Friday, November 25, 2011

Ottawa Students Stand Opposed to 24% Transit Fee Increase | STUDY Magazine

Ottawa Students Stand Opposed to 24% Transit Fee Increase | STUDY Magazine: "10,000 Students Against 70 dollar U-Pass Hike
Written by Ryan Leclaire
Thousands of students are united in their outrage over a proposed 24% increase to the price of the Universal Transit Pass (U-Pass).
They are equally upset that Ottawa’s transit commission has also recommended the elimination of the student semester and annual pass."

'via Blog this'

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Friday, November 18, 2011

Campaign to stop Winnipeg #transit fare hikes

Why This Is Important

Many sustainable lifestyle choices are easily motivated with financial initiatives; and choosing public transportation is no different. So why has Winnipeg city council approved yet another 25 cent fare hike to pay for rapid transit? A proper move by a city council would be to motivate their residents to choose sustainable transportation; instead of penalizing those who make this choice.

In rush hour, there’s an average of 1.2 persons per car. At that rate 2 buses can carry as many people as a hundred cars. In a single lane the cars would stretch over a third of a mile; the buses only 90 feet – and that can reduce congestion, noise and air pollution by over 90%. [SOURCE]

Why is this important?

Adding lanes and expressways brings more cars, more congestion--and of course--longer commutes in the long term. In addition, car traffic is, indirectly, the most expensive burden there is for urban taxpayers. City budgets are stretched all over the continent - not just here in Winnipeg.

Coun. Justin Swandel made the motion for the fare hike on Wednesday, saying it is one way to cover the expense of speeding up the construction on the city's rapid transit routes. A transit fare increase would have to be endorsed by the Manitoba government and Premier Greg Selinger appeared supportive of the idea.

Obviously: better transit systems are the most effective way of improving traffic flow. It benefits drivers and transit riders. Most North American cities have learned the inefficient way that emphasizing car traffic over other modes of transportation actually makes things worse for drivers.

Why do we need to petition for this?

As residents of Winnipeg, we also pay taxes. The more cars there are, the more sprawl, and the less efficient your infrastructure is. You have more and more kms of roads serving a lower and lower population density--which is bad for your wallet, and the environment. The relative costs of maintaining this infrastructure skyrockets too.

Everyone subsidizes the roads in the city, even those of us who choose not to live in the the typical suburbs and drive our SUV everywhere. Make your voice heard today, and help make a Change in our beautiful city.

The cities that are doing well in terms of commute times, costs, budgets and tax burdens are the ones that have fought back urban sprawl and congestion with dense communities and effective transit.

Please sign if you endorse a better transit service and to put a stop to rapid and unreasonable increase of bus fares in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Link to Petition

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

L'avenir du transport collectif passe par les redevances sur les cardurants, plaide le groupe TRANSIT | Montréal | Radio-Canada.ca

Un bus de la Société de transport de Laval
L'avenir du transport collectif passe par les redevances sur les cardurants, plaide le groupe TRANSIT | Montréal | Radio-Canada.ca: "Pour doter les services de transport publics des ressources nécessaire pour faire face à l'augmentation croissante de leur clientèle, TRANSIT demande à Québec de multiplier par cinq la redevance sur les carburants et les combustibles fossiles.

Selon TRANSIT, une telle mesure permettrait de faire face à une augmentation d'au moins 40 % de l'achalandage dans les transports en commun d'ici 2020.

« Manifestement, le public est au rendez-vous, mais si on veut qu'il continue à préférer le transport collectif au transport individuel, il faudra qu'il y trouve son compte, c'est-à-dire que l'offre réponde à la demande en qualité et en quantité. » —
Karel Mayrand, directeur général de la Fondation David Suzuki"

'via Blog this'

What if transit were free?

Metro:

This city spends tens of millions on planning, building and maintaining roads every year, primarily for the benefit of private automobile owners.
The new Transportation Master Plan calls for $2.1 billion in new roads and bridges to be built over the next 20 years. Billions more will be needed to maintain our existing crumbling streets.

But we could potentially save much of that expense if we could simply get more people out of their cars and on to transit.

It wouldn’t be cheap; we’d need more buses, more drivers and more public-operating subsidies. But the benefits are clear. It would reduce traffic congestion, speed up everyone’s commute and eliminate the need for more road capacity. It would benefit the environment, encourage more compact development and enhance mobility for people who can’t drive or afford a car.