such as school uniforms, identity cards, and new disciplinary actions. Underneath it all, however, was still the feeling that students now feared going to school.
I may have dreaded going to school some days when i was growing up, but I never actually feared for my life. Is that just me, or have schools in Toronto really changed that much? Did you get this feeling when you were growing up?
A couple of days ago, The London Paper ran a story about how the officials at the London Underground are discouraging their drivers from using the public address system in order to reduce passenger annoyance. Apparently, many passengers are upset by the large amount of information that comes through the intercom during their commute to work.
I personally think that this is all hogwash. Sure, it can get a little annoying to have such a cacophony of sound bombard your ears when you’re tired and not looking forward to going to work, but giving train operators the flexibility to customize announcements over the loudspeakers makes the ride much more personal and comfortable than hearing a silly automated recording saying “Please, Mind the Gap.”
While the operator should be limited in what kind of messages they can convey, having a personal touch to the message rather than a cold and lifeless recorded voice will make the ride much more pleasurable for all the people on the train: it assures people that their train is not only being operated by a human, but by someone who is approachable and friendly.
Without personalized announcements, you would miss gems such as:
The Bakerloo line is running normally today, so you may expect delays to all destinations.
The London Paper also included this very humorous quote:
Ladies and Gentlemen, I do apologize for the delay to your service. I know you’re all dying to get home, unless, of course, you happen to be married to my ex-wife, in which case you’ll want to cross over to the Westbound and go in the opposite direction.
While some people may find these kinds of announcements extreme, they do a lot to make people less pressured and more at ease in times of high stress like train delays during rush hour. They often bring a smile to faces that would otherwise be covered in scowls, and in general, help lighten the demeanor of the passengers. Asking operators to say the bare minimum will only do more to anger and irritate passengers who are in need of more information delivered in a light-hearted manner.
So while I’m out here in London, Astral Media Outdoor is holding an open vote on designs for a billboard that illustrates what Toronto means to its residents. I’m quite impressed that Astral Media went to OCAD students and is willing to donate a good chunk of its advertising space in the city to celebrating Toronto, but as one commenter on blogTO said: “how about no ads?”
They bring up a good point. While it is valiant of Astral Media to try and push residents to think about the sentence “My Toronto Is,” it would be nicer if there were fewer ads — whether for the city or not — that littered our public spaces. Another blogTO commenter finished the sentence as: “My Toronto is… covered with billboards.”
I voted for this design, which speaks to me a lot more than any of the other designs, but don’t let my opinion color your vote. The way I see it, if Astral Media is going to be littering our public space with ads, they might as well be ads that promote our city.
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