Transit outlook murky to dark, Achalandage record

The symbolism was too much for Blaine, Washington. 

Next year looks like a difficult year for those of us interested in better transit. Transport Action's crystal ball suggests transit riders across the country will pay more for less. It reveals few portents of bold advances in the building of public infrastructure to support less polluting transportation options.

The clearest omens from the new year are far from positive. They suggest:
- the sale of Via Rail's Canadian and its conversion into a luxury tourist operation
- privatization of some Canadian airports
- funding cuts to Via Rail and municipal transit operations
- more cuts to Transport Canada's road and aviation safety programs
- tough times for the prairie shoreline railway industry
- Ontario pilot study finds double-trailer transport trucks are greener and safer
- billions spent on the DRIC Windsor to Detroit bridge
- road building and the conversion of farmland to suburban sprawl continues apace

The good news is that groups and people like Transport Action Canada, Stephen Rees, Transport 2000 Québec, Steve Munro, Friends of the O-Train, the Clean Train Coalition, TRAQ, Tri-Tag, Ecojustice, Coalition for Algoma Passenger Trains, High Speed Rail Canada, Bob Broughton, Regina Coalition for Public Transit, the Ecology Action Centre in Halifax, Hamilton's CATCH and many, many more will be there to battle on.

New Brunswick lock-out, Time for action

"A public transportation advocate says the federal and provincial governments need to help settle the ongoing labour dispute with Acadian Coach Lines. Acadian Coach Lines' took its buses off New Brunswick's roads to head off a strike at the beginning of the month. But as the dispute prepares to head into its second month, there's no end in sight for the labour dispute that has disrupted regularly scheduled intercity bus service across this province and connections into PEI, Nova Scotia and Quebec," Shawn Berry reported for the Telegraph-Journal on Dec. 30

In an interview with the Telegraph-Journal John Pearce, the past president of Transport Action Atlantic asked: "How long can this go on? I really am wondering what will happen. The authorities can't just sit and let this whole thing disappear."

"He said he thinks the federal government has a bigger role to play in getting the service moving again given the fact Acadian Coach Lines runs between the Maritime provinces and provides connections into Quebec, points west and into the United States," the Telegraph-Journal reported. http://nbbusinessjournal.canadaeast.com/front/article/1467581

Rural transportation, Transport Action Atlantic pushes the Saskatchewan model

"As Acadian Coach Lines undergoes a fourth week of disrupted service, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island customers can only look with envy at other provinces that still have inter-city buses on their highways," John Chilibeck reported for the Telegraph-Journal on Dec. 26.

"The STC (Saskatchewan Transportation Company) model also has its supporters in Transport Action Atlantic, a non-profit group that lobbies for better mass transit. "Twelve million dollars a year doesn't sound like a huge amount of money when you consider the budget of the Transportation Department," said director Ted Bartlett of Moncton, referring to the province's more than $600-million annual road budget. "It would seem to be just a drop in the bucket," the Telegraph-Journal reported. http://is.gd/FvMZS9

Bob Broughton, Vancouver-Seattle-Spokane passenger railway service

Why does it take volunteer power and random events to grow a passenger railway connection between Vancouver and Seattle (and Spokane)? Transit activist point to Canadian government opposition and the huge taxpayer subsidy to roads ($40.4 billion a year) and the aviation industry.

Transport Action friend +Bob Broughton http://is.gd/PMfqpy reports on signs of progress. Broughton posts: "The need for an additional Amtrak stop between Vancouver and Bellingham has existed for a long time. Something is now happening on this in Blaine, WA." http://is.gd/9le4tC

Près de 400 millions, Achalandage record pour le transport en commun

Gridlock, tunnel Mont-Royal, Sky Whale

Giizhigo-Misameg, Kitchener to Toronto, Vancouver Island E&N, Christmas is coming and so is truth in Airline advertising, 250k per car and more in today's Transport Action hotline.

Dr. Barry Wellar, Transport
Action Canada

Traffic Gridlock: A Bad Metaphor Equals Bad Policy 

In his second report on “traffic gridlock”, Dr. Barry Wellar, Transport Action Canada's Distinguished Research Fellow, suggests that claims about  “traffic gridlock” are not only unsupported by empirical evidence, but as a figure of speech traffic gridlock  is a bad metaphor with mis-leading policy implications

Dr. Wellar suggests that “traffic blockage” is a good metaphor that appropriately covers the full range of motor vehicle traffic obstruction situations, and also promotes rational thinking about how to analyze and deal with the causes of traffic blockages. In concluding “Traffic Gridlock: A Bad, Mis-Leading Metaphor that Makes for Bad, Mis-Directed Public Policy”. Wellar questions the motives of public officials who use a bad, mis-leading metaphor in association with public transportation plans and policies.
http://is.gd/ecIreR

Acadian bus lockout: Shuttle buses for New Brunswick?

In a search for alternatives Transport Action's Michael Perry notes the rules in NB are such that shuttles are subject to EUB regulation which made them virtually impossible to operate in NB, unlike NS and PEI.  Perry says regularly scheduled bus is preferable to a shuttle vans. With private vans safety, vehicle inspection and insurance, as well as  driver qualifications and licensing are issues. The number of consecutive hours that a driver can operate a bus is also subject to regulation in NB, which is an additional safety measure, Transport Action's Michae Perry says.

First GO train, Kitchener to Toronto 

Passengers were in a festive mood when the first-ever GO train  left Kitchener Dec. 19, heading to Union Station in Toronto. “You can feel the need for track improvements in your seat,” explains Tim Mollison of the grassroots Tri-Cities Transport Action Group. Nevertheless he sees the service as “a good first step.” (From Bramalea to Union Station) the ride is smoother now thanks to better tracks. “You’re riding on a pillow of money,” Mollison explains," Jeff Outhit wrote for the Record on Dec. 20.
http://is.gd/W7AVhd

Transport Action Ontario's Dan Hammond notes, "At over 2 hours to travel 101 kms, that's a mind blowin' 50 km/hr ... and once you factor local transport we move into Vespa territory .... speed wise.

Les rapports sur l’état du tunnel Mont-Royal

« Le chef de Projet Montréal, Richard Bergeron, exige que l’Agence métropolitaine des transports (AMT) rende public le rapport d’analyse de risque du tunnel du mont Royal, rédigé cette année. M. Bergeron a fait cette demande à la suite de la publication, dans La Presse, de révélations d’un cheminot du CN affecté à l’entretien du tunnel, qui affirme qu’en cas de déraillement, les passagers des trains de banlieue auraient beaucoup de difficulté à évacuer les voitures, notamment en raison de l’étroitesse du tunnel » Jennifer Guthrie a rapporté pour Métro le 19 décembre 2011
http://is.gd/61loN

« Comment les citoyens peuvent-ils encore croire Joël Gauthier quand il affirme qu'un tunnel de 4,8 km de longueur construit selon les normes de sécurité de 1918 et qui ne comporte ni sortie de secours, ni système anti-incendie, ni ventilation est parfaitement sécuritaire, alors qu'il refuse de publier le rapport d'analyse de risque?», a demandé le chef de Projet Montréal.

Giizhigo-Misameg, Sky whale could be the future of shipping in the North

Kyoto and Tuvalu, feeder networks for transit, Colloque ferroviaire

Louis-François Garceau, TRAQ

Reports on night flights and jobs, Transport Canada oversight, Le Colloque ferroviaire, P3s and transit in today's Transport Action Hotline.


Cheque writing time for transport action 

“I just wrote a cheque for transport action,” the Hotline editor wrote today. “I dropped the $100 cheque into an envelope and sent it to:
Transport Action Canada
Box/C.P. 858, Station B
Ottawa, Ontario
K1P 5P9

"I told the national charity to use the money to pay for my annual membership dues with the balance as a tax deductible donation.  I could have sent money via paypal by following the instructions at http://www.transport-action.ca,” the Hotline editor wrote. The editor is urging all Hotline readers to send in cash.

Ottawa should think “feeder network” David Jeanes says

“The city is in the process of switching its long-term plan for rapid transit in Barrhaven and Riverside South to a bus Transitway, rather than LRT, following the 2006 cancellation of the city's north-south light rail plan,” Our Ottawa Region reported on Dec. 15

“But west-end resident David Jeanes, president of advocacy group Transport Action Canada, said the transit station at Riverside South isn’t needed. “I just don’t see that as a requirement,” Jeanes said. He said spending money on a “feeder network” or neighbourhood buses would provide better value to residents," Our Ottawa Region reported.

TRAQ, Le Colloque ferroviaire annuel du Québec des 28 et 29 mars 2012

La présidence d’honneur sera occupée par M. Cliff McKay, président de l’Association des chemins de fer de Canada. Le thème principal sera : « Le rail et les défis de la nouvelle économie ». Nous traiterons de la nouvelle économie, de développement du nord et des trains voyageurs entre autres. NOTE : il ne nous reste qu’une dizaine de kiosques à louer. colloque@groupe-traq.com

 Ecojustice, Canada marching in the wrong direction on climate change

Transport Canada Finally Agrees: All-in Pricing for Air Fares

Michael Janigan, PIAC
executive director and general counsel

(Ottawa) The Public Interest Advocacy Centre, a member of the travel industry and consumer coalition the Travel Protection Initiative (TPI), that pushed for all-in price advertising for airline prices in the previous decade, expressed its satisfaction that Transport Canada will finally move ahead to implement the legislation that mandates airline regulations  to provide a ticket price to passengers inclusive of all extra charges.

“Travel agencies in Ontario and Quebec have had to  do the same for years, and at the same time, compete with airlines offering flights  at a small fraction of the total cost”, noted Michael Janigan, Executive Director and General Counsel of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre. Janigan noted that the amendment to clause 27 of the Canada Transportation Act is over 4 1/2 years old, and its implementation was strongly opposed by Air Canada. 

The Province of Quebec, however, had recently began to enforce provisions of similar effect in the provincial consumer law and  according to Janigan, “the writing may have been on the wall”.

PIAC will participate in the consultation process associated with the making of the new regulations for airline pricing. “It may be one element of the carnival barker approach to airline advertising might be removed, at last,” said Janigan.

IBEW and X-Rail Signalisation reach tentative agreement

Brian Strong, IBEW senior general chairman

December 15, 2011

Media release

Attn: Business, transportation, labour editors

International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and X-Rail Signalisation Inc. reach tentative labour agreement

MONTREAL —The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), System Council 11 and X-Rail Signalisation Inc, announced today that they have reached a tentative three-year labour agreement covering approximately 35 employees who maintain and install railway signals and communications systems across Canada. 

Details of the tentative agreement are being withheld pending ratification by the IBEW membership.

Brian Strong, senior general chairman for the IBEW, System Council 11, said: “The IBEW bargaining committee unanimously endorses this tentative agreement and is recommending the membership ratify it. The ratification process will begin next week.”

Eric Renaud said, "I am pleased to have negotiated this agreement with the IBEW in advance of the expiration of the current collective agreement. We believe the agreement will benefit both parties.”

The IBEW's current contract with X-Rail expires on Dec. 31, 2011.

For X-Rail

Eric Renaud

Director, X-Rail Inc.

(514)-917-1433

For IBEW

Brian Strong

Senior General Chairman 

System Council 11 IBEW

(306) 421-3007 

ibewstrong@sasktel.net

Tentative d’entente collective entre Le Conseil No 11 de la Fraternité internationale  des ouvriers en électricité et X-Rail Signalisation Inc.          

MONTRÉAL, le 14 décembre 2011 – Le Conseil No 11 de la Fraternité
internationale des ouvriers en électricité  (FIOE ) et X-Rail Signalisation Inc. annoncent aujourd’hui qu’ils ont conclus une tentative d’entente pour une nouvelle convention collective de travail d’une durée de trois ( 3 ) ans.

Cette entente touche 35 employés qui font l’entretien et l’installation des signaux et des systèmes de communication à travers le Canada.

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

Google+ organizing for non-profit groups

+Jim Goss site. 

+Transport Action Canada Google+ 

Friday Dec. 9
Hangout (video conference)

11:00 to 12:30 PST
2:00 to 3:30 EST

Hosted by:
+Jim Goss

(FACT CHECK)  While the site is public, it appears hangout participants need a Google+ account (with its real name identity) to join in. (FACT Check) Note Google+ default settings seem to lean to full open public

You can open a Google+ account here:
The hangout will not be public. Attendees are by invitation only. Contact this blogger for an invitation.

Agenda



Donate to Transport Action Canada
http://www.transport-action.ca/en/join.html



1. Note on Dec. 2 hangout
2, Shared documents, spreadsheets, a google website with a submit form,
3. Using Openstreetmap to tell our stories, Transport Action Canada
4. Ideas, information sharing ...
5. Google and the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act

Is Transport Canada's 84-hour workweek safe?

Trucking Hours of Service, Debate rages in the US, Canada dark

On Dec. 2 www.trucksafety.org reported: "Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) Administrator Anne Ferro revealed that initial 2010 data on fatal truck crashes indicate truck crash fatalities have increased to nearly 4,000 people.  In 2009, 3,380 people were killed in truck crashes and 74,000 others were injured.

"Administrator Ferro released this information during her testimony on the pending truck driver hours of service (HOS) reforms before a House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Wednesday, November 30th. … Under the current rule truck drivers can drive 77 hours a week and work up to 84 hours a week. Agency actions to revise the current HOS rule are the result of a legal agreement between the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and safety and labor groups while a lawsuit is held in abeyance," the advocacy group reported.

The previous limit in both Canada and the United States was 60 hours of driving time in a week.

On Jan. 1, 2007, Canada adopted National Safety Code Standard No. 9 (i.e. drive 77, work 84 is safe). In Canada there has been no debate. We don't have recent data. Our safety champion, Transport Canada, is also responsible for the economic well-being of the trucking industry. Transport Canada has kept this issue in-house which makes it easier to close truck inspection stations and ratchet down other road safety spending.

I've only been able to find one Canadian story this year about hours of service. Ironically it is based on US information

"A CBC analysis of the data from the U.S. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration shows some 4,800 Canadian carriers violated key parts of the hours of service and logbook rules in 2009 and 2010. Hundreds of carriers, based in every province but Newfoundland and Labrador, violated rules related to driver fatigue. … Data supplied to CBC News by Transport Canada indicates that Canada's fatality and injury rate in heavy truck collisions is higher than that of the U.S," CBC News reported on Feb. 13.

In the US last week, in response to Ferro's call for a shorter workweek, askthetrucker.com wrote:
"What are the true accident statistics?
Estimates of 41,000 to 45,000 traffic deaths occur every year within the U.S.
More than 80% of those accidents are the fault of the non-commercial driver.
Fewer than 9% of those deaths involve commercial vehicles
Of those death related accidents, only 4% of trucks are fatigue related"

Allen Smith @askthetrucker wrote "Unless the (below listed) concerns are addressed, professional truck drivers will continue to face added work-load pressure to complete their scheduled pickups and deliveries and fatal crashes could increase:
Lack of adequate truck parking
Dispatchers pushing drivers to driver when they say they are either ill ortired.
Shippers and receivers holding drivers up at the docks for hours, cutting into their rest time.
Dispatch waking drivers up via qualcomm etc., to ask questions, failing to respect and abide by the HOS regulations.
Retaliation tactics from carrier if the drivers states he or she is too fatigued to drive"

It's time for Canadians to have this debate.

Transit use up but services slashed, l'achalandage du transport collectif

David Jeanes, The future of urban transportation

David Jeanes, president of
Transport Action Canada. 

On Dec. 1 Danielle Webb, an online editor at the Globe and Mail, asked David Jeanes, president of Transport Action Canada: "What other transit systems around the world does your organization look at as good examples of how we can improve our systems here?

David Jeanes replied: "Since all transit systems receive some kind of operating subsidy, and because we have a sustainability goal to increase ridership, we also have to deal with the need to actually increase that subsidy in absolute terms as ridership grows. One of the main advantages of new technologies is that they should give us economies of scale that allow us to handle this growth but without a proportional increase in operating costs.

"We have looked closely at what London, England, with its multi-mode transit did with the congestion charging scheme. It not only reduced auto congestion in central London, but made funds available to buy 300 more buses," Jeanes told the Globe and Mail online forum.

Transport Action calls on Metrolinx to hurry up with the revenue tools as TTC cuts service 

On November 24, the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) confirmed a leaked report that bus and streetcar service will be slashed on 62 routes, starting January 8, 2012.  The cuts are driven by Mayor Ford’s directive that all city departments and agencies slash spending by 10 per cent. In the case of the TTC, these cuts will save $15 million per year.

“These cuts are a tragedy,” said Natalie Litwin of Transport Action Ontario. “They come at a time when ridership is growing, traffic congestion is up, the economy is under stress, and fewer people have transportation alternatives”.

Transport Action Ontario believes that these cuts also demonstrate that the TTC, the City, and Metrolinx must immediately address long term funding for transit, both capital and operating.

Metrolinx promptly needs to release their recommendations about new funding instruments, such as road tolls, regional gas or sales tax, or parking taxes. The service cuts are a one-time saving, and the TTC will be facing a similar challenge next year, unless significant progress is made on long term funding sources.

Transports collectifs : Transport 2000 suggère