A Man on a Toilet...and his Plan to Save the City

I recently went online during my "session" and read a wonderful piece of literature from the Toronto Sun.  This article  suggested three horrible ways Mayor Rob Ford can save Toronto and then offered readers to give their suggestions. So i did, and here they are.

1. Go paperless

Make you ride the bus...It can do that

Today more things are going paperless, and we should do the same with our services.  First on the cutting block are libraries.  As I wrote earlier, Toronto has 99 Libraries, much more than New York, LA and Chicago.  We should find ways to have Library books and resources available online for us to use so that we don't need as many.  

Another Idea is to have a TTC pass on your smartphone.  We should have an app where we may buy tokens and passes and when we get to the bus or subway, we simply scan a barcode to verify that we have paid.  This method can also be used for other forms of social services.  The city of Toronto should find other ways to take advantage of the popularity of smartphones.  

2. Make Toronto more pedestrian friendly

Get off your ass Toronto

Anyone who has been to Europe knows how great it is to walk on the street in the middle of the night.  Toronto should have an area where people can gather and not worry about the cars.  Cities such as Florence have poles that sink during the day and rise at night to prevent cars to go through.  These poles can be placed throughout the city such as Yorkville, Little Italy or even the just-proposed French district.  

I also believe that the city should strive to have more bike lanes on these high traffic areas.  I understand that toronto's weather does not make biking very comfortable for the enitre year, but by having more access to lanes that are specifically designed for bikers, more people are going to use this method of transportation rather than using their cars.

3. User Fees

Everyone's Everything's got a price

Many people in Toronto are against cutting any services and instead want to go the way of the Millerites and tax their way out of this hole.  Well, I suggest that if you want a service, than you pay for it.  Essential services must be cared for; however, things such as community centers, and pools could have a small charge to offset the costs.  You could even charge a small monthly fee for the library if you want to keep it open.  Toronto can not conitnue to drain it's citizens to pay for the services of others; instead, people should be responsible with these services and pay for what they use.