Transport 2000 Canada Hot Line

10 May 2002

This is the Transport 2000 Canada Hotline, issue number 653, recorded on 10 May 2002, Bert Titcomb reporting for David Jeanes.

In this issue...

1 - Transport 2000 Canada AGM summary

Transport 2000 Canada held its annual general meeting in Vancouver on May 4th. David Jeanes was elected as the new president as Harry Gow had stated he wished to step down after presiding for three years as president. Elizabeth Hill presented a hand carved loon to Harry on behalf of the organization. Other members of the executive remain the same: John Bakker, v.p. west, Luc Cote, v.p. east, Bill Linley, treasurer, and Bert Titcomb, secretary.

2 - E & N stay of execution

According to an article in the Nanaimo Daily News (May 10th), the E & N has been pulled back from the brink once again. Rail America has stepped in to keep the E & N operating until July 15th. Transport 2000 Canada congratulates Brendan Read and his group in Victoria for helping to extend the life of this important rail link on Vancouver Island.

3 - West Coast Express limited by CPR charges

According to an article in the Vancouver Province (May 10th), there could be commuter-rail service the length of the Fraser Valley if the CPR slashes the high track-lease rate it currently charges the West Coast Express which currently operates from Mission to the Waterfront Station in downtown Vancouver. TransLink is locked into a 20-year deal with CPR which was originally signed by the provincial government in 1995 and says it can't expand the service unless that deal is broken. TransLink chairman Doug McCallum said recently that the railway's return on investment exceeds 1000 per cent and that he is asking David Collenette to intervene and allow Greater Vancouver's regional transit authority to negotiate a new deal.

4 - Gas taxes need to rise

According to an article in the Vancouver Sun (May 8th), gasoline taxes must rise. The head line states, "Commuters stuck between a pump and a hard place must pressure politicians to act on transit. But they must face the fact it will include big fuel tax bites." The worldwide evidence is that the cost of driving, through fuel taxes, road tolls, parking fees and the like, is what will get drivers out of their cars. However, there has to be some alternate form of transit.

5 - Calls for more Montreal South Shore transit

In Montreal, the commission looking into solutions to traffic problems between the city and the South Shore held its final day of public hearings last week. Presentations to the commission have been overwhelmingly against a bridge, tunnel or other type of new road link. More popular are solutions that involve dedicated bus lanes, light rail lines, improved metro service and other public transit options to discourage driving to work. The commission is expected to present its final report to the Quebec Transport Department in August.

6 - Passenger service to end at Mirabel Airport

According to an article in the Montreal Gazette (May 10th), the Montreal Airport Authority will put an end to the city's two-airport troubles. The authority announced it will move all passenger traffic to Dorval airport within two years. The move will seal the fate of Mirabel. When the airport was built in 1975, it was predicted that it would host supersonic Concorde jets and 50 million travelers each year. Dorval, meanwhile, will be the focus of a new push to generate passenger traffic. Authorities are seeking a new train terminal for the airport, with both intercity and commuter links. The move will add 56 passenger flights to about 1600 that are already taking off and landing at Dorval every week.

Various groups mourned the fate of Mirabel. In Quebec City, Transport Minister Serge Menard blamed the federal government for undermining Montreal's position as an air-travel hub from the moment it decided to build Mirabel and split traffic between the two airports. Airport officials have identified the traffic loss to Toronto's Pearson Airport, as the No. 1 problem facing Dorval Airport. Mirabel was the sole airport in Canada that included a railway station in the terminal. Unfortunately, the Federal Government never built the track to connect the airport to downtown Montreal.

7 - Cars and trucks set to trample Montreal West Island green space

In the same copy of the Gazette, a headline on the front page states, "Ambitious plan to build or expand five arteries would put cars before green space". West Island politicians are preparing an ambitious response to motorists' complaints about traffic congestion. Their plan calls for five new or expanded arteries and several would take large chomps out of green space. These plans reflect a tendency of new local development to encourage car use. Quebec intends to approve a bridge on Highway 25 from Montreal to Laval that will increase off-island sprawl and traffic. The province is also the main sponsor of the eight largest downtown buildings now under construction or on the drawing board. Each provides more indoor parking spots - in effect, than what developers offered in the 1980s when cars were less of a problem downtown. This despite the fact that each of those eight projects is within 150 metres of a metro station.

The real winner of the West Island plan would not be mass transit but the oil and auto industries. The number of cars and light trucks owned by island residents rose by 6 per cent between 1991 and 2001. That growth is three times as fast as the increase in population.

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