Adil Haider

Sometimes, the world just sucks… Adil Haider summarizes the shortcomings of last month using some significant digits.

Exams are over, but life goes on. In this January edition of Significant Digits, Adil Haider reports—through numbers—the world’s happenings.

From troops in Syria to Saturn’s rings, Adil Haider reports on all the significant digits in the news from December 16th to December 23rd.

Illustration: Roger Li $436M   In an announcement that surprised absolutely no one, the Ontario Auditor General announced that Metrolinx had wasted $436M with it’s incessant waffling over the past 10 years. Some highlights include: Adding completely unnecessary stations to Line 2 for political reasons, the constant and ridiculous farce that is the Scarborough subway plan and the Sheppard subway extension, and the terrible contracts signed to build the Eglinton Crosstown. I have no words. On the off chance that any city councillor or Metrolinx official is reading this, please, please stop reading high school newspapers and get your damn act together. [CBC]   $0   Angry about the horrifying state of our city infrastructure? Well be ready to add jealousy to that list of emotions, because the tiny european Grand Duchy of Luxembourg has decided to make all it’s public transit free. When the policy takes effect in 2020, Luxembourg will be the first country in the world to have a free public transit system. Interestingly, Saron Gebresellasi, a former Toronto mayoral candidate proposed doing the exact same thing for the TTC. [The Irish Times]   38 Deaths   Don’t get too distracted in that European daydream, because the Toronto Police Department has recently announced that pedestrian deaths have increased significantly since last year, with 38 pedestrians dying in preventable accidents after being struck by cars. Stay safe...