Google+ hangout, NDP leadership, March 2

Friday, March 2, 1:00 EST, 10:00 PST
Hosted by +Jim Goss

Non-partisan presentation based on the following profile:
Leaning Thomas.
Know and love Peggy and Paul.
Agree with everything Brian says.
Like Niki, Nathan and Martin.
Could've voted Romeo or Robert.

(For background on the campaigns read Alice Funke at http://www.punditsguide.ca/ )

To use the hangout feature you need a Google identity i.e. register with Google+ and use your real name. You will need Windows XP+, Mac OS X 10.5+  or Linux.

The hangout va deroule, dans la plupart, en anglais.

The hangout will be private. For an invitation email  J. Goss + Associates.  Or follow +Jim Goss.  Or fill out this Google form.

J. Goss web site action coming this spring

Explosive web action !

J. Goss + Associates will upgrade its website soon. In the spring the Toronto-based communications group plans to start selling campaign-type sites.

J. Goss + Associates has reviewed a number of sites including:

http://www.socialsignal.com/
http://www.openmedia.ca
http://www.usw.ca/
http://www.calculatedstyle.com/
http://opensourceecology.org/
http://www.cippic.ca/
http://ourpubliclibrary.to/
http://environmentaldefence.ca/
http://LuxCinema.ca
http://AndrewWatt.com
http://robcottingham.ca/

http://www.jonnymedia.com/

https://www.eff.org/

http://www.visualnews.com/
http://protectyourprivacy.ca

A discussion of these sites led to a lesson, copied below, in website architecture. The writer figures $1,500 could work as price point for a basic site. Maybe, a campaign-type site starts at $5,000. The writer and J. Goss + Associates are exploring possibilities.

Web site architecture explained

Spectrum Auction Caps Would Mean Wireless Competition Abandoned by Government

The consumer watchdog says
that because Canada's wireless
market is dominated by three
companies we need to set aside
space for smaller and new competitors. 

The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) noted today that the rumoured structure of Canada’s 700 MHz wireless spectrum auction (capping wireless companies’ total spectrum) would be an abandonment of the Government’s commitment to improve competition in the wireless market. Spectrum was set aside for new entrants to bid on in the last auction and it is even more important to continue with set-asides in this key part of the available wireless spectrum, according to PIAC.

"Only set-asides can ensure new wireless companies can offer the latest handsets with wireless data, which are what consumers are demanding," said John Lawford, counsel for PIAC, an Ottawa-based non-profit organization that provides legal representation, research and advocacy on behalf of consumers. “Caps do not solve the issue of dominance by the big three wireless carriers because Bell, TELUS and Rogers can afford to pay to keep all new competition out of their markets.”

PIAC made submissions to Industry Canada calling for set-asides to ensure competitive choice for Canadians in cellphone service.  “The new entrants, WIND, Mobilicity, Public Mobile and Vidéotron are very concerned about the continued viability of their wireless service,” added Lawford, “the Government should see this red flag and change course if necessary to protect competition and choice for consumers in wireless.”

Shoot the transit boss, Kingston et les rail voyageurs

The government may privatize the Canadian,
Via Rail's classic transcontinental train service.
(Photo, Steve Boyko www.traingeek.ca)

Le Colloque ferroviaire annuel du Québec, people or planes in Pickering, Halifax transit, Kalamazoo, New Zealand makes the case for Via Rail and more in today's Transport Action Hotline.

Peter Lacey, Manitoba could join Minnesota in 175-km/h rail link that could better exploit tourism potential

"Anyone wishing to travel between Winnipeg and the Twin Cities have in recent years had but two choices: fly or drive. Overnight train service vanished in the late 1960s and Greyhound abandoned the route a few years back. Unlike most Canada-U.S. pairings of major cities, there is no direct ground transport between them. But there could be if Canada wanted to make common cause with Minnesota to build a high-speed rail link from Winnipeg through Duluth to Minneapolis," Transport Action Canada vice president Peter Lacey and Jeff Lowe wrote for the Winnipeg Free Press on Feb. 18.

"On Sept. 2, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced the Minnesota Department of Transportation would receive $5 million to complete initial engineering and environmental reviews for the project. The grant comes from the High-Speed and Intercity Passenger Rail Program, which has on two previous occasions awarded $2.2 million and $500,000 for preliminary work on the line. MNDOT has committed to providing $3 million of state funds. While minuscule compared to the eventual costs of the completed project, the commitments attest to the seriousness with which it is being explored. This should be food for thought on Broadway and Main Street, and for all interested in the challenges and opportunities of intercity mass transport," the Winnipeg Free Press op-ed said. http://tinyurl.com/88c84m4

David Jeanes, Public transit chiefs take the fall

"In a 24-hour span during which Gary Webster, the chief general manager of the Toronto Transit Commission, and Alain Mercier, general manager of Ottawa’s OC Transpo, were let go, the experts say the firings say as much about the politicians who did the them as the public servants who were shown the door. It is easy for politicians to point fingers at others to deflect blame," Mohammed Adam wrote for the Ottawa Citizen on Feb. 22.

"David Jeanes, president of Transport Action Canada, formerly Transport 2000, said Mercier’s tenure was marked by so many problems and controversy that it may have done him irreparable damage. Jeanes said it doesn’t matter that some of the major problems were not his doing. “Alain Mercier has been here for six years; he’s worked hard, it is unfortunate though that people will remember a lot of the bad things that happened when he was general manager,” Jeanes said. “There have been so many problems, and it may not have been all his fault. But whether it is his fault or not, it is his legacy,” the Ottawa Citizen reported. http://is.gd/JiTz35

Le Colloque ferroviaire, Les 23 kiosques qui seront sur place

Le Colloque ferroviaire annuel du Québec des 28 et 29 mars 2012. Le programme est maintenant disponible sur notre site Web, onglet colloque www.groupe-traq.com. Durant le mercredi du colloque ferroviaire du Québec, s’y tiendra la onzième activité de fournisseurs de matériel ferroviaire. Les 23 kiosques qui seront sur place seront … 1-Transports Canada, 2-Pandrol Canada Ltd., 3-Raildirect Inc., 4-Béton Provincial, 5-X-Rail signalisation inc., 6-Invensys Rail Corp., 7-Services ferroviaires CANAC inc., 8-Industrie Atlantic ltée., 9-Harsco Track Technologies (Harsco Rail), 10-SEL Warwick, 11-Delom Services, 12-Avery Weigh-Tronix, 13-Les Industries WAJAX inc., 14-All-Rail, 15-J. Lanfranco, systèmes de fixation inc., 16-Les Consultants CANARAIL inc., 17-Falcon Shuttle Rail Inc., 18-KWP Pipe, 18-Soleno Inc., 19-DAVANAC inc., 20-Railwel Canada, 21-NDT Technologies et, 22-Musée ferroviaire de la Beauce (le kiosque No. 18 représente deux compagnies). http://www.groupe-traq.com/

John Pearce, Halifax needs to increase population density and discourage greater urban sprawl

Canada's watered down road safety agenda

Canada's road safety plan was watered down
last year. It no longer covers big trucks. 

The Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators is an extra-parliamentary body that co-ordinates road safety policies. Last year the federal government more or less got out of the road safety business leaving the CCMTA with fewer resources and even less prestige.

The key evidence for this assertion is the weakness of the new master plan dubbed Road Safety Strategy 2015. http://ccmta.ca/crss-2015/

Sources suggest the safety-side of the CCMTA  and Transport Canada's road safety branch were torpedoed by a trucking industry lobby unhappy with the idea of following a proactive plan to reduce deaths and injuries involving commercial vehicles.  

They note a very good study on trucking safety called the Human Factors report is under wraps and that Road Safety Strategy 2015 does not address safer operations for commercial vehicles. 

The Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators does and will continue to do very good work.

But the safety-side of the CCMTA is now figuring out how to cut itself while providing more value to its boss, the Council of Deputies, another extra-parliamentary body. The safety-side, the Standing Committee of Road Safety and Research policy is working on  2-3 year business plan to bring to its annual meeting in Winnipeg in May.

There is not much information available about the trucking-side of the CCMTA which is called Compliance and Regulator Affairs. CRA is responsible for trucking safety. It writes the National Safety Code.

Road safety calendar:

Commuter rail governance at AMT, Metrolinx, Translink

Transport 2000 wants elected politicians to run
commuter rail services. 

350 convives, inter-urban and rural bus service in New Brunswick,

L'AMT soit dirigée par un élu, make sure you read the fine print and more news in today's Transport Action Hotline.

Transport 2000 Québec, Le prix Guy-Chartrand

« Fraîchement retraité, l’ancien directeur général de la Société de transport de Laval (STL), Pierre Giard, a été élevé au rang de personnalité marquante du domaine du transport collectif québécois, le 13 février. Devant un parterre de 350 convives, réunis lors d’un déjeuner-bénéfice, M. Giard a reçu la plus haute distinction des prix Guy-Chartrand, remis par Transport 2000 Québec » Stéphane St-Amour  a écrit pour le Courier Laval.

« Directeur général de cet organisme de pression militant pour le transport durable, Normand Parisien ne tarit pas d’éloges à l’endroit de celui qu’il a côtoyé pendant plus de 20 ans. «C’est comme le couronnement d’une carrière», résume-t-il, signalant que Pierre Giard a laissé une «forte empreinte» partout où il est passé » le Courier Laval a rapporté e 16 Février 2012 .

« M. Parisien salue, entre autres, l’important virage que la STL a abordé sous sa gouverne. L’inauguration des trois stations de métro en 2007, poursuit-il, a été le fer de lance du redéploiement de tout le réseau du transport en commun à Laval »  le Courier Laval a rapporté. http://is.gd/X0puCS

New Brunswick, No inter-urban and rural bus service in New Brunswick since Dec. 2

On Feb. 13 Transport Action's Michael Perry reported Acadian Bus Lines broke off negotiations with the Amalgamated Transit Union on Sunday night. No further negotiations are scheduled.

"There has been no inter-urban and rural bus service in New Brunswick since Dec. 2, 2011," Transport Action's John Pearce notes.The lockout affects Acadian operations in NB and PEI but not the company's Nova Scotia operations.

CBC News reported on Feb 12, 2012: "According to the company, Acadian Lines lost around $2 million running buses in New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island last year. The union wants at least a cost-of-living increase. The company presented a last-minute contract offer to the union on Nov. 25. Workers voted 88 per cent against the deal."

Rick Jelfs, TransLink’s 2013 Fare Increase

Airport authorities out of control, tarifs reduits pour les moins bien nantis

The Canadian Press reports the Safety Board has
issued another warning about post-crash fires.

Airlines snake oil, the North Mainline, Via Rail Canada's transcontinental is a jewel, 100,000 pound trucks, Cato Institute dumb growth, Train de l'Est: aussitôt relancé, aussitôt stoppé and more in today's Transport Action Hotline.

Transport 2000 Québec, Call for reduced fares for the poor

"The Montreal Transit Corporation says it has no plans to alter its fare structure to accommodate the poor. Advocacy groups say with rising costs, the buying power of people who live near the poverty line has eroded to the point that often choices have to be made between riding a bus or eating," Andrew Peplowski reported for CJAD on Feb. 10.

"They suggest a monthly pass rate for the poor could be set at around 22-dollars instead of the full fare price of 75. The Transport 2000 lobby group says current fares promote social exclusion and isolation of the poor," CJAD reported. http://is.gd/PUzZSl

Pickering Airport? What about better passenger rail

On Jan. 19, 2012 Transport Action Ontario wrote the federal Transport Minister Hon. Denis Lebel about the planned Pickering Airport. The watchdog group says an improved passenger rail system serving Ottawa-Montreal-Toronto is a more practical way to meet future travel demand. The text of Natalie Litwin's letter is available at http://is.gd/Tv54X3

Bob Broughton, Harper government goes after passenger rail again

"Passenger trains have made it onto the radar screen of the Harper government again, and that's always bad news. This time, it isn't about nickel-and-diming Amtrak over customs inspections. They are taking a page out of the Republican playbook by talking about “privatizing” Via Rail, which is a euphemism for putting it out of business," Vancouver blogger Bob Broughton reported on Feb. 9.

"Now, why would be the Conservatives want to rid us of one of Canada's major tourist attractions, just to save approximately $350 million per year? That's about 0.1% of the Federal budget, in an era when we should be talking about reducing fossil fuel dependence, instead of increasing it. A big reason is Rocky Mountain Railtours, which wants a monopoly on passenger rail travel in Canada. They have a long history of blocking efforts by Via Rail to move into more markets, such as Vancouver-Calgary. Now, they have lobbyists in Ottawa trying to sell the idea that they can not only run Via Rail off the tracks in Western Canada; they can take over passenger trains in Eastern Canada, too," Broughton reported. http://is.gd/BrYnYX

Marcus Garnet, What did Via’s $262-million 2010 deficit cost?

"(There are) two fascinating paradoxes about public transport funding that arise when we consider the effects of individual travel choices and the costs of public programs to individual taxpayers. Whenever someone boards a train, they are not adding to the amount of money needed to provide the service. They are reducing the amount. They are paying a fare to fill an otherwise empty seat. That seat will incur costs whether or not someone pays to fill it. So one way to minimize Via’s bill to the taxpayer, is to fill the trains that are already running," Marcus Garnet wrote to the editor of the National Post on Feb. 5.

"What did Via’s $262-million 2010 deficit cost the average taxpayer? The last available Census numbers (albeit 2006) counted 16 million employed Canadians. Dividing Via’s deficit by that number, we get the princely sum of $16.37. Spreading this amount over 26 biweekly paycheque deductions, gives me an average bill of 63¢ every two weeks. I spend more than that on coffee every morning," the National Post letter said.

Des tarifs reduits pour les moins bien nantis, Transport 2000

More rapid transit for Toronto

Toronto can do more with less.

Transport Action Ontario today outlined a transit plan that promises more for less.

"If we do things a little differently we can make better use of the money," says Transport Action Ontario spokesperson Bruce Budd. He points to $1.5B in savings of by cutting unnecessary tunnelling on Eglinton and another $1B to 4.1B for the two different options for a Sheppard subway (to Victoria Park, or all the way to the Scarborough Town Centre).

A letter to the Mayor and Council is enclosed below.

The report is at: http://is.gd/JBVUH3

The report advocates sizing the Eglinton tunnel for eventual subway use, a bus rapid transit corridor for Finch West and a downtown relief line.

Budd says, "Transport Action believes the city can do better."
--
Dear Mr. Mayor and City Councillors,

Pickering Airport? What about better passenger rail

GTAA Pickering Airport
Headquarters at the corner of
Highway 7
and Brock Rd. 

On Jan. 19, 2012 Transport Action Ontario wrote the federal Transport Minister Hon. Denis Lebel about the planned Pickering Airport.

The watchdog group says an improved passenger rail system serving Ottawa-Montreal-Toronto is a more practical way to meet future travel demand.

The text of the letter follows:

Dear Minister:

Along with the many opponents of the Pickering plan, Transport Action Ontario has a number of serious reservations about a revival of this unpopular project.

As you know, air travel is the most polluting form of transportation in terms of both greenhouse gas emissions and in oxides of nitrogen which at the high altitudes flown by large jet airliners form ozone in the upper troposphere.  It is also important to remember that building an airport involves a heavy investment in depleting oil resources - not a sustainable way to plan for the future. Furthermore, the ratio of aviation-induced emissions will rise as more airports are built.

 Secondary effects such as travel to and from the airport, destroyed farmland, the removal of wildlife habitat, noise and the effect on property values add to the destructive effect on our planet of excessive aviation activity.

Public money private profit, Gaspésie les trains de passagers

An overly-tired flight controller lost track
of two Porter Airline planes. 

30-year PPP for Waterloo transit, Bigger trucks Congress push, Island Corridor Foundation needs to open up, Via Rail bargain, Gaspésie, Cliff Mackay and more news in today's Transport Action Hotline.


Tired flight controller cause for 2010 Porter Airlines near-miss

"Two Porter Airlines planes came within “300 feet” of each other near Toronto after an overly-tired flight controller lost track of their positions, a federal investigator has concluded," Ian Robertson reported for the Toronto Sun on Feb. 3.

"Porter Flight 406 from Montreal, with 54 people aboard, was approaching Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport over Lake Ontario as Flight 249 with 37 people aboard took off for Ottawa. Both were cleared by a flight controller working for NAV Canada, a private, non-profit corporation that owns and operates Canada’s civil air navigation service. At around 8:39 a.m., “about six nautical miles southeast of the airport, both aircraft responded to resolution advisories from their respective traffic collision-avoidance systems,” the report states. “The aircraft crossed paths separated by approximately 300 feet vertically,” the Toronto Sun reported. http://is.gd/wGXRm5

VIA Rail may be a bargain

"Lorne Gunter objects to paying a subsidy to VIA Rail, and he praises the train system in Berlin. But he did not tell us the subsidies that Berlin pays to sustain its rail system, nor the financial contributions being made by state and federal governments in Germany toward the rail system. Because VIA has a separate budget, it is easy to determine its subsidy. But this column should also tell us what the German subsidy is. VIA may be a bargain," John J. Bakker wrote to the editor of the National Post on Jan. 30, 2012. http://is.gd/AyjASM

Gaspésie - Le train pourrait circuler l'été prochain

« Tout indique que les trains de passagers de Via Rail ne circuleront pas sur le tronçon ferroviaire de Matapédia à Gaspé avant l'été prochain en raison des travaux nécessaires pour sécuriser cette infrastructure qui s'étend sur plus de 300 kilomètres » Thierry Haroun a rapporté pour le Devoir le 3 février 2012.

John Pearce, Would that we had such priorities in legislation in Canada!