 |
Annual Railway Symposium in Quebec City next week.
|
Transport Action Atlantic, Government should intervene in ongoing Acadian Lines dispute
"An advocate for public transit in the Maritimes says it's absurd that the federal government is taking quick action to prevent an airline strike but hasn't taken steps to help end a lingering bus strike. Bus riders in the Maritimes are into their fourth month of a dispute that has cancelled all intercity bus service in New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island and prevented buses in Nova Scotia from travelling outside that province," Shawn Berry reported for the Moncton Times & Transcript on March 15.
"Mike Perry sees a difference in the way the federal government is intervening in the two disputes. He said it's absurd that governments will subsidize airlines but won't consider doing so for the bus. "I think it has to do with the class of people perceived as being the users of the two services," said the St. Andrews resident who is also a member of Transport Action Atlantic."Businessmen and people who are reasonably moneyed use airplanes. Bus is more for people who don't have a high income and are lower on the priority list," the Moncton Times & Transcript reported.
TRAQ, Le Colloque ferroviaire annuel du Québec des 28 et 29 mars
Le CN offre un déjeuner Speed Dating, mercredi 28 mars entre 07 h 30 et 10 h 00. Dernière chance pour vous inscrire à ce déjeuner. Il faut s’inscrire en en faisant la demande ici. Nous avons 24 kiosques que vous pourrez visiter gratuitement le 28 mars à l’hôtel PLAZA, entre 10 h 00 et 16 h 00.
http://is.gd/ris96g
Industrial Rail layoffs may hurt Via Rail, David Jeanes says
"The recent layoff of 85 workers at Industrial Rail Services Inc. in Moncton may have greater implications for the company and for Via Rail, says the head of a national advocacy group. The company has been contracted to refurbish 98 train cars for Via Rail," CBC News reported on March 14.
Those trains are being repaired to serve the Quebec City-Windsor corridor and are “the backbone of Via’s intercity fleet” there, said David Jeanes, president of Transport Action Canada. “They can only be spared for renovation a few at a time,” he said. Via Rail is also approaching its busy season, said Jeanes. (He said), “The delay and the technical problems are quite worrying from that point of view. This is a very important program," CBC News reported.
http://is.gd/YJSbXa
Transport Action, Why are so few LRT stations planned for downtown Ottawa
At last Tuesday’s meeting of the Finance and Economic Development committee, in response to the claim from a member of the pro-transit activist group, Transport Action, that downtown LRT stations will be farther apart than Toronto’s subway stations, Councillor Diane Deans said that wasn’t necessarily the case. She then referenced Toronto’s Wilson and Downsview, and Dupont and St. Clair stations, as being more than a kilometre apart," Joanne Chianello wrote for the Ottawa Citizen on March 9.
"True enough, but not remotely germane. The stations Deans mentioned aren’t in Toronto’s true core. Here are the Toronto platform-to-platform distances I’d look at for a more apt comparison, as provided by the Toronto Transit Commission: Dundas to Queen is 436 metres; Queen to King is 453 metres; King to Union Station is 424 metres. Now consider Ottawa’s plan: LeBreton to Downtown West (at Lyon Street) is 900 metres, and bypasses Bronson Avenue. Downtown West to Downtown East (between O’Connor and Metcalfe streets) is a respectable 420 metres. But Downtown West to the newly relocated Rideau is 740 metres. And then it’s another 850 metres to the Campus station at the University of Ottawa," the Ottawa Citizen reported. http://is.gd/37YMKp
Good news for the Miramichi, Don Macleod
"Earlier this winter, the N.B. government allocated $200 million blanket support for northern N.B. due to the sagging economy, especially the loss of forest products due to the collapse of the U.S. housing industry. Because of special hardship in the closure of newsprint and wallboard mills in the Miramichi area an extra $50 million was added there," Transport Action's Don Macleod reported on March 9.
"One industry hit hard was the Weyerhauser "oriented strand board" (OSB) plant just outside of Chatham (eastern Miramichi) on the Miramichi River and the Chatham rail spur. The plant closed in 2007 putting about 140 people out of work. In February of 2012 Arbec was able to purchase the OSB plant from Weyerhauser for $31 million. The good news for Transport Action is that the assured traffic should allow continued operation and (we hope) upgrading of CN Newcastle Subdivision track from limits of 25 freight/30 mph passenger to 40/60, especially if Arbec is to be assured efficient 286,000 lb freight car capability. A 60 mph passenger speed should restore faster pre-2010 schedules for VIA and restore bus connections now missing in Moncton, Truro, and Halifax," Don Macleod wrote.
The Annual Railway Symposium in Quebec City on March 28th & 29
The CN is offering a breakfast (Speed Dating) on Wednesday March 28 between 7:30 and 10 AM. Last chance to register for this annual Breakfast. Register with me… We shall held 24 booths that peoples can visit from 10:00 AM till 4:00 PM free of charge on March 28, 2012 at Hotel PLAZA Québec.
http://is.gd/z5yFC1
Transport Action, Toronto Panel to overwhelmingly endorse LRT over subway options
Transport Action Ontario and many other organizations are finally winning their point. "An expert transit panel will overwhelmingly urge city council to put light rail transit on Sheppard Ave. — a finding dismissed by Mayor Rob Ford without seeing the report to be made public Friday. The panel members used rigorous analysis to rank each of three options — LRT, a full subway line or building two subway stops to Victoria Park Ave. — keeping in mind the province’s $8.4 billion in promised funding for Toronto transit expansion," David Rider reported for the Toronto Star on March 15.
http://is.gd/4wOrBm
"Transport Pricing Reforms for Traffic Safety: How Efficient Transport Pricing Can Reduce Roadway Crash Risk"
A new Victoria Transport Policy Institute report, forthcoming in the Transportation Research Record, evaluates the traffic safety impacts of transport pricing reforms (increased fuel taxes, efficient road and parking pricing, distance-based insurance and registration fees, and public transit fare reductions). This analysis indicates that such reforms can significantly reduce traffic risks, but these benefits are often overlooked in policy analysis and safety planning, The Victoria Transport Policy Institute reported this week.
http://www.vtpi.org/price_safe.pdf
Kitchener-Waterloo LRT communications manager needed
"Waterloo Region has a position open for “Manager, Rapid Transit Community Relations” (main job site), and we’re linking it here because effective communication with the public and numerous stakeholders is one of the most important aspects of the LRT project’s success. If you have the necessary background and care about effective transit, growth management, and reurbanization, please consider applying," Michael Druker wrote for the Tri-cities Transport Action Group.
http://is.gd/V02xQ4
VTPI, "Smart Congestion Relief: Comprehensive Analysis Of Traffic Congestion Costs and Congestion Reduction Benefits"
A new Victoria Transport Policy Institute report critically evaluates the methods used to measure traffic congestion impacts, and applies a more comprehensive evaluation framework to various congestion reduction strategies. Current evaluation methods tend to exaggerate congestion costs and roadway expansion benefits, and underestimate the overall long-term impacts and benefits of pricing reforms, public transit improvements and land use policy reforms. The results indicate that more comprehensive evaluation can help identify more efficient and equitable congestion reduction solutions, The Victoria Transport Policy Institute reported this week.
http://www.vtpi.org/cong_relief.pdf
Travaux ferroviaires à la subdivision Vaudreuil - Pour répondre à l'achalandage croissant
L'Agence métropolitaine de transport (AMT) et le gouvernement du Québec ont annoncé (le 15 mars 2012) le financement des travaux d'amélioration de la signalisation et des infrastructures ferroviaires de la subdivision Vaudreuil, soit le corridor ferroviaire entre les gares Montréal-Ouest et Dorion sur la ligne de trains de banlieue Vaudreuil-Hudson. Ces améliorations sont en lien avec le souhait d'augmenter l'offre de service et favoriseront la flexibilité d'exploitation, des facteurs clés pour attirer une nouvelle clientèle en étant plus compétitifs par rapport à l'auto en solo.
http://cnw.ca/NYQee
VTPI, "New Social Equity Agenda for Sustainable Transportation"
Another new Victoria Transport Policy Institute report discusses the importance of incorporating social equity and environmental justice objectives into transport policy and planning analysis. It recommends a more systematic and comprehensive analysis framework that considers how planning decisions affect transport system diversity and therefore the transport options available to non-drivers, plus various external costs that harm disadvantaged people. More comprehensive analysis can help identify more integrated, win-win solutions, which achieve a variety of social, economic and environmental objectives, The Victoria Transport Policy Institute reported this week.
http://www.vtpi.org/equityagenda.pdf
VTPI, "Comprehensive Evaluation of Transport Energy Conservation and Emission Reduction Policies"
This report, submitted for publication in Transportation Research A, identifies factors to consider for comprehensive evaluation of transportation energy conservation and emission reduction policies. It applies this framework to strategies, including cleaner vehicle strategies that reduce emission rates per vehicle-kilometer, and mobility management strategies that reduce total vehicle travel. Analyses that favor clean vehicle strategies tend to overlook or undervalue significant impacts including embodied energy, rebound effects, and co-benefits. More comprehensive analysis tends to favor mobility management.
http://www.vtpi.org/comp_em_eval.pdf
VTPI's Todd Litman regularly posts on his Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/todd.litman). Befriend him now!
Truck safety news in the US
"American Trucking Associations President) Bill Graves also lauded the (Senate) bill’s attempts to make strides with highway safety. According to Graves, the bill “orders the creation of a clearinghouse for commercial drivers’ drug and alcohol test results, directs the federal government to create a notification system so employers can be told of drivers’ traffic infractions, moves [the industry] in the direction of establishing crashworthiness standards for large trucks, raises the bar new companies and drivers must clear before coming into the trucking industry; and orders the mandating of electronic logs for all commercial drivers,” Truck News reported on Mar 14, 2012. http://is.gd/mgynLa
As usual, No truck safety news in Canada
As usual there is no news about any proactive safety measures for the Canadian trucking industry. There are no recent statistics for collisions involving commercial vehicles, no results for the longer combination vehicle pilot project in Ontario, no plan for a fatigue management program, no reports on the "new" hours of service regime and no sign yet of the Human Factors report.
Steve Munro lays out basics of a Pro-LRT campaign in Toronto
Ace Toronto blogger Steve Munro wrote, "A reader who prefers to remain anonymous for professional reasons sent me a long series of questions that are the typical thing one might expect in a FAQ, or in the arsenal of someone who was attempting to convince voters that LRT is a good thing. Although I don’t have time to address the entire list, I wanted it to be “out there” as food for thought among all those who wonder just why those folks in Scarborough (and elsewhere) think so badly of LRT, Munro wrote on March 11.
http://stevemunro.ca/?p=6100
Transport Action Canada
Hotline 1157, March 16, 2012
(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
28 et 29 mars, Québec. TRAQ, Le Colloque ferroviaire annuel du Québec http://www.groupe-traq.com/
March 29, Federal budget
le 1 avril, Charny, L’assemblée générale annuelle du Groupe TRAQ aura lieu au 104-5314, avenue des Belles-Amours coin Maréchal-Joffre, http://www.groupe-traq.com/
April 1, Charny, AGM Groupe TRAQ, 104-5314, avenue des Belles-Amours http://www.groupe-traq.com/
April 21, Toronto, Transport Action Ontario Annual General Meeting, Metro Hall, Toronto, 55 John St., Room 303. 10:00 a.m. to 11:45 a.m., Business meeting and election of officers. Afternoon program: 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. tba.
les 26 et 27 avril, Granby, Le Colloque 2012 de l'Association des Transports collectifs ruraux du Québec (ATCRQ) se tiendra à Hôtel Spa et Confort à Granby, Québec http://www.atcrq.ca