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