Inquiry Findings; Blog #2

Environment Mar 23, 2017 by Jamel Abdally

Through obtaining information from the Municipal government of Toronto’s website addressing the linkage between transportation and climate change, I was alerted by how significantly the cities methods of transportation affected climate change. On a larger scale, 28% of the nation's greenhouse gas emissions are derived from the transportation sector; Toronto being a major contributor to this environmental threat. It seems that the amount of Torontonians driving personal vehicles is at a never ending peak, ultimately compounding the amount of GHG’s released into the atmosphere. This is largely due to the lack of dependable, consistent means of public transportation through government supported TTC (Toronto Transit Commission). The unattractive transportation system offered is what leaves Torontonians no choice but to turn to fossil fuel consuming personal vehicles. Though, the TTC is making efforts to upgrade its quality of service and increase it, much larger strides have to be made in order to divert Torontonians from their personal vehicles. In doing so, the city will reduce the amount of GHG’s released into the atmosphere significantly, a major step in battling climate change. Though it may be expensive for the TTC to deliver all these upgrades to attract citizens of Toronto, it may be cheaper in the long run. If climate change isn’t dealt with now, the catastrophic environmental disasters associated with it (which we have seen in the past years) come at a great cost; the damage repairs being rather expensive. In conclusion, by investing into a better public transportation system, the city of Toronto will be making efforts into a better economic, environmentally stable future!