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Barbara Chernin, Toronto

I read an article in the Star on Sunday about the difficulties of commuting by public transit. One commuter in the story, Emily, has to make the apparently difficult decision between going to Kennedy Station or Kipling Station via subway, but all she really needs to do is remember that she wants to travel east: very simple. Next, she hates the bus ride on Don Mills Road. I do admit that the low-floor buses ride like wagons compared to the now-extinct high-floor TTC vehicles. But looking at a map, it seems as if Emily could easily take the subway north to York Mills Station, then take a short bus ride to Don Mills. That’d be much more comfortable. As for slow zones, they’re just a fact of life on any heavy-rail line, because maintenance is an ongoing thing. I often take transit from the West Hill neighbourhood to downtown, and my only complaint is that the TTC’s low-floor buses offer poor ride quality because of their design flaws.

Doug Fisher, Toronto

I started riding the TTC back in 1972, and I perceive Emily’s story to be little more than a list of personal complaints. The car sickness, the aversion to screeching wheels and bumpy roads, the expense of commuting, the lack of Wi-Fi in subway tunnels — those are her problems, not the TTC’s. It’s true that much has changed about public transit in º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøsince I retired, but I see the changes as being mostly for the better: more buses, more frequent service, more routes and more express service are all signs that the TTC is trying to make life easier for everyone. The problem is with people who don’t know how to get around the city despite very good transit service. It seems to me that the wisest thing Emily says in the article is that she’s “moved closer to work.” Sensible.

Liz Fisher, Toronto

I rarely use the TTC, but I found myself scratching my head over the route that Takagi took in his article (although, to be fair, some online planners plotted similarly inefficient routes). It would’ve been more straightforward and preseumably much faster if he’d taken the Bathurst Street bus south to Line 2, transferred at Bloor-Yonge Station to Line 1 northbound and then transferred again at York Mills Station going east. Alternatively, he might’ve taken the Bathurst bus north to St. Clair Avenue, then taken the 512 streetcar east to Yonge before hopping on Line 1 and heading north to York Mills. Why choose a route that minimizes use of the subway and maximizes time spent on the bus?

Terry Kushnier, Toronto