Transport 2000 Canada Hot Line

13 March 2009

This is the Transport 2000 Canada Hotline, issue number 1011, for 13 March 2009.

In this issue...

1 - Transport 2000 Calendar

2 - Montreal transit $12 million cut: Normand Parisien, Transport 2000

"Montreal's public-transit authority last night said it will slice $10 million to $12 million from its $1-billion budget this year without cutting services, scaling back planned improvements or reversing the decision to renew its aging bus and métro fleets," the Montreal Gazette reported on March 11. "There will be no cut in service, no cut to the planned increase in bus and métro service in 2009, and no fare hike this year," said Société de transport de Montréal chairperson Michel Labrecque.

"Normand Parisien of Transport 2000 lobby group doesn't foresee a quick fix. He expects fares to jump in 2010 unless Montreal reverses its decision to cut funding to the STM, or the Quebec government offers money," the Gazette reported.

http://www.montrealgazette.com/service+transit+chief+pledges/1376126/story.html

3 - Sunday bus service in Prince Albert: Catherine Verrall, Transport 2000

In Regina on Wednesday afternoon (Feb 18) 50 concerned citizens delivered 7,300 signatures on a petition to City Hall asking for better bus service on Sundays and the beginning on service on Holidays. But there's little likelihood of Sunday bus service coming to Prince Albert any time soon, according to transportation project manager Keri Sexmith," Prince Albert Daily Herald reported on Feb. 20

Transport 2000's "Catherine Verrall, a member of Regina Citizens' Public Transit Coalition - the group that started the petition - said reduced Sunday service is a human rights and social justice issue. "Having such a rule really discriminates against people who are too poor to own a car, or too frail to drive or people who choose ... not to have a car for environmental reasons," she said. People looking to voice their opinion on the current transit routes in Prince Albert or what they would like to see in the future are welcome to contact public works at 953-4900.

http://www.paherald.sk.ca/index.cfm?sid=224300&sc=4

4 - March 26 Ontario budget: Short-line rail industry seeks help

St. Catharines Trillium Railway's Wayne Ettinger thinks the short-line railway industry "is operating on borrowed time in our country. I think that at some point, the government has to realize the value of short-line rail. It's less polluting than trucking, it doesn't add to congestion on the QEW and it's a cheaper (shipping) option for local industries," the St. Catharines Standard reported on March 9.

http://www.scstandard.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1468445

5 - Le train à vapeur Hull-Chelsea-Wakefield est en Outaouais pour y rester.

Réunis devant la célèbre locomotive « 909 », politiciens de tous les paliers de gouvernements et représentants du milieu touristiques ont confirmé, hier, des travaux de 5,8 millions $ qui permettront de remettre le « p'tit train » sur les rails," le Droit a rapporté le 9 Mars.

Transport 2000's Harry Gow is a key organizer of the Friends of the Steam Train.

6 - Campaign for Better Transport: Road costing

Road building projects keep getting more expensive because local authorities underestimate the cost to make them more attractive and get them into the roads programme. Local councils know that no one, least of all the Department for Transport, is going to hold them to account if their scheme gets more expensive, so they make them look cheap and shrug when the prices spiral out of control," the UK's Campaign for Better Transport reported on March 9.

"The Highways Agency's programme of major schemes is now almost £4 billion over budget, and local roads are 38% over budget. Meanwhile public transport schemes are often dropped for the slightest increase. It's time the Government got its house in order and dropped roads whose costs are out of control," Transport 2000 UK's affiliate reported.

http://www.bettertransport.org.uk/campaigns/climate_change/roads/blog

7 - Pearson Airport 2008 revenues were $45.9 million under expenses

"For the twelve months ended December 31, 2008, the GTAA reported total revenues of $1.17 billion. Total operating expenses were $555.2 million, including $140.6 million in ground rent paid to the federal government. Revenues over operating expenses in 2008 were $617.3 million. After accounting for debt service and amortization, the GTAA recorded revenues under expenses of $45.9 million for the year, compared to revenues under expenses of $44.0 million in 2007. ... To fund the development programs and other capital programs and to repay maturing debt, the GTAA issued $825 million in medium term notes during 2008. Debt repayments totaled $735 million during the year," CNW reported on March 11.

Pearson airport recorded 32.3 million passengers and booked a $52.7 million loss on Asset Backed Commercial Paper. The Greater Toronto Airports Authority said "activity in 2009 will be below that of 2008" but it has a plan which includes a 25% increase to the Airport Improvement Fee paid by passengers.

8 - Dryden Air Ontario Crash Judge: Cost-cutting could lead to another serious accident

The man whose report on one of Canada's worst air disasters led to a number of changes in Canadian airline travel says federal cost-cutting could lead to another serious accident," CBC News March 10.

Retired justice Virgil Moshansky says efforts to strengthen federal oversight have fallen off since the mid-1990s. "The government has underfunded Transport Canada to the extent that they let their aviation inspectorate staff be decimated to the point where they can't carry out their responsibility or regulatory oversight," said Moshansky. Moshansky headed up the inquiry into the March 10, 1989, crash of Air Ontario Flight 1363, which marks its 20th anniversary on Tuesday," CBC News reported.

http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2009/03/10/dryden-moshansky-aircrash010.html

Thank you for calling the Transport 2000 Canada Hotline. For additional information, please contact our web site at:

www.transport2000.ca.