Friday, December 30, 2011

Fare/Fair: CT Senior's Pass

New year, new transit fares. Calgary's transit rates are going up (from $90 to $94 for my monthly pass), but the big story is the senior's pass increase, which is going from $35/year to $55/year. (Low-income seniors are still able to ride for $15/year, and it should be noted that a senior's pass cannot be used for Access Calgary rides.) Meanwhile, in Halifax, the push is for seniors to ride transit for free, with a petition appearing on the mayor's website this week.

Personally, I'd like to see no fares for transit (recognizing that this would mean transit funding would likely come from increased taxes for all Calgary citizens, including myself). And because I work with seniors, I am very aware that their costs are increasing faster than their incomes are (even those not yet retired).

However, in this case, I think that the City of Calgary has made the right move. If we are to develop a transit system that works for everyone, it needs to be fairly supported by everyone. Giving seniors a break on the pass rate simply because they're 65+, in a world where more and more seniors continue to work after that age, no longer makes sense.

Instead, I'd like to see a move toward two transit rate categories (regular and low income) and then look at how transit fares can be reduced and/or eliminated so that more people can use transit effectively. This is what should be really be part of the discussion on Calgary Transit priorities in 2012 and beyond.


(Cross posted at Witch-Ways, where I've been crafting magic on the internet since 1994.)

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Quebec exports millions for cars and gas

Henry Aubin: Proposal to cut cars by 20% makes sense: "- The Quebec economy would benefit if some of the billions of dollars that Quebec motorists now spend every year on 100,000 additional cars and on 12 billion litres of gas - most of which money flows to manufacturers and oil producers outside the province - were instead used to purchase local services and made-in-Quebec goods. More jobs here, more tax revenues from people with those jobs, more prosperity for all."

'via Blog this'

Saturday, December 3, 2011

CUTA | Public transit ridership shows impressive increase in first half of 2011: CUTA

CANADIAN URBAN TRANSIT ASSOCIATION | Public transit ridership shows impressive increase in first half of 2011: CUTA: "TORONTO, Nov. 29, 2011 /CNW/ - Canadian public transit ridership statistics for the first six months of 2011 show an increase of 4.93% as compared to the same January to June period in the previous year, according to the Canadian Urban Transit Association."

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