Warm weather not thawing tensions between city, King Street restaurants over pilot project
Ali Chiasson | CBC News | Posted: May 30, 2018 8:00 AM | Last Updated: May 30, 2018
Restaurants still claiming they're losing money despite city data and mayor's comments to the contrary
Here comes the sun, and the customers— or so restaurateurs hoped this week along a few touristy blocks of King Street West.
But they say they're still losing money almost seven months after the city launched the King Street Pilot Project.
"We've only got six tables for lunch today," said Michael Orr, a server at Kit Kat Italian Bar & Grill during a quiet lunch service.
Orr spoke to CBC Toronto on a sunny Tuesday from the 65-seat restaurant near the busy intersection of King Street West and John Street. "Last summer we'd get a full seating for every lunch."
He says he regrets seeing his customers get ticketed for choosing to drive to have a meal.
I'm hearing from people that business is back. - Mayor John Tory
The city launched the King Street Pilot Project in November in a bid to speed up streetcar service on the TTC's busiest surface route by limiting car and truck traffic between Jarvis Street and Bathurst Street.
The pilot project is scheduled to last until the end of this year. Until then, motorists in the pilot zone have to turn right on most major intersections or risk a hefty fine.
CBC Toronto spoke with employees and managers from several other restaurants who have spoken out against the project before and most maintain their stance that business has not improved since it plateaued in the winter.
'The places I walked by were full,' Mayor Tory says
On Tuesday however, Mayor John Tory said he saw a much different picture than the restaurants are painting during a stroll through the neighbourhood.
"I went to have dinner, I went to see how things were and the streets were teeming with people and the places I walked by were full," he said about his visit the previous Friday.
"I'm hearing from people that business is back in a very significant way," he continued.
Mayor Tory attributes that to the warm weather, and the recently installed patios and art installations along the corridor designed to attract more people to the area.
There was also a recent collaboration between take-out app Ritual and the City of Toronto offering users $15 toward a meal from any one of these King Street restaurants.
On Wednesday, the city issued a news release touting the success of the "Food is King" promotion.
It says in total the program helped gain 19,863 new customers to King Street restaurants, and that those participating merchants saw a sustained sales increase in April.
"[The pilot project] seems to be travelling in the right direction," said Mayor Tory, "But, we'll judge it when it's over," referring to the Dec. 31 end date of the project when the city can evaluate the impact.
What do the numbers show?
Orr says the nice weather has brought some more walk-in traffic but not enough to compensate for the losses.
"Just from my tips alone I can tell [business] is down about 25 per cent," he told CBC Toronto.
Kit Kat's owner Al Carbone has been one of the loudest voices against the King Street Pilot Project.
Carbone pointed the finger at Mayor John Tory and city planners for its design. In fact, he even erected a middle-finger sculpted in ice in front of his restaurant to punctuate his disdain for the pilot project, which he blamed for his empty tables.
Most of the restaurants CBC Toronto spoke with on Tuesday declined to comment on record and none have opened their books to show how much money they've actually lost.
The city's latest data report, or "dashboard," as it's called on the city's website, was published in March.
But their numbers going back to January suggest the total value of customer spending on King Street is in line with what people spent at those businesses over the last three years.
The dashboards include information on pedestrian volumes and economic point-of-sale information, which the city says has not changed.
Asked when more up-to-date statistics would become available, Bruce Hawkins, a spokesperson for the city's planning department, wouldn't give CBC Toronto an exact date.
"Further data on the economic impact of the King Street Transit Pilot is still forthcoming, and will be included in a future dashboard," he said.