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P3s and transit, road safety, aviation safety
Transport Canada aviation safety boss surprise, les hausses, Acadian Bus Lines, CAPT, TriTag, CATCH in today's Hotline.
Bridges, Another great reason to donate to Transport Action
This year there's been some transport action on bridges. The Champlain. Make it green. DRIC, a bridge we don't need. Whirlpool bridge. Cycling across the 10-lane Port Mann Bridge. Ontario set to lose last passenger rail connection to the United States. Prince of Wales, a bridge we should use. For transport action on bridges and more please donate to Transport Action Canada.
http://www.transport-action.ca/en/join.html
Or mail a cheque to Transport Action Canada.
Box/C.P. 858, Station B
Ottawa, Ontario
K1P 5P9
Transport Action Atlantic, Time to support the New Brunswick bus industry
"Businesses in New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island are beginning to feel the impact of the Acadian Bus Lines lockout … A citizens' lobby group is arguing the work stoppage is unfair to students and low-income groups who depend on the bus service. John Pearce, a spokesman for the Transport Action Atlantic, said the government should subsidize bus travel in New Brunswick," CBC News reported on Dec. 5.
"(Pearce) said airports, rail lines, ferries and even the highway system get help, so bus companies should also receive financial assistance.Pearce said two per cent of the provincial highway budget would keep the buses rolling," CBC News reported.
"The government would control what routes are done and if there were losses, as there might be in some of the rural routes, then the province would support it," Pearce said. He said the New Brunswick government should follow the model of the Saskatchewan government, which subsidizes the inter-city bus system in that province. Pearce said the intra-city bus service connects 275 rural communities in Saskatchewan," CBC News reported. http://is.gd/AGizcX
Transport 2000 est en désaccord total avec les hausses
Le réseau de transport de Longueuil (RTL) et la Société de transport de Laval augmenteront leurs tarifs à partir de janvier 2012. À Longueuil, le titre mensuel augmentera de 2 $ et passera de 82,50 $ à 84,50 $. Il s’agit d’une augmentation de 2,4 %. Le tarif réduit, lui, passe de 49,50 $ à 50,50 $ » Annabelle Blais a écrit le 1 décembre 2011 pour Métro.
«La situation est particulière à Longueuil puisque la ville encaisse déjà une hausse de tarif», indique Normand Parisien de Transport 2000, une association pour la défense des usagers du transport en commun. «Nous sommes en désaccord total avec ces hausses qui ne sont pas justifiées, insiste M. Parisien. Dans un rapport qui paraitra aujourd’hui, Transport 2000 fera connaître ses positions sur la situation financière des réseaux de transports. «Le sous-financement repose trop sur les municipalités», Métro a rapporté. http://is.gd/aow9wm
Talk transport action with your elected representatives
Transport Action's Mary Pappert keeps in touch with her elected representatives. Last week she emailed Kitchener Centre MPP John Milloy some current data on passenger rail transportation just after he announced that GO Trains will start running from Kitchener to Toronto on Dec. 19, 2011.
"Congratulations on the start of GO Trains for Kitchener. I know you worked hard to achieve this goal. But I still believe it is a band-aid solution for the transportation problems in Ontario. We may not need "High Speed Rail" yet - but Via Rail service - or whatever intercity service that is feasible for the whole North Mainline is the only real solution for all the citizens along our route. GO-Trains are too slow, too uncomfortable offer no assistance to families, travellers with luggage or anyone with any kind of disability, to be the answer for our North Mainline,” Pappert wrote.
“A public and rational consideration of passenger rail service as the most efficient transportation option won't be ignored forever. I know you work very hard for your constituents, and want to give them the best transportation option for a good quality of life. I know you care about the utilization of their tax dollars - both provincial and federal. Please pass this on to the "powers-that-be,” Transport Action’s Mary Pappert wrote. She attached a copy of the Hotline to her email to Mr. Milloy.
Excellent Documentary, The Coalition for Algoma Passenger Trains
About every small town
De-Railed: The National Dream, is a documentary examining the crumbling state of the Canadian Railway system. Having lost more than 10,000 kilometers of track since 1990, why has Canada allowed it's "ribbon-of-rail" to become so tattered? Watch the trailer http://is.gd/o6t32m
The 2012 CAPT Calendars are now available for sale! They are jam-packed with beautiful photos taken along rail lines in Algoma, make a great holiday gift, and are available for only $10 each. Please contact David Craig at 705-949-2301 ext. 4734 or on email at david.craig@algomau.ca for information on how to order. http://www.captrains.ca/
Stop Waterloo council from giving LRT to a private operator !
In expressing its view on private operation, TriTAG hopes to launch the community conversation that the Region appears intent on avoiding. The community can engage their regional councillors in this conversation by visiting http://tritag.ca/m/lrt .
"The more evidence of P3 operating failures (and public LRT operation successes) that people can send to our Council through this e-mail form at http://tritag.ca/m/LRT , the better chance we have of keeping the operation public and extending the line sooner," Tim Mollison reports.
Waterloo, TriTAG will not support ‘Operating P3’ LRT
"In light of the release of preliminary Waterloo Region plans for LRT procurement, the Tri-Cities Transport Action Group (TriTAG) made clear today that it will not support a privately-operated LRT system for Waterloo Region. While TriTAG has been one of the key supporters for Light Rail Transit (LRT) for Waterloo Region, it will not stand for a 30-year private sector monopoly on LRT operations," Tim Mollison posted on Dec. 7.
“Whether or not to hand over the Region’s single most important, and single most expensive, piece of municipal infrastructure to a private business for 30 years should be a major community conversation”, said Michael Druker, a founding member of TriTAG. “however, how this is being handled suggests that this crucial issue is meant to fly under the radar, and we do not believe this is appropriate.
“Awarding a so-called ‘Operating P3’ to the private sector would endow this private company $818 million to build this LRT line and then reward the same company a monopoly to profit from its operation,” said Duncan Clemens, a founding member of TriTAG. “The focus of the private sector is usually on maximizing profit, and not public benefit. The community support that LRT has received over the past several years will be right out the window, as a privately-operated LRT line would be less a public good and more a publically-funded private cookie jar,” Tri-Cities Transport Action Group posted. http://is.gd/WWtemj
Steve Munro on P3s, having someone else borrow for us
"Funding of transit expansion in the GTAH will be a powerful, difficult debate in the next year or two as we wrestle with one basic fact: more money must come from somewhere. Tolls, taxes, user fees, whatever we call them, it's net new money. We can hide the problem by having someone else borrow it for us — a pension fund, or a construction consortium — but we still have to pay for what we build and use. We must still debate what we really should be building, how will the network operate, where new and future demands will flow, and what's a good investment for what are, ultimately, public dollars," Steve Munro wrote on Dec. 1. http://is.gd/h1lR7v
Is Transport Canada's 84-hour workweek safe?
In the US there is a vigorous, ongoing, public debate about truck driver hours. In Canada there has been no debate. On Jan. 1, 2007, Canada adopted National Safety Code Standard No. 9 (i.e. drive 77, work 84 a week is safe (and includes a safety margin)).
The previous limit in both Canada and the United States had been 60 hours of driving time per week.
Our safety champion, Transport Canada, is also responsible for the economic well-being of the trucking industry. Transport Canada doesn't have recent data. It keeps "hours of service" in-house which makes it easier to close truck inspection stations and ratchet down other road safety spending. It's time for Canadians to ask, "Is an 84-hour truck driving workweek safe?" is.gd/g2TbfM
Aviation business group not sure about impact of terrain awareness warning system
"(On Dec. 2) Transport Canada announced proposed regulations that would force both commercial and private planes with six or more passenger seats to be equipped with a terrain awareness warning system," The Canadian Press reported.
Terri Theodore reports the action comes 16 years after Transportation Safety Board first recommended TAWS. According to the story former Transport Canada aviation safety top dog, "Merlin Preuss, vice-president of government regulatory affairs with the Business Aviation Association, is not yet sure how it will affect his members. “It came right out of the blue... . We weren't ready for it at all,” Preuss told The Canadian Press. http://is.gd/DlIi9F
Airport emergency service, Was fire truck too slow getting to fatal crash?
Waterloo Region Record, Jeff Outhit, Dec 03 2011
http://is.gd/YwYqRt
Moncton emergency response time could prove troublesome
"A report released by the Transportation Safety Board has stated the March 2010 overrun of a Cargojet Boeing 727 freighter in Moncton was the result of a short landing, water on the runway and excessive speed. … The report notes that no airport fire crews have to be on duty during a cargo landing. However, not having firefighters on site, and the difficulty the municipal fire equipment had reaching the scene due to the rough terrain for which their trucks were not equipped, could prove troublesome in the event of a fire or injuries in a similar incident," James Foster reported for the Times & Transcript Staff on Dec. 3, 2011. http://is.gd/XKqcta
Hamilton Munro Airport, groundwater cleanup
CATCH (Citizens at City Hall) reported on December 8
http://is.gd/65sqhz
CP expands Saskatchewan Bakken rail shipments
CP is now increasing volumes of crude oil movement by rail out of the Saskatchewan Bakken oil formation through a new CP transload facility, operated by Bulk Plus Logistics in Estevan. This is in addition to railcar loads already moving out of the Dollard, SK, transload facility, located on the Great Western Railway, a shortline partner of Canadian Pacific. This oil is destined to various refineries in both Canada and the United States.
http://is.gd/tjqrDu
Transport Action Canada
Hotline 1143, Dec. 9, 2011
(formerly Transport 2000 / anciennement Transport 2000 Canada)
info@transport-action.ca
(613) 594-3290
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/TransportAction
RSS: feed://www.transport-action.ca/rss/tarss.php
http://www.transport-action.ca
Calendar
Dec. 14, Vancouver, Meeting of Transport Action BC, 5:45pm to 7:45 pm, Firehall Library, 1455 West 10th Avenue, Vancouver, BC http://is.gd/Y3Vy7k
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