TTC Bus In 1923

If you commute in our city (or any major city in the world) how can you resist picking up a Metro and browsing through the day’s top headlines? This morning I picked one up and found out 10 things about the TTC. I was amazed to learn that each subway car filled during rushhour is the equivalent to replacing 910 cars in rushhour traffic. That is amazing! A service that many of us take for granted. Here is the top 10 list:

1- One six-car subway train replaces the equivalent of 910 vehicles in morning rush hour, while one bus replaces the equivalent of about 45 vehicles.

2 -The TTC’s fleet consists of 700 subway cars, 248 streetcars and 1730 buses.

3- In 1921, the first motorized buses began operating, and in 1954, the first subway line — from Union to Eglinton Station —opened.

4- By the end of 2009 (that’s just three months away), hybrid buses will make up 40 per cent of the TTC fleet, and by 2012, all buses will be equipped with bike racks.

5- If you don’t have the exact fare when boarding a bus or streetcar and have to pay the fare with a large bill, ask the driver for a refund voucher, which you can bring to the TTC head office for a refund.

6- The door chime on the subway is the first three notes from the Sesame Street theme song.

7- At the Bay subway station, there is actually another unused subway platform on a lower level, often used by film crews. It’s been used in films including Extreme Measures starring Gene Hackman and Hugh Grant, Don’t Say a Word starring Michael Douglas and many others.

8- Wheel-Trans, the TTC’s fully accessible door-to-door specialized system, makes about 5,000 trips each weekday.

9- With 1.5 million passengers each day, the TTC has one of the highest per capita ridership rates in North America.

10- The last year that fare revenues met TTC operating expenses was 1970.
source: Toronto Transit Commission

Fixed rates are like one bullet.

Have you been burnt with a variable rate mortgage in Toronto in the past? Don’t think of variable rate mortgages as a long term strategy. There is a feature built into variable rate mortgages which allows you to lock into a fixed rate mortgage with no penalty and no extra cost.

Think about fixed rate mortgages like having one bullet in a gun. The moment you fire that bullet you forfeit the ability to lock in at any other rate. If you lock in off the get go, yes you are protected from rising rates but you also lose the ability to lock in at a lower rate… so lets look at the trend. At the beginning of July the fixed 5 year rate was 4.49%, at end of July the fixed 5 year interest rate was 4.39%, by the time August rolled around the rate was 4.29%, today most banks are posting a rate of 4.19%, today I can get you an approval  at 4.09%, and some banks are comfortable enough to sell you 3.99%… what does that tell you? Rates are coming down… so much so that the bank is comfortable enough to sell you 3.99% because they know that by the time you close your mortgage 3.99% is going to be the new norm.

If you had closed at any point during the last 2 months you would have forfeited the ability to lock in at a lower rate today or tomorrow.

Talk to me about our fantastic 3 year variable special 2.40%! Christopher Molder 416.461.0204ext2