Scarborough residents seem to have given up on the TTC.

Several told the Star on Sunday that they bought a car because they couldn’t stand Toronto’s public transit, while others admitted they don’t even consider using the TTC. Some said the transit system holds Toronto back from becoming a world-class city.

“I’m telling you, I come from an ex-communist country. This transportation system is way worse than the Romanian one,” said Michaela Delibas, 47.

Delibas lives in Scarborough and works in downtown Toronto. She used to commute by taking a TTC bus and GO train, but after standing in the cold waiting 40 minutes for the next bus, ending up sick and late for work, she gave up and bought a car.

If she could make one change to the TTC system, she said, it would be to add more frequent buses departing from the Agincourt GO station.

Each week leading up to the Oct. 27 municipal election, the Star is hitting the streets, asking residents what they would change about Toronto’s transit system. This week, we spoke with 30 people enjoying warm weather in Wards 42, 43 and 44.

The most common feedback was that Scarborough needs more subway lines.

“It should be all subways. It should be subways everywhere,” said Torsten Burgers, 45. “It’s one city. If you call it GTA, you cannot call it like that if you do not have a subway going there.”

Burgers was on his way to the Toronto Zoo with his wife Sunday afternoon. The two said they were just talking about the city’s sub-par transit system.

“When you see Paris, Rome, whatever comparable city with Toronto, and you see that they have … eight, 10, 12 (lines),” said Liliana Bacila. “Here, you can’t even go to the airport by subway.”

Eileen Jang, 36, lives in the Trinity-Bellwoods neighbourhood and visits her parents in Scarborough once a week. Jang said she can bike to her parents’ convenience store in the same time it takes to get there on the TTC.

“It’d be nice to have, yeah, a subway,” she said, adding it would be best along the waterfront. “But I know that’s not possible because the roads are so old … whatever, I don’t know, costs too much money. But it’d be nice to see something that is on the south line.”

Several students at the University of Toronto’s Scarborough campus complained about the difficulty of getting downtown — especially on evenings and weekends.

“If you’re going downtown, you have to budget, like, three hours, for an hour and a half to get there and an hour and a half to get back,” said Jeff Nwagbo, a third-year international development and political science student. “It has to really be worth it; you have to have a full day planned.”

Others were more preoccupied by visual details.

“Buses are always so dirty. They always have garbage all over the ground,” said Cassy Valenti, 17, a University of Toronto student originally from Bowmanville.

She suggested adding garbage canisters throughout buses.

A woman who gave her name as Lady Marlo Fry said seniors, children and students should travel for free.

“They’re low-income. They need it more than anybody else,” she said Sunday morning before heading to church.

Fry’s friend, who recently moved to Scarborough from Oshawa, said the transit system is too complicated.

Danielle Singer said she wished there was a better mapping system for explaining bus schedules.

Concerns by Ward:

Ward 43 Scarborough East

Add bus line from Port Union Rd. to Queen St. E., running down Kingston Rd.: 1

Eliminate fares for seniors, students and children: 1

Simplify explanations of schedules/routes online: 1

More bus routes through neighbourhoods: 1

Cleaner buses: 1

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Build more Scarborough subway lines: 3

More frequent buses: 1

Better bus drivers (driving too fast): 1

Ward 44 Scarborough East

More frequent buses: 1

Cleaner buses: 1

Direct bus from U of T Scarborough campus to downtown: 2

Fewer buses going through Highland Creek neighbourhood: 2

Free wi-fi on subways/buses: 2

Better TTC communication with customers regarding transit delays: 1

Build more Scarborough subway lines: 1

Ward 42 Scarborough Rouge River

Build more Scarborough subway lines: 2

Free wi-fi on subways/buses: 2

Lower fares: 2

More frequent buses leaving from Agincourt: 1

More frequent/consistent buses (decrease bunching): 1

Digital boards at bus stops displaying next bus time: 1

Better accessibility on buses for elderly citizens: 1

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