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.'"