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| Somewhere in India. |
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| Kerala ferryman. |
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| Indian Avocet. |
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| Somewhere near Orlando. J. Goss associate files vanity shot with LPGA star Natalie Gulbis. |
Toronto-based strategic communications group with a media relations focus. J. Goss + supplies research, writing, design and production services. www.jgoss.com blog@jgoss.com unifor 591-g
J. Goss associates file photos
Two associates today filed some excellent photos. A Guelph-based photographer with whom I have the privilege of working for many years, sent over 50 great shots from a three-month sojourn in India. As is his custom he followed an unbeaten trail from the Himalayas to the backwaters of Kerala.
Google+ers for Via Rail transport action, le pont Champlain
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| Transport 2000 Québec wants the new Champlain Bridge to be green. (CBC Photo) |
Transport Action Google+ hangout discusses Via Rail
Transport Action members held an impromptu discussion of Via Rail's future on Wednesday. The Google+ hangout included representatives from Vancouver, Toronto, Hamilton, Ottawa, Alma and Quebec City. The group noted many interests appear to be in line for cuts, excluding, reportedly, the RCMP and Armed Forces, in the next federal budget expected in March.
The case for Via Rail
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| Windsor Star photo. |
Note that you will need a Google+ identity. Also note that you will need a fairly new computer with one of the following operating systems - Windows XP+, Mac OS X 10.5+, or Linux.
The hangout va deroule, dans la plupart, en anglais.
Agenda:
1) Strategic considerations
2) Basic message
3) Actions
Hangout location:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/107410133753245160111
Report 1
Rocky Mountaineer has been working Parliament Hill like mad. There is a concerted effort on their part to sway Tory MPs into taking VIA out of western Canada. They've even gone so far as to suggest they could run a tourist train as a replacement for the Ocean Limited. It might be an idea to file under Freedom of Information for details of their lobbying efforts. Rocky Mountaineer is using ex-MP Jim Gouk as their stalking horse up on the Hill. He's had quite a bit of success opening Tory doors for them. Meanwhile, VIA has done itself no favours in Ottawa by infuriating a number of vocal citizens with dumbass moves such as not holding trains for late connections and cutting service to corridor points such as Cornwall and Brockville. I'm sorry to say that VIA doesn't have a reputation in Ottawa that's going to make many members of this government fight for its maintenance.
Report 2
Just to be sure I called a source in Ottawa and it turns out that a combination of government programme reviews, budget cutting etc. and intense lobbying (by a well-known competitor of VIA in the Rockies who wants to eliminate VIA and take over the entire BC - Alberta rail tourist business) is taking a toll, so it may be red alert time once again.
Arguments in support of Via Rail
Are trains for Canadians?
Via Rail fire sale?
There are suggestions that Canada’s national passenger train system could be replaced by privately operated cruise trains. But cruise trains are not the same as public passenger trains. While the private sector can be a valuable partner in enhancing our national passenger rail system, we must beware of any “fire sale” that would skim the most profitable business off to private corporations and leave Canadians without affordable, year-round train service.
Beware of any promises of profitable, private passenger rail service. Profit is in cruise trains for wealthy tourists, not in trains for Canadians.
Consider the difference...
A cruise train...
Runs in the tourist season
Stops for photos
Charges premium fares
Serves tourists only
Is profit oriented
A passenger train...
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| Passenger trains from Union Station in Toronto connect to Vancouver and Halifax. Other destinations include Rivière-du-Loup, Washago and Unity. (CP24 picture) |
Beware of any promises of profitable, private passenger rail service. Profit is in cruise trains for wealthy tourists, not in trains for Canadians.
Consider the difference...
A cruise train...
Runs in the tourist season
Stops for photos
Charges premium fares
Serves tourists only
Is profit oriented
A passenger train...
Transit bosses should be politicians, la communaunté Gaspésienne
Government floats Via Rail cuts, Cette grille tarifaire, a 16-mile commuter rail route, New AMT boss, Transport Action in BC and more in today's Transport Action Hotline.Maintain TTC capacity or increase gridlock
Transport Action Ontario called on Toronto councillors to keep the city moving smoothly by topping up the TTC 2012 operating budget by $15 million and the capital budget by $90 million. The non-profit group noted ridership has been growing by 2.5 to 3% a year. Transport Action Ontario president Peter Miasek wrote "Congestion costs Toronto's economy billons a year. In a full-cost accounting cutting TTC services loses more money than it saves. For the latest information on the TTC and the Toronto budget check Steve Munro's web site. http://stevemunro.ca/
Will the government cut Via Rail? Transport Action urges caution
"The Canadian government is studying the possibility of slashing services on VIA Rail, or selling part of the railway, Bloomberg News reports today, though officials say there are no immediate plans for privatization. The news agency quotes a briefing note done for Transport Minister Denis Lebel, which it obtained under access-to-information laws, and notes that VIA chalked up an operating loss of more than $260 million in 2010. Revenue slipped and expenses climbed," Michael Babad reported for the Globe and Mail on Jan. 20.
Transport Action leaders say Canada must rebuild its passenger rail service, not cut it. The group argues the country's dependence on the automobile is not sustainable. Transport Action notes roads receive an annual subsidy of $40 billion which excludes all exported costs like policing, hospital care and environmental degradation.
New AMT boss should be an elected official, Transport 2000
"Joël Gauthier, head of the provincial body (AMT) that co-ordinates Montreal regional transit, announced Friday he is resigning, apparently over cost overruns at the Train de l’Est, a new line between Mascouche and Montreal. The news came a day after Treasury Board President Michelle Courchesne chastised Gauthier’s Agence métropolitaine de transport for its handling of the project and said Quebec will change the way the AMT operates," Andy Riga wrote for the Montreal Gazette on Jan. 13, 2012
"Norman Parisien of transit advocacy group Transport 2000 said the new AMT boss should be an elected official, not a political appointee like Gauthier. “Political accountability is needed,” Parisien said. Gauthier’s combative style backfired, he added. “We don’t need a one-man show, someone who wants to control everything.” The AMT’s head should “bring people together, mobilize and get things done,” the Montreal Gazette reported.
"It has long been clear the AMT’s Train de l’Est plan is faulty, Parisien said. It may end up costing as much as the Laval métro extension, he noted. But Laval’s métro stations are used by 60,000 people daily, while the Train de l’Est is expected to carry only 11,000 passengers daily," the Montreal Gazette reported. http://is.gd/AmKMk
Transport Action BC, 2011 in review and other news
No help for bus riders NB and PEI, train de l'est
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| Transport Action covers TransLink, AMT, Metrolinx and more. |
Vancouver airport link, 17% of the travel market
"The Canada Line is attracting 17% of the travel market to and from Vancouver International Airport (YVR), well in excess of the 9% share projected in 2003. Weekday Canada Line ridership is 125,000. January to October revenue ridership across the transit system was up 5% in 2011 from the same period in 2010," Transport Action BC reported.
Transport 2000 Québec, Le projet de train de l'est
« Le projet du train de l'est est en partie retiré d'entre les mains de l'Agence métropolitaine de transport (AMT) par le gouvernement du Québec. Ce dernier désapprouve fortement la gestion qu'en a faite l'organisme gouvernemental jusqu'à aujourd'hui » Sarah Bélisle a écrit pour l'Agence QMI le 12 janvier.
« Plusieurs ont poussé un soupir de soulagement à cette annonce. L'organisme Transport 2000 s'est réjoui pour sa part qu'«enfin une direction claire et réaliste pour ce projet de transport en commun d'envergure métropolitaine» soit instaurée. «Ce qui inquiète maintenant, c'est de voir que l'Agence se retrouve en quasi tutelle alors qu'elle devait à l'origine jouer un rôle-clé dans l'organisation du transport métropolitain», a précisé Normand Parisien, directeur de l'organisation » QMI a rapporté. http://is.gd/QTVruD
The Gazette reports this morning that Joël Gauthier has resigned. http://is.gd/OenpU9 Yesterday, Bruno Bisson in La Presse speculated obliquely that Joël Gauthier's future was in doubt (the piece also gives a lot of details on all other aspects of the story).
«[La présidente du Conseil du Trésor, Michelle] Courchesne a refusé de dire quel sort attend le président de l'Agence, Joël Gauthier, dont le mandat vient tout juste d'arriver à terme, et dont la direction est de plus en plus contestée par une grande partie du monde municipal et par les transporteurs publics. «Le gouvernement va prendre les décisions qui s'imposent, a dit la ministre. C'est tout ce que je peux vous dire dans l'immédiate.» Bruno Bisson a rapporté pour La Presse. http://is.gd/GnZ5Rm
Friends say don't knock Saskatchewan bus service
In a letter to the Leader-Post Pauline Ferland responded to a commentary calling for the overhauls of the Saskatchewan Transportation Corporation.
"(The writer) claims that the ridership of STC has declined. It has, in fact, increased by 3.8 per cent in 2010. For 2011, I quote the STC website. "Total ridership for the first three quarters of 2011 was 218,004 compared to 195,341 in the same period of 2011. That is an increase of approximately 11.6 per cent. This reflects STC's improvement with regard to advertising and promotion of the company's image, programs and services, and also reflects enhanced on-board amenities and security."
"This increase is also due to the excellent management such as the seat-sale promotions for youth and seniors. Although some routes might be underused by passengers, the parcel-post and freight services for these routes make them just as economically viable. Without these dependable services, countless businesses would suffer, also blood and courier services. The oil, gas and mining sectors depend on bus freight to communities" Pauline Ferland wrote to the Leader-Post on Jan. 9, 2012. Ferland is a member of the Friends of the STC which was established by Transport Action Prairie on May 8, 2011. http://is.gd/JAQmHn
Transport Action supports Acadian Lines and Amalgamated Transit Union
Rural transportation, Free transit, Colloque ferroviaire
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| Nickel Belt Rails |
Road budget, Transport Actions calls for cash for the Maritimes' only interurban bus service
Transport Action's John Pearce asks: "If Acadian Lines is "only" losing a reported million dollars per year in the Maritimes, and this would only build under 1 km of all weather highway somewhere in the 3 provinces, why can't N.B. (or other Maritime province) cut $1 million from their massive road construction programs costing hundreds of millions of dollars each year to save our only interurban and rural bus system? Acadian Bus Lines locked out its New Brunswick and PEI workers and passengers on Dec. 2.
Le Colloque ferroviaire annuel du Québec des 28 et 29 mars 201
La participation d’un nouveau joueur sera très importante cette année. Il s’agit de « DELOM Services » qui, depuis plusieurs années, fait l’entretien, la réparation et le suivi de vos moteurs, générateurs, réducteurs de vitesse et autres. Ceux-ci seront au kiosque No. 11 et vous invitent à venir les rencontrer. D’ici quelques années, la compagnie aimerait ajouter une section traction pour les locomotives. Leur fiabilité n’est plus à refaire! www.delom.ca. Le Colloque annuel du Groupe TRAQ y tiendra également sa 11e exposition de fournisseurs de matériel ferroviaire et il reste quelques kiosques de libre à louer. Informez-vous! colloque@groupe-traq.com. Pour ceux qui voudront participer à ce 16e colloque annuel, des documents seront postés à la mi-janvier et des avis seront placés sur notre site Web vers la même date. http://is.gd/7bqjiw
Annapolis County sets up its own rural transport service, leaves Kings Transit
Google+ election campaigns des outils appréciables
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| Contact J. Goss + Associates for help with your Google+ plan. |
Google sponsored and staffed the Des Moines media centre during the Iowa Caucus, Agence France-Presse reported on Jan. 3.
The report is about Google's election coverage and plans to market Google+. During the Iowa campaign a "regular" Google site supplied, video and maps. The site "Google Politics & Elections" covers the US and Egypt.
http://google.com/elections/ed/us/home
A Google+ version of Politics & Elections delivered real-time results. Today it has 10,674 followers.
https://plus.google.com/114401727024677849167
https://plus.google.com/114401727024677849167
The AFP story said Google helped some of the 1,500 journalists covering the vote use Google+ tools including the hangout. It said leading up to the Nov. 6 election Google will develop the platform to help citizens learn and participate.
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