The commute to Humber is a daily trip for me, meaning I experience unexpected schedule complications on a nearly daily basis.
My experience as a student travelling east to west is that buses are often delayed or simply do not show up.
The bus tracking app will go from ‘scheduled’ to ‘departed’ without any vehicle ever driving by, let alone stopping to pick up passengers.
This becomes more of a serious problem as we approach the winter months. Standing out and waiting for the next bus scheduled 20 minutes late is one thing, doing so at the mercy of low temperatures is another.
The TTC has stated its delays are mainly caused by weather conditions and traffic congestion.
This makes the long-awaited Finch West Light Rail Transit (LRT) all the more of a necessity for anyone commuting westbound without the luxury of a personal vehicle, which the majority of students do not have.
I'm certainly not the only student who commutes and would benefit from a more reliable form of transit.
Andrew Joshua Jackson, a first-year pre-health student, said he often sees delays and no-show buses on his trip to Humber North.
“I'll check earlier when I'm getting ready, and it'll say 20 minutes. I'll plan ahead to get there, and then it ends up taking 40 or 50,” Jackson said.
“If I want to get to my classes at 8:30, I'm leaving the house at 6 a.m.,” he said.
Jackson said he doesn't expect the relief of the LRT to come soon, given that the completion date has been pushed back multiple times already.
The Finch West LRT was initially projected for an opening date before the end of 2023. The 10.3-kilometre line with 18 stops links Humber College in the west and the Finch West subway station in the east. But that date was then pushed into 2024, with plans to open before the fall semester was underway.
September came and went without any faster transit, and Metrolinx again pushed the date, with officials feeling confident it would open by the end of the year.
The Metrolinx media team said in an email to questions from Et Cetera that major construction is now complete at all stations. However, they are now in the process of final paving, roadwork, landscaping and site restoration.
Metrolinx said they are still also conducting operator-driver training programs, which started in July.
Despite statements of confidence in the LRT's ability to be up and running by 2025, Metrolinx's email said the timeline of final testing and training will affect when they can determine an opening date.
Projected dates have been given in the past, and the mark has been missed more than once, so maybe it's best to take it with a grain of salt.
The lack of hustle to get the new transit system up and running doesn't mean it isn't important, however. It remains a necessity for those of us moving east to west.
