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| Albert Koehl from Ecojustice asked tough questions at the Transport Action forum. |
Ontario Political Parties on Transportation Policy
Cheri DiNovo, NDP MPP for Parkdale-High Park, Frank De Jong, Green Party for Davenport and Frank Klees, MPP for Newmarket-Aurora spelled out their positions on Metrolinx, light rail transit, high speed rail, rural transit, sustainability and traffic congestion at a Transport Action Ontario forum on Sept. 8. All three political representatives made excellent points. The proceedings, attended by about forty people, were recorded and are available in two big mp3 files. Transport Action Ontario will provide a more detailed report later this month.
In summary Peter Miasek, president of Transport Action Ontario, noted areas where all three party representatives agreed including:
- the importance of cost-effective urban transit systems
- get transit project implementation beyond politics
- land value capture revenues
- support for the Ontario Northland Railway
- interconnected, affordable and reliable public transit is the key to a sustainable transportation system in Ontario.
Transport 2000, Le ministère des Transports Sam Hamad
En pleine crise des infrastructures routières et de la congestion, Sam Hamad perd le ministère des Transports. M. Charest assure qu'il ne s'agit pas d'une rétrogradation. Il refuse de le critiquer pour son travail aux transports. Transport 2000, une association qui défend les usagers du transport en commun, refuse de se réjouir du départ de M. Hamad. «Nous n'étions pas déçus de son travail», assure son président Robert Dubé. Il n'impute pas la responsabilité de la crise du transport à M. Hamad, avec qui il dit avoir eu de bonnes relations.
Paul Journet, La Presse, jeudi 8 septembre 2011
Interprovincial rail service proposed by mayors group
"Communities in west Quebec and the Ottawa Valley are lobbying for a commuter rail service. Mayors from Arnprior, Smiths Falls, Casselman, Montebello, Wakefield and Norway Bay met with federal officials Friday to propose three lines of service with a hub in Ottawa. "We have a fairly large component of people travelling into the city now for work," said Arnprior Mayor David Reid. "This commuter rail service would also help seniors, which is a growing segment of our town, for doctors appointments. . . as well as students going into college or university," CTV News reported on Sept. 2.
CP rail is in the process of taking out track in the area after it abandoned its rail service last year. It's tearing up a stretch of track between Renfrew and Pembroke.
Transport Action's Barry Wellar, GIS Hall of Fame
The Urban and Regional Information Systems Association (URISA) established the GIS Hall of Fame in 2005 to recognize and honor the most esteemed leaders of the geospatial community. ... Barry Wellar will join this group during URISA's 49th Annual Conference in Indianapolis in November.
Those who know or who have worked with Barry are aware that his style is that of a dedicated scientist: direct, sometimes challenging, but always respectful of differing views, and focused on achieving results. His record speaks for itself in demonstrating how he has used his personal and professional skills for success in delivering benefits to those people, groups, and communities for which he has served.
His interests go beyond the professional sphere as exhibited, in part, by his passion for hockey--not just as a fan but as a player. His personal and professional ethics are superb. He is a devoted husband and father and is active in charitable and community activities that enhance the quality of life for his fellow citizens.
The Urban and Regional Information Systems Association, Aug. 31, 2011
On the Sept. 4 a United Express jet skidded off the runway at the Ottawa International Airport. The next day Harry Gow, founding president of Transport Action, wrote, "I am not surprised that a small airline like Trans States is running out of credit with the senior carrier.
"There has been a lot of action in the USA with this kind of secondary outfit using junior aircrew and making them work long hours to the point that fatigue blunts perceptions and hinders reactions something like intoxication can," Gow wrote.
Nouvelle LGV / New HSR line
Le président de la France, M. Niokolas Sarkozy, a inaugurié les premiers 140 km de la nouvelle Ligne à Grande Vitesse entre Villars-les-Pots et Petit-Croix, lors d'une cérémonie tenue à la nouvelle Gare TGV de Besançon, selon International Railway Journal Breaking News.
French President Nikolas Sarkozy has inaugurated the first 140 km section of the new Rhine-Rhone Ligne à Grande Vitesse (HSR line) between Villars-les-Pots and Petit-Croix, at a ceremony held at the new Besançon TGV station, according to IRJ Breaking News.
La Presse, Le taxi collectif pour combattre la congestion
Les chauffeurs de taxi sont une des clés pour combattre les problèmes de congestion à Montréal, estime Louise Harel, qui souhaite qu'un réseau extensif de taxi collectif soit mis sur pied dans la métropole. Les taxis collectifs sont des voitures mises à la disposition des usagers des transports en commun. Les chauffeurs peuvent par exemple emprunter le chemin d'une ligne d'autobus dans des secteurs à faible densité. Le passager paye avec un titre de transport ordinaire. En échange, la société de transport donne un certain montant au chauffeur de taxi.
«Nous voulons une offre de service complémentaire, fiable et abordable. Surtout pour desservir des zones comme Rivière-des-Prairies ou Pointe-aux-Trembles, des secteurs qui sont mal desservis par l'autobus hors des heures de pointe», a expliqué ce matin Mme Harel lors d'un point de presse où elle s'est rendue... en taxi. Selon la chef de l'opposition officielle, la Société de transport de Montréal (STM) pourrait économiser des sous en mettant sur pied un tel service. Les usagers attendraient aussi moins longtemps qu'ils n'attendent présentement pour l'autobus, croit la chef de Vision Montréal.
La Presse, Gabriel Béland, le 01 septembre 2011
U of T Cities Centres, Light rail is the way to go
"One of the critical factors in making the central city world-renowned as a vibrant, attractive place is that in the 1960s when North American cities were replacing streetcars with inferior bus services Toronto decided to keep its streetcars and to reinvest in them as a key part of the plan to grow the downtown while maintaining its liveability. Combined with the subway and GO rail lines, our streetcars provide the downtown with high-quality transit that carries over 50 per cent of all morning peak-period commuters entering the downtown. Without this transit network, the downtown simply could not function," Eric J. Miller wrote in the Toronto Star on Sept. 1.
Replacing our streetcars with buses (as has been suggested by the mayor on several occasions) simply makes no sense. Unit for unit, streetcars carry about 50 per cent more people than buses, and the resulting loss of capacity would lead to more people driving, making congestion worse, not better," wrote Eric J. Miller, director of the Cities Centre at the University of Toronto. The article goes on to present vital capacity comparison between modes of urban transit.
Republicans want to kill 150 Amtrak trains
Despite record-breaking Amtrak ridership and strong support for intercity passenger rail by 15 states, the House Republican transportation budget plan will effectively eliminate all state-supported Amtrak service across the country for the fiscal year beginning October 1.
The FY 2012 Transportation-HUD House Appropriations Subcommittee budget proposal offered by the Majority prohibits the use of federal funds provided to Amtrak to fund any operating costs of state-supported trains. If enacted by the full Congress, it will eliminate nearly 150 weekday state-supported trains and negatively impact the more than nine million passengers who ride those trains each year and the communities they live in. "The House Republican plan is shortsighted and is the wrong policy for America," said Amtrak President and CEO Joseph Boardman. "It will result in the loss of jobs and reverses significant progress made to use passenger rail to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil."
Source : Amtrak Press Release Sept. 8, 2011
Transport Action Canada
Hotline 1130, Sept. 12, 2011
(formerly Transport 2000 / anciennement Transport 2000 Canada)
info@transport-action.ca
(613) 594-3290
Recorded Hotline: 1-800-771-5035
RSS: feed://www.transport-action.ca/rss/tarss.php
http://www.transport-action.ca
Calendar
Sept. 12, Sault Ste-Marie, Presentation by Dr. Barry Wellar, Distinguished Research Fellow, Transport Action Canada, at Algoma University, September 12 on "research agendas ... to deal with spatial adjustments in the U.S. that could have major implications for Canada, including the transportation sector, and the rail-truck modes in particular.”
Sept. 17 Sault Ste-Marie, CAPT Group of Seven Train Event
Sept. 17 Regina, Transport Action Prairie, Annual General Meeting, Knox-Metropolitan United Church, 2340 Victoria Ave., 2 - 4 pm.
20 septembre, Québec, Acces Transports Viables, Conference On Sustainable Mobility