Is Public Transit an Essential Service?

If you think that public transit is not important to the whole of society, then just wait for a strike. Suddenly, all those politicians who are against fully funding it discover how important it is. The blog "Challenging the Commonplace" took a look at their logic. Here are some excerpts:

If the Feds declare public transit an essential service... which looks to be about to happen, then mustn't the feds ensure public transit is provided to ALL Canadians, not just those in Ottawa?


However, IF the feds declare public transit an essential service in Ottawa, then it also sounds logical that public transit, as such, is an essential service to everyone, no matter where they live.

Am looking for consistency here - which, I realize, is a tough chore given the Harper Govt's record. - Chrystal Ocean



I don't understand why Health Canada allows the use of automobiles. There are more deaths and injuries to our citizens from automobile accidents than from listeria or plastic baby bottles. I think they should be pulled from the roads and streets.
Seriously. They cost us about $200 Billion to supply services to accomodate them and they foul our air, they make too much noise, they create far too much stress and they require too much energy. In the US, Americans kill themselves and each other 47,000 times a year. One road averages about a million dollars.
Add on police surveillance,parking lots and a few others like crime, courts and coroners adds up to about $398 Billion from the public purse.
Public transit is essential but it needs some redesigning and innovative thought.
8000 people were stranded at a Sky Train on Boxing night in Vancouver.I don't know how they all got home but I'll bet none of their fellow Canadians owning 4WDs, SUVs, pickups,etc. thought that they could help out. They were still complaining about their streets not being cleared fast enough so they could drive in to Horton's for their morning donuts and coffeee while idling away.
So don't get me going about public transit because I will tell you how angry about the lack of it for the love of automobiles.
Just how many more of these darn things are we going to allow on our planet anyways?
Essentially, the problem with transit is automobiles. - ml johnstone