Thank you for calling the Transport 2000 Canada Hotline for 4th November 2000. David Leibold reporting. Headlines: * Transport 2000 Canada Board Meeting * Montreal airport authority update * Calgary LRT expansion update * Ohio train expansion plans * Rough ride for new London VIA station * Toronto trash transport update * Air passenger's death blamed on plane seating * Elevators * Nav Canada results * National transit ridership up * CP 3rd quarter results * CP gets out of the community water busines * Prentiss subdivision opened * BC Ferries plans fare increases * Ottawa Mayor Candidates Debate on Environment * B.C. transit funding threatened * New Banff Greyhound station location * Singapore air crash * More international air traffic growth expected * www.travel? * Calendar Details: * Transport 2000 Canada Board Meeting The Transport 2000 Canada Board met for its fall session 27-28th October. Dozens of ballots expressing an opinion on the future name of the association were received and tallied. The result was decisively in favour of keeping the existing Transport 2000 name. Transport Action was a strong second choice. On that basis, the National Board voted to retain the name Transport 2000 Canada. Guests included: - From the Canadian Bus Association, Sheilagh Beaudin was on hand to discuss the current state of the industry, including efforts to improve integration with rail and air carriers. - Air Industry Restructuring observer Debra Ward was also a guest, to describe the state of the industry as the Air Canada merger continues. The Board also discussed Revenue Canada considerations regarding the relationship between the National and Regional associations. Transport 2000 Quebec and T2000 Canada hosted two representatives of Transport 2000 Cote d'Ivoire as mentioned on the Hotline of two weeks ago. One challenge there will be to improve the public transit service in urban centres such as Abidjan. The African nation also has only one rail line, limiting passenger service options. The weekend ended with a Sunday morning light rail tour for National Board members and a few other interested parties. This was lead by Tim Lane and David Jeanes, and conducted almost entirely on public transit and on foot. * Montreal airport authority update Alain Ferland was named Interim President and Chief Executive Officer of the Aeroports de Montreal corporation, taking office 6th November and until such time as a long-term President and CEO can be appointed. He replaces Nycol Pageau-Goyette who resigned after making disparaging remarks regarding federal Transport Minister David Collenette. * Calgary LRT expansion update The City of Calgary Transportation Project Office website at http://www.calgarytpo.com/ lists the road and LRT projects it is involved in. The extension of the South LRT line is under way. There is also serious planning towards an extension of the Northwest LRT line, with construction planned to begin next year. * Ohio train expansion plans In U.S. rail developments, Ohio's Governor announced a passenger rail plan which includes a request for a high speed rail designation on the so-called 3-C Corridor - Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati. If the federal high speed designation is approved, special federal funding would be available. The Ohio plan also includes improvements on existing passenger rail services. The Ohio Association of Railroad Passengers supported these recent pro-rail measures. * Rough ride for new London VIA station In its $400 million package of capital improvements, VIA Rail announced it would spend $8 million in London, Ontario to build a new station. 355 000 passengers travelled through London station last year. Initial station design proposals drew much criticism. VIA wants a common station design, a branding exercise common to chain stores such as donut shops and fast food outlets. Many London residents feel insulted that the local downtown character was not an apparent consideration for this crucial transportation facility. VIA says station designs seen so far are preliminary and are only rough sketches. Meanwhile, London station will be moving to temporary facilities, until the new station is built on lands next to the CN office tower where the station was located for 31 years. * Toronto trash transport update Toronto's plan to ship its garbage to the Adams Mine lands near Kirkland Lake was abandoned last month, shortly after the city approved it. Trash will now be transported by truck to facilities in the state of Michigan, after the last Toronto-area dump shuts down in 2002. The City of London, among others, objects to the deal which would mean hundreds of additional trucks per day along the busy and sometimes treacherous Highway 401 corridor. Many of the cities in southwestern Ontario, including Windsor, want the garbage to travel by rail instead. Changing from road to rail is still possible, but the City of Toronto claims that would cost more. Toronto's decision is ironic since its Council passed a resolution last month in favour of rail renewal. This renewal consists of proposals from the Rail Ways to the Future Committee, associated with Transport 2000 Ontario. * Air passenger's death blamed on plane seating Last month, an air passenger returning from the Olympic Games in Australia died shortly after landing at London, UK Heathrow Airport. The death was attributed to a condition called deep-vein thrombosis, which can happen after sitting for long periods of time in cramped seating such as found on many aircraft. * Elevators Elevator builder Otis wants to build an elevator into outer space. The company says it has technology that could help build a 35 000 km long elevator into outer space, as proposed by American space agency NASA. * Nav Canada results Nav Canada released results for its fiscal year which ended 31st August. Revenues (mostly service charges) were $909 million, covering operating expenses of $703 million, of which salaries and benefits were $470 million. $102 million was spent on capital projects in 2000 compared to $123 million in 1999. * National transit ridership up The Canadian Urban Transit Association says that transit ridership was up 2% nationally in 1999 versus 1998. The growth for the first half of this year was even higher: 4.1% more riders over the same period in 1999. The challenge is for governments to maintain their support for transit systems and improve the facilities in an environment of restricted government spending. * CP 3rd quarter results Canadian Pacific Railway released third quarter results for 2000. Operating income for the quarter is up 6% to $222 million, on revenues that increased $36 million. For locomotives, their utilization was up 15% and their fuel efficiency improved by 6%. * CP gets out of the community water busines This is an age where private business is touted as delivering better service than public utilities. It is ironic, then, that Canadian Pacific recently announced its intention to close its only remaining community water works at Cartier, Ontario by the end of next year. Tougher Ontario standards for drinking water, and the costs of meeting that, prompted last month's announcement. Replacement water service may be difficult for some homeowners, due to diesel fuel spills that have affected ground water supplies in some cases. * Prentiss subdivision opened CP opened a new 13 km subdivision last month to serve a Union Carbide plant in Prentiss, Alberta. This included an overpass of a provincial highway, paid for in part by the Alberta government. * BC Ferries plans fare increases BC Ferries wants a fare increase of 3.8% to take effect next year. The carrier is also considering a change in the fare structure to a distance-based system. * Ottawa Mayor Candidates Debate on Environment The Ottawa Mayor Candidates' Debate took place 2nd November and was a great success, drawing a full crowd and much media attention. When a transportation related question was posed to the candidates, current Regional Chair Bob Chiarelli clearly the supported goals of the existing regional plan that call for increases in walking, cycling and transit while reducing private vehicle use. Chiarelli's closest rival, current Gloucester Mayor Claudette Cain, was in favour of an Environmental Advisory Committee, and an Environmental Code of Conduct. She is critical of the Ottawa Light Rail Pilot project, insisting on inflated budget figures for the project, which Chiarelli disputed at one point in the evening's debate. Transport 2000 Ontario, one of the co-sponsors of this event, is also busy collecting results of a survey to many candidates in the 13th November Ontario municipal elections. Early results show a common cause in getting the provincial government back into the transit funding business, among other findings. * B.C. transit funding threatened On 22nd November, the Vancouver-area TransLink authority will make a final decision on whether vehicle owners will be charged a fee to support regional transportation services. This would bring in much needed funding for TransLink operations. Each year, cars could pay $40 while trucks pay up to $120. Reports are warning that failure to implement this new source of revenue would result in a serious reduction in transit service in the B.C. Lower Mainland, including cancellation of the electric trolley bus replacement project. * New Banff Greyhound station location As of 1st October, Greyhound's station in Banff, Alberta moved to 100 Gopher Street, the Brewster Gray Line terminal. This is a block from its former site. * Singapore air crash 81 passengers died when a Singapore Airlines 747-400 crashed shortly after take-off from Taiwan on 31st October. 98 survived. The leading suspected cause was that the pilot used the wrong runway, one that was under construction. * More international air traffic growth expected The 2000-2004 Passenger and Freight forecasts from IATA (international air carrier group) have been released. Total scheduled passenger service is expected to grow an average of 5.6% per year, to reach 643.1 million passengers a year by 2004. Freight traffic is also predicted to grow by 6.7% over the same time frame, with a predicted air haul of 23.8 million tonnes by 2004. * www.travel? On the ground, IATA is also seeking to have Internet addresses ending in .travel to serve travel industry needs, much like the .com ending has become familiar to World Wide Web users. IATA is also proposing to be the administrator of this .travel domain, with domain registry services provided a joint venture of Neustar Inc and Melbourne IT called JVTeam. IATA's website is http://www.iata.org/ * Calendar = Canada Transportation Act Review hearings: 8 November - Regina 20 November - Halifax = 18 November, noon - Transport 2000 Ontario Board meeting in Toronto = Saturday 9 December, 11am - TRAQ Annual General Meeting at SAFETRAN, 2184 avenue de la Rotonde in Charny, Quebec. Contact: traq@inter.net --------- Thanks to Louis-Francois Garceau and Ken Prendergast for additional items this Hotline. Transport 2000 seeks improved passenger transport in Canada. The challenges are great, and our resources are currently few. We need members and donations to advance the work, especially given increased demands to cover airline and air safety topics in recent times. Please contact Transport 2000 Canada by mail at Box 858, Station B, Ottawa, ON K1P 5P9, or by phone at (613) 594.3290 or fax (613) 594.3271. Our website is www.transport2000.ca. Thank you for calling the Transport 2000 hotline.