Letting go of the private car | OpenFile

Letting go of the private car | OpenFile: "Taking away private parking from the development was a measure to keep costs down and attract the local, community-minded demographic developers aimed to attract.

By mid-November, all 96 units available at market rates had sold. The 12 remaining units will be sold at below-market rates, the sale of which will be managed by Habitat for Humanity and Portland Hotel Society Community Services.

“Each parking stall costs approximately $50,000,” architect Gregory Henriquez says. Paring down parking to 15 stalls was a considerable savings. But selling parking spots was more difficult than attracting condo buyers.

“We sold all the units without the parking stalls, and then sold the parking separately afterwards. One hundred and eight people didn’t buy a parking stall. I don’t think we could sell them all,” he says. “It shows you how we overbuild parking in our city.”"

Breathe Toronto - Rally for Transit City

Breathe Toronto: "RALLY FOR TRANSIT CITY! Come together on Sunday, December 19th to demand loud and clear that City Council save Transit City, and proceed with the biggest TTC expansion in recent history as planned. As the last Council unanimously endorsed (including Ford!) Event posting: CLICK HERE

Toronto as we know it is under attack. As of his first day on the job, Rob Ford has begun disassembling years of hard work put into making the TTC a more accessible, wider reaching and faster service that was about to embark on its biggest expansion in decades. An expansion that would help reduce traffic and take thousands of tailpipes off the road, with certainty to seriously reduce the illness and death that result from living in the exhaust fumes of so many cars and trucks, as well as taking a major chunk out of our city’s contribution to Global Overheating. All of that came crashing to a halt on day one as Ford cut City funding for Transit City, effectively killing the project. Unless there is a drastic and positive response from the people of this City."

Supprimons les tarifs de transport à Montréal - Gratuité contre inégalités

Supprimons les tarifs de transport à Montréal - Gratuité contre inégalités: "Ce site défend l'accès libre et universel aux transports collectifs. On y refuse la discrimination fondée sur le revenus et l'inégalité d'accès aux ressources de la communauté. Y est contestée la place de l'automobile et la menace qu'elle fait peser sur la population. Le droit à la mobilité est une revendications de premier ordre. L'essors de l'environnement urbain et la lutte aux changements climatiques demandent des actions immédiates. Pour ces raisons nous réclamons la gratuité des transport publics pour les usagers et usagères de la STM.

Pour faire avancer le monde... "

First Blog Post: Proud to Be Pink

A big thanks to the ftpeditors who invited me to post on this blog. I'm looking forward to sharing posts and talking about the transportation revolution with you! - Trasie

I confess, I'm a button-a-holic - but that's the topic for another blog post!

On today's to-do list: order a button from Spacing Toronto.

If you missed it, here's Don Cherry's speech (at the Torontoist) that he delivered at Toronto City Council's recent swearing-in, which explains why several people on my social media feed are also ordering buttons.

Oh, and insert celebratory "Our Mayor/Council Rocks" post here: they lowered the cost of low income transit passes! 

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

Toronto's new mayor prefers his gravy train underground | Pembina Institute

Toronto's new mayor prefers his gravy train underground | Pembina Institute: "Estimates for building a new eight-kilometre stretch of subway east from the Don Mills station hover around $400-million per kilometre (including new stations). In stark contrast, building light rail transit along the same stretch would cost about $90-million per kilometer, or less than a quarter of the cost."

If the war on the car is over -- why does it keep killing us?

Tragedy on a road in Italy: A drugged driver killed seven cyclists | NewsKF: "A driver under the influence of drugs hit a group of cyclists in the middle of a race on a road in Italy. Seven people died and four others were injured. The driver was driving without a license. Police suspended his license a few months ago, for committing many irregularities in traffic."

More proof: transit fares are not for revenue

The following article gives good reason for not installing turnstiles or using smartcards. First, turnstiles and smartcards do not deter fare evasion; secondly, the estimated $5 million revenue loss due to fare evasion is less than the estimated $12 million to $15 million annual operating costs of the turnstile/smartcard operation.


Paying $15 million annually to recover $5 million in evaded fares is just plain stupid!

Read more on Rail for the Valley...

Transit fare hike counterproductive

C-Train on 7 Ave. S.W. in Calgary, Alberta Friday, January 29, 2010.

Photograph by: Stuart Gradon, Calgary Herald

Read more at the Calgary Herald

Transit fare hike counterproductive: "Calgary Transit is moving forward with fare hikes even as it puts the brakes on the level of expansion that was to accompany those increases.

The move reveals the folly of a three-year budget process, exposes a lack of transparency in how departments report their budgets, and repeats the city's pattern of working at cross purposes with itself.

Raising transit fares without the planned expansion in service is yet another way of discouraging the very behaviour Calgary is trying to encourage -- shifting people out of their cars and onto public trains and buses."

Related: Calgary Mom says car ownership a burden - Calgary Herald

Montreal Board of Trade sold on public transit

"For years, cities and environmentalists have been calling for better bus, metro and commuter train service.
Yesterday, the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal joined the cause, publishing a study suggesting efficient transportation boosts productivity and wealth.

'The business community is resolutely behind public transit,' which is 'vital to Quebec's prosperity,' said Board of Trade chief executive Michel Leblanc.

Expenditures by public transit authorities help fill provincial and federal governments coffers, while productivity is boosted because transit users spend less time stuck in traffic, the study said. Employers benefit because they can choose from a wider selection of candidates and their workers can efficiently get to and from work."

montrealgazette

Seniors should not be prisoners in their homes

CARP - A New Vision of Aging for Canada - Advocacy, Benefits, Community & Zoomer.: "Summary: “This enactment allows the Minister of Finance to make direct payments to a trust established to help provinces, territories and municipalities to offer seniors free local public transit, anywhere in Canada, during off-peak hours.” Status: First Reading, March 3, 2010, Placed on the Order of Precedence October 5, 2010

Sponsored By: Marcel Proulx, Hull--Aylmer, Quebec, Liberal Party of Canada"

There are a number of reasons that motivated me to put forward a bill to offer free public transportation during off-­‐peak hours, including:

to encourage seniors to lead active social lives and to escape the isolation in which too many of them live;

to promote transportation, which is often a problem for many seniors aged 65 and more;

to encourage the use of public transit, which is often the only method of transportation available to many seniors.

Marcel Proulx (PDF)

Brampton Honours Veterans with Free Transit on Remembrance Day

Brampton Honours Veterans with Free Transit on Remembrance Day: "Brampton - Brampton Mayor Susan Fennell today announced the continuation of the free transit program for veterans on Remembrance Day."

Big Enviro muting the climate alarm

...The deliberate decision a decade ago to downplay climate change risk in the interests of presenting a sober, optimistic image to potential donors, maintaining access to decision-makers, and operating within the constraints of private foundations has blown back on us. By emphasizing specific solutions and avoiding definitions that might appear alarmist, we inadvertently fed a dumbed-down, Readers Digest version of climate change to our staff and environmentalist core. Now, as we scramble to keep up with climate scientists, we discover that we have paid a hefty price. Humanity has <10 years to avert cataclysm and most U.S. environmentalists simply don’t believe it....

canadianclimateaction

Greater Toronto Workers' Assembly Calls for Free Public Transit

http://www.workersassembly.ca/

US housing crisis underlines role of transit in reducing poverty, a lesson Metro Vancouver should remember — Geoff Meggs

US housing crisis underlines role of transit in reducing poverty, a lesson Metro Vancouver should remember — Geoff Meggs: "The explosion of poverty in America’s car-friendly suburbs, where waves of foreclosures are stripping families of their equity, is underlining the importance of public transit in supporting families on low income. The crisis is deepening this week as many states halt foreclosure sales because of fraud claims, a development that giving the US economy a further pounding."

Another Free Transit Advocate running for office - Ken Wood [Toronto]

HIGHLIGHTS of Ken Wood's TAKE ON TRANSIT:
* BUILD TRANSIT CITY: time is short, no more debates This is a starting point.
* FREE PUBLIC TRANSIT. We need vision now for this to be a reality in 25 years,
* ESSENTIAL SERVICE is what Public Transit (TTC) should be. PUBLIC not private control.
* TTC Chair should be a separate, elected position requiring skills and experience going into the job, similar to how the USA elects judges and sheriffs. Reports to Mayor and City Council.
* BUILD SUBWAYS - a few kilometers a year, every year. 25 year ongoing planning.
* FAIR FUNDING: 20% City, 40% Provincial, 40% Federal. NO USER FEES. Makes environmental winners of us all. Lets get serious about our values and the future of our children.

Ken Wood

Ottawa Council candidate calls for free transit

...Lili Weemen: We need better public transit services, with weekly transit pass option, light rail along Carling and free public transportation arriving before 7 a.m. and leaving downtown after 6 p.m. everyday. Free shuttle bus downtown eliminating the traffic jam. More buses to run till later at night for evening shift workers to avoid using cars.
...Lili Weemen: I have never owned a car and certainly know the joys and pains of using public transit all my life. We need fewer one way streets in the downtown core with free hop on hop off shuttle bus during the day requiring fewer cars to move around in the city core. Digging tunnels in a city of under one million would certainly increase your taxes.

emckanata

CBC.ca My Region - Montrealers implored to go car-free all week

CBC.ca My Region - Montrealers implored to go car-free all week: "Montreal commuters who are married to their cars are being asked to leave them at home this week, as the city expands its annual car-free campaign from one day to five.
'In Town Without My Car All Week Long' is the new name for the eighth annual campaign organized by the Metropolitan Transport Agency.

Transit officials hope the expanded campaign will encourage more people to take a cleaner form of transportation to work or school for several days, not just one. Daily workshops, public lectures and street activities will take place all week in and around Sainte-Catherine Street and Complex Desjardins.

Five days of events, one-day ban on cars"

Mayoral candidate advocates free public transit

Mayoral candidate unveils platform | London | News | London Free Press: "Cynthia Etheridge, who a distant third in the 2006 race, is running again and has unveiled the main planks of her campaign platform, including several radical ideas.

Calling it a “new vision for our Forest City,” Etheridge pledges the following:

• An end to debt-servicing, with the city budget using only the funds available to “prevent over-spending and shortfalls that currently plague our system.”
• Making all London Transit rides totally free. That, she says, will increase ridership and lower single-occupant traffic.
• A developed and beautified waterfront is an “unrealized gem of London” that she’d like to to make “one of London’s premier attraction.”
• Improve city relationships with its departments and commissions
• Institute a four-day work week that would allow “more leisure time (that) promotes friendships and stronger family ties.”"

Your City, My City

Your City, My City: "In the future, if we rely too heavily on private automobiles for the majority of our travel needs, studies and transportation models predict our communities will become choked by traffic and quality of life eroded by the associated negative environmental and social impacts."

Online Party of Canada supports Free Public Transit

OPC members in majority currently support Free Public Transit.

Do you agree? Join OPC today and Have Your Say!

The international movement for Free Public Transit has gained momentum in recent years. It is based on a simple idea: if the transit service were free of charge, people would be very much inclined to leave their cars at home, saving their cash and reducing their impact on the environment. This move would benefit the lower-income level of the society. The rich and powerful would also benefit from a reduced number of cars on the highways - faster rides for their limos.

Online Party of Canada has posted an Issue on the website and the majority of members currently support Free Public Transit throughout Canada: http://www.onlineparty.ca/issue.php?ISSUEID=20

** Online Party of Canada is a new, innovative political movement that brings the political dialogue online, with real-time voting and comments on every issue. Unlike traditional political parties, OPC does not propel individuals into public offices, it collects public opinions and mandates its representatives to support the position voted by the majority of its members. This is the essence of a democratic system. Wireservice.CA

Urban Space Dominated by Cars is Not Good for Ordinary People | Mostly Water

Urban Space Dominated by Cars is Not Good for Ordinary People | Mostly Water: "When the automobile is used as the primary mode of mass transit, the poorest are hardest hit. In 2008, for instance, the poorest fifth of Americans spent 13 per cent of their income on gas. The top fifth spent 3 per cent. In Highway Robbery: Transportation, Racism and New Routes to Equity, Robert Bullard notes: 'Those earning less than $ 14,000 per year, after taxes, spend approximately 40 per cent of their take-home pay on transportation expenditures. This compares to 22 per cent for families earning between $27,177 and $44,461 annually, and 13 per cent per year for families making more than $71,900 per year.'"

Helium: Public transport should be free

If we can agree that government has some role to play in our lives, then let's at least make it a positive one.

Consider the benefits of free, fully-subsidized public transportation: first, it will motivate more people to leave their cars at home. Think of the reduction in pollution and traffic congestion and insurance costs due to accidents. Greener cities, safer cities, more livable cities. More room for parks and trees. Think of the money we'll all save by consuming less gas, spending less frequently on car repairs, and so on. That money will stay in our wallets and we could then turn around and give the economy a boost by spending it on other consumer goods or services. More jobs.

Secondly, we must consider the health benefits. We'll all walk a little more. This will reduce visits to doctors' offices and hospitals because we'll be healthier. We'll have improved blood pressure, lower stress and possibly a better complexion.

In addition, free transportation will encourage us to enjoy the company of our friends and family. It will become much more feasible to safely drink another glass of wine at the restaurant or have that extra beer at the family gathering. We'll avoid the worry of getting behind the wheel with a blood-alcohol level that's above the legal limit. Fewer accidents, fewer tragedies, lower costs of policing and reduced court backlogs. The increased public expense in transportation should pay off in the form of reduced health care costs and a safer society.

Then think about some of the other social benefits: imagine how much we'll learn from each other when we share rides instead of sitting in isolation in our cars. Talking to the neighbors might come back into fashion. More people will meet and talk and maybe even help each other. What a concept!

Having someone else drive us will also give us more time for reading books and newspapers. We'll be more informed and perhaps make better decisions come election time.

So.. park your car and use it for your dream vacation.

No more fumbling for change...just hop on and off the streetcar or bus wherever and whenever you like. What a great idea, especially for those who live in congested, polluted cities. It will renew life on our streets.

So I can't agree more with this proposition. Let's go for it!

Renato Zane on Helium

Candidate for Burlington mayor proposes free public transit for seniors

D'Amelio suggests the city's 26,250 seniors, who make up 15 per cent of the city's 175,000 population, could ride for free from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and after 7 p.m. from Monday to Friday, and all day on the weekends.

"I want to see our seniors out and about enjoying the wonderful amenities that Burlington has to offer. Taking public transit can also be a social event for seniors living alone. The buses are running anyway so there's no additional cost." thespec

Kingston, ON - Free Transit Candidate drops out of mayor race

"The very first thing I would have done would be to offer free public transit to all members of the Canadian Armed Forces in uniform," he said. "The second was to have public transportation free to all seniors between 10 o'clock and 2 o'clock on weekdays." TheWhig

Reduced ocean oxygen has led to mass extinction in the past

...Warming ocean temperatures reduce the water’s oxygen content, and rising atmospheric carbon dioxide is altering the basic chemistry of the ocean, making it more acidic. There is no shortage of evidence that both of these effects have begun to wreak havoc on certain important creatures.

Human beings created these problems, largely in the two centuries since the Industrial Revolution, but for some researchers, they bring to mind the ancient past. The Earth has seen several mass extinctions, including five that annihilated more than half the planet’s species. Experts now believe Earth is in the midst of a sixth event, the first one caused by humans.... Canadians for Action on Climate Change

Toronto TTC needs to be fare-free and accessible

Toronto Star calls for free public transit

...Rather than freezing the public sector, this moment should be an opportunity to address the crisis in the transportation sector that is so vital to Ontario’s whole economy, as measured not only in auto industry shutdowns and layoffs but in notorious traffic congestion on our roads.

This would mean converting auto assembly and parts plants to the production of energy efficient mass transit vehicles and using the tax revenues from the jobs generated thereby to fund free public transit. If there was ever a time to use Ontario’s capacity to raise funds in bond markets for this, it is now. Far from placing a burden on future generations, it would guarantee them a future.... TheStar

Why not offer free public transit?

City council is now considering bus service and this is a good opportunity to consider another option: Make them free.

Ridership provides a substantial part of the cost of running the bus system, and city taxes and provincial subsidies provide the rest, but these subsidies are being wasted if they are running empty a large part of the time.

Making bus rides free will increase ridership, reduce the use of automobiles, decrease pollu- tion, decrease traffic and no doubt free up parking spaces....

Rob Gordon Stratford - letter to the Beacon Herald

Green Party Candidate wants free public transit in Cornwall

It's a Green Party - photo by Jason Setnyk

Gilcig Wins Nomination to Represent the Green Party - Local - News - Seaway News: "Gilcig regularly attends the Cornwall Farmer’s Market and promotes it on his website. According to Gilcig buying food from local farmers is a way to reduce greenhouse emissions. At the interview, Gilcig was eating a green salad at Caf�Connectionz.
Gilcig wants SDSG to become more green, and a part of that vision is free public transportation in Cornwall. “I’d like to initiate a three year pilot project, and I would work with the provincial and municipal governments to make that possibility a reality.'"

Pump price doesn’t cover gasoline cost / LJWorld.com

Pump price doesn’t cover gasoline cost / LJWorld.com: "That means the gasoline you’re buying at the pump is — stick with me here — too cheap. The price you pay is less than the product’s true cost. A lot less, actually. And it’s not just catastrophic spills and dramatic disruptions in the Middle East that add to the price. Gasoline has so many hidden costs that there’s a cottage industry devoted to tallying them up. At least the ones that can be tallied up."

Cities should be like college campuses - with free public transit

"The Disneyland approach - making poverty disappear by excluding the poor – is cheap and effective, but unfortunately not generalizable to society as a whole.

Society already follows the Disneyland approach by consigning the poor to low-income districts, public housing tenements, and depressed rural communities that are out of sight to many. A suburbanite can get through his day without seeing any poor people: he lives away from poverty, shops away from poverty, and can often work away from poverty.

I've always thought that urban planners should try to mimic certain university campuses: bike- and pedestrian-centric, free public transit (the larger ones, at least), medium- to high-density housing, not-for-profit housing, and plenty of greenery to compensate for the tighter living arrangements. Fountains are underutilized, too, in my opinion. Frances Woolley - comment on - Worthwhile

Heat Alert for the City of Brampton

Heat Alert for the City of Brampton: "Brampton - Peel Public Health has issued a heat alert for the City of Brampton. Temperatures are expected to reach 33 degrees for today and possibly throughout the week.

Peel Public Health encourages residents to restrict outdoor activity. It is also recommended that the public stay out of the sun, drink lots of water and stay in air conditioned places. Seniors and young children are particularly at risk."

Newcomer challenges McMullan for city's top job - St. Catharines Standard - Ontario, CA

Newcomer challenges McMullan for city's top job - St. Catharines Standard - Ontario, CA: "But the two-time mayoral candidate in Niagara Falls wants to assure Garden City residents his campaign is no laughing matter."
"The wonders of Niagara Falls thing was just for fun. I'm a fun guy. If some people take me as a joke, well, I take them with a grain of salt," he said. "I want to be mayor of St. Catharines and I have some good ideas."

Among those ideas, free public transit...

Free public transit for seniors. Let them get out and travel

2nd Session, 40th Parliament,
2e session, 40e législature,

57-58 Elizabeth II, 2009
57-58 Elizabeth II, 2009

house of commons of canada
chambre des communes du canada

BILL C-449
PROJET DE LOI C-449

An Act regarding free public transit for seniors
Loi concernant la gratuité des transports en commun pour les aînés

Preamble

Whereas seniors should be encouraged to lead active social lives and to escape the isolation in which some of them live;

Whereas transportation is a problem for many seniors in Canada;

Whereas public transit is often the only method of transportation available to some of them;

And whereas the Government of Canada wants to offer financial support to that end;

Attendu : Préambule
qu’il est bon de favoriser la participation active des aînés à la vie sociale et de briser l’isolement dans lequel vivent certains d’entre eux;

que les déplacements représentent un défi pour bon nombre d’aînés au Canada;

que le transport en commun s’avère souvent l’unique moyen de transport pour certains aînés;

que le gouvernement du Canada souhaite offrir un soutien financier à cette fin,

Now, therefore, Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:

Sa Majesté, sur l'avis et avec le consentement du Sénat et de la Chambre des communes du Canada, édicte :

SHORT TITLE
TITRE ABRÉGÉ

Short title

1. This Act may be cited as the Free Public Transit for Seniors Act.
1. Loi sur la gratuité des transports en commun pour les aînés. Titre abrégé

INTERPRETATION
DÉFINITION

Definition of “senior”

2. In this Act, “senior” means any person 65 years of age or older.
2. Dans la présente loi, « aîné » s'entend de toute personne âgée d'au moins soixante-cinq ans. Définition de « aîné »

PUBLIC TRANSIT TRUST
FIDUCIE POUR LE TRANSPORT EN COMMUN

Payments

3. (1) The Minister of Finance may make direct payments to a trust established to fund free local public transit for seniors, anywhere in Canada, during off-peak hours.
3. (1) Le ministre des Finances peut effectuer des paiements directs à une fiducie établie en vue de financer la gratuité des transports en commun locaux pour les aînés, partout au Canada, en dehors des heures d’affluence. Paiements

Determination of amount

(2) The amount to be paid to any province, territory or municipality shall be determined in accordance with the terms of the trust indenture establishing the trust.
(2) La somme qui peut être versée à une province, à un territoire ou à une municipalité est déterminée en conformité avec les modalités énoncées dans l’acte établissant la fiducie. Détermination de la somme

Amounts to be paid out of C.R.F.

(3) There shall be paid out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund, on the requisition of the Minister of Finance, any amounts to be paid pursuant to this section, at the times and in the manner that the Minister of Finance considers appropriate.
(3) À la demande du ministre des Finances, les sommes à payer au titre du présent article sont prélevées sur le Trésor, selon les échéances et les modalités qu’il estime indiquées. Paiements sur le Trésor

Parks, not freeways

Sunbury Neighbors

Taking action to save Burns Bog

Waterloo residents discuss free transit

According to Wikipedia, it's mostly small towns that offer system wide free transit.
I suppose you might be able to gain some (or even considerable) popular support for "free" transit if you offered it as an alternative to LRT. With such a program, you could intensify bus routes, vastly increase ridership, and get personal vehicles off the streets for far lower capital costs than with LRT. You could even get some cost recovery for the transit system by charging nominal tolls on the expressway which would drive even more people to transit (but would probably be very unpopular at this point in time). garthdanlor
-----
I should add that there are some serious direct cost savings in going to a free transit system: no fareboxes and maintenance, elimination of staffing for transit passes and overhead for ticket printing. Biggest of all is the time (and thus operating costs) saved in loading, as that would be done quickly and through all doors.

Just as a point of reference, total GRT expenditures last year were $73m, $21.5m of which came from passenger revenue and $41.5m of which came from regional taxes. So it would be a 50% increase in the regional tax levy to make transit free. (Though it would be somewhat more due to the higher resulting ridership.) mpd618

more at http://www.wonderfulwaterloo.com/

London zero-fare advocate Greg Fowler addresses transit committee

Listen as zero-fare transit advocate addresses London, Ontario transit committee. Private auto is heavily subsidized! Millions spent on roads while poor are prisoners in their homes. Click here to listen.

Bike Forum discusses free public transportation

All transportation is subsidized. People drive on the road for "free" (except tollways) and probably more tax dollars subsidize that than go towards public transportation. In the US the gas tax certainly does not cover anywhere near the cost of providing roads. As I understand it, University of British Columbia students get "free" transit in Vancouver subsidized by various means. I think it is a great idea. The city is very well served by public transit and that makes it attractive and cheap for other users. -- cooker, on bike forum

What is it like to have free public transit?

This city of 70,000 residents, with 300,000 commuters from the surrounding area, has made traveling by bus easy, affordable, and efficient. Now, people in Hasselt often speak of "their" bus system, and with good reason. The Boulevard Shuttle leaves you waiting for at most five minutes, the Central Shuttle has a 10 minute frequency, and system-wide you never have to wait more than a half an hour... -- Dave Olsen writing about free transit in Hasselt original in the Tyee, republished by Public Values.

Wrong Way - Translink fare increases

Rapidly rising fares are in themselves a form of privatization. As the fares increase, the burden of paying for transit shifts from governments—using tax revenues—onto individual riders. This “user pay” model undermines the very essence of a public service—that a necessary public good is paid for by the public and user fees (if any) are set at a nominal rate that ensures broad public access. The redistributive function of public services like transit was one of the things that made it possible for low-wage workers, the unemployed, and low-income seniors and students to survive economically in a context of stagnant incomes. As we constantly hear from bus riders when we are organizing on the bus and in the community, “everything is going up except our wages”.Straight.com

Laval, QC, SOCIETE DE TRANSPORT DE LAVAL shows how to do transit

• The STL operates over 20 million runs annually.
• The overhaul of the bus network, made necessary by the extension of the metro to Laval, gave rise to a 28% increase in service, faster trips and more direct bus routes.
• The frequency of buses outside rush hours, on evenings and weekends, has doubled on 12 lines since August 2009.
• The fare policy is particularly designed to encourage families to use public transit: All adults paying their fare on weekends and holidays may be accompanied, free of charge, by up to five children age 11 and under. This policy also applies to every day in the summer, July 1 - Labour Day. In addition, the STL's $1 fares on summer smog days are a first in Québec.
• The STL is carrying out a feasibility study for a trolleybus network powered by electrical energy.
• It is financing Éco Mobile à Laval, a major operation by Vélo Québec and aimed at promoting alternate solutions to car use.
• It is also partnering with the Association québécoise de lutte contre la pollution atmosphérique, Communauto and The Carpooling Network to promote sustainable transportation in Laval.
• All vehicles on its fleet use biodiesel B5, a fuel that comes from recycled oil that isn't made of corn.
• At the beginning of 2010, the STL launched STL Synchro, an unprecedented program providing transit user information in real time by means of display units installed at bus stops and inside buses, with the same information available via text messaging and the Internet.
• The STL has its own page on Facebook, where it announces service notices, and it is also on Twitter.
• The STL offers riders the opportunity to register on My STL to receive notices on its bus routes that they usually take.
• Since the roll-out, in 2009, of its vehicle scheduling control system, the STL's on-time performance has been on the rise, up to almost 92%, thereby prompting the envy of transit users of other transit corporations.

CNW Newswire

Report from the field on the progress of the war

The War on The Car drags on. The Resistance continues to suffer heavy casualties. Our foot soldiers, mounted forces, and transit brigade have launched numerous offensives this past year, but made only minor advances. The strength of our foe is daunting, but our fighters are brave, nimble, and fit. As the battles of 2009 fade into history I feel strangely optimistic, despite The Car's continuing domination.... rabble

Montreal paying people to stay put -- but there is a better way

...The mayor refused to predict how much the new measures would actually cut the steady annual stream of young families exiting Montreal.

Tremblay identified $12.9 million of fresh spending this year on a beefed-up subsidy program for new-home purchases, of which $8.3 million is coming from the provincial government and the other $4.6 million from city coffers:...

Read more in montrealgazette:

There is no guarantee that this plan will work. And that's a lot of money to gamble. It is open to attack as favoring one group over another.
We suggest that Montreal use the money to make public transport fare-free. That will improve life for all, free seniors from dependency, reduce parking problems, increase home and business values, reduce pollution, reduce congestion, attract tourists, reduce collisions and their medical costs, and on and on and on....

Parking Policy Reform More Important Than LEED Certification

...The City Of Vancouver, BC built a 98 unit market rental apartment tower above the new Community Center at Kingsway and Main designed to achieve Leed Gold certification. This building is located in a very walkable area with abundant local services, close to five major bus lines. It is an ideal location to encourage car-free living.
However, the building also has 78 underground parking stalls (0.8 spaces per unit). These parking spaces are unbundled (rented separately from housing units), but priced at just $35 per month, although the cost-recovery price would be about $250, so residents’ parking, and therefore vehicle ownership are still subsidized by about $215 per month. If parking were efficiently priced, apartment rents could be reduced about $200 per month, greatly increasing housing affordability in a city with a severe housing unaffordability problem. ... Todd Litman on Planetizen

Tipping point - melting methane under the oceans

People's Transit

People's Transit

Stop Gateway

...The Gateway Project would drastically increase the Lower Mainland’s contribution to greenhouse gas emissions and pollution levels. Emission Levels would increase due to the tripling of shipping vessels and heavy truck traffic off Deltaport that will feed new traffic onto proposed roadways such as the South Fraser Perimeter Road (SFPR), the twinned Port Mann Bridge, the widened Highway 1, and then into the heart of the Lower Mainland. To make matters worse, the Gateway Project would create car dependent suburban sprawl, which starves public transit by monopolizing billions of dollars in public transportation funding. In a public opinion poll released last May, 69% of Lower Mainland residents said they would like to see money currently designated for highway construction to be re-directed to public transit in light of concerns about global warming. It is important to note that the B.C. Treasury Board stated that 3 times as many jobs could be created by investing in public transit compared to investing the same amount in highway construction....Read More at Western Canada Wilderness Committee

Bailouts for banks - fare hikes for us.

...And that’s the key. Instead of funding services for working people, provincial and federal governments have chosen to use taxpayer money to bail out big industries and banks. The auto industry got $4-billion loans so that they would not collapse—but the loans did not include provisions for preserving jobs. A $12-billion fund was created to encourage car sales—inefficient, polluting cars that few people want to buy...Noaman Ali BasicsNews

Edmonton - continuing intelligent discussion of free transit

Fares have never been used to fund transit capital expenditures. Fares barely fund 45% of operating expenses and even if you doubled fares, the net revenue would be marginal as a large portion of your ridership would find alternates to using transit. A net zero sum game.

Going free transit may cause a ridership boom which may encourage civic leaders to re-think transit and have enough clout to go after funding from provincial and federal dollars as part of an effective green strategy.

I think it is worth a shot to even try a three month period in off peak months like June-August to see if ridership can be improved significantly. Programs like the U-pass were tried and have become successful, why not a larger program? Most other programs including massive LRT expenditures have not increased overall ridership above the nominal 9% of Edmonton's transit needs in more than 20 years.
http://connect2edmonton.ca/forum/showthread.php?p=253748

Private auto transport system is unjust

Cooperative Justice and Free Public Transit - Urban transportation is a central issue for theories of urban justice. The current car culture is unjust because it discriminates against those who cannot afford to be a part of it, and it is inefficient because it creates a collectively disadvantageous situation. In this paper, I will first argue that public policies should encourage a modal transfer from car to public transit. Drawing on a theory of cooperative justice, I will then argue that free public transit is mutually advantageous and can be defended from both the perspectives of equality and efficiency. Patrick Turmel in the Candadian Association of Research Libraries

Invest in transit - Stop Gateway

2006 - Scientists predict climate change will cause earthquakes

Climate change could cause earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, scientists say

"What happens is the weight of this thick ice puts a lot of stress on the earth," says Wu. "The weight sort of suppresses the earthquakes but when you melt the ice the earthquakes get triggered."

When a quake happens under water it can cause a tsunami. Wu said melting of the Antarctic ice is already causing earthquakes and underground landslides although they get little attention. He predicted climate warming will bring "lots of earthquakes." U.S. Climate Emergency Council

Climate emergency threatens mass extinctions this century

...What needs to be done? Right now it is fairly impossible to do anything — the biggest step in many cities has been to ban plastic bags. But if people were really convinced that this is an emergency — that this is a race against time to save billions of people — many measures would come to mind.

Here’s a short list: Eliminate non-essential goods and services and implement fair distribution of the basic necessary supplies of non-renewable energy, food, water, shelter, health care, in terms of peoples’ needs and not their wealth; expand public goods such as libraries, parks, community rec centres, museums, education; reduce work-time; implement massive income redistribution; ration personal use of air travel and restrict carbon intensive aviation and shipping to essential services (no mangos in winter); introduce free public transit; [our emphasis] halt the tar sands operations; massively expand renewable energy supplies; restore agricultural land and utilize urban space for farming; protect watersheds; retrofit existing buildings; and globally, convert the carbon intensive military complex to a civilian conservation corps....ecosocialism Canada

see also http://canadiandimension.com/articles/2677/

Save up to $5,000 a year!

It costs around $10,000 per year to own and drive a car for 18,000km (according to the Canadian Automobile Association). Which means that transportation eats up a huge and often unnecessary part of your income!

And with rising gas prices, it's not going to get any cheaper.

Now, imagine if you could get rid of a car -- go car-free if you live downtown, or shed a car if you have several cars in the suburbs. Actually, you still get to drive a car. You just don't have to pay all the costs of owning one!

We can save you $5,000 a year, just by matching the best transportation options to your needs! You'll also find you'll spend more time shopping locally, meeting neighbours, and helping your local economy. GreenOntario