Transport 2000 Canada Hot Line

1 May 2009

This is the Transport 2000 Canada Hotline, issue number 1018, for 1 May 2009.

In this issue...

1 - Calendar

2 - Toronto Star: Transport 2000 is disappointed with Metrolinx Bill 163

"Natalie Litwin is president of Transport 2000 Ontario, a non-profit advocacy organization active since the 1970s. "We consider the idea of replacing elected officials by appointees to be a very regressive step," she said. "Nothing less than a power grab by the province. To sweep a functioning board out of office and replace it with provincial appointees is to trade a set of potential, solvable problems with much more serious ones," the Toronto Star reported on Apr. 29.

"Litwin took it upon herself to give the (standing committee on finance and economic affairs) committee a primer in the fundamentals of accountability. "The elected officials who make up the present board represent their constituents and are answerable to them. It's a democratic system. The new appointees will be answerable to the Ministry of Transportation and to the cabinet."

"Moreover, she invited those enamoured of the purportedly bottomless wisdom of appointees from the private sector to contemplate the epic dysfunction of, say, the Ontario Municipal Board or the Toronto Port Authority," the Star's Jim Coyle reported.

http://www.thestar.com/News/Ontario/article/626066

3 - Greater Toronto Airport Authority: Another Metrolinx governance model?

For a view of the future of transit governance in the Greater Toronto Area, Transport 2000 invites the public to check out the Annual General Meeting of the GTAA (Pearson Airport). The GTAA AGM will be held on May 6 at 1:30 pm at the Fire and Emergency Training Institute, 2025 Courtneypark Drive East in Mississauga. The meeting is typically a family affair with no media coverage, no public involvement and no meaningful debate. The GTAA is responsible for building the most expensive airport in the world, based on landing fees. This January it announced it will increase passenger user fees by 25%.

4 - Les Affaires: Laval a pris Montréal de vitesse: Normand Parisien, Transport 2000

« Que diriez-vous si un agent sonnait à votre porte pour vous parler des avantages du transport en commun, de la marche ou du vélo et pour décourager l'auto solo ? C'est ce qui se passe ces jours-ci dans sept secteurs de Laval dans le cadre de l'opération Éco Mobile à Laval. Autobus plus fréquents, information disponible en temps réel pour les usagers, marketing personnalisé, trolleybus : la Société de transport de Laval (STL) ne lésine pas sur les moyens à prendre pour s'imposer comme un leader du transport en commun. » Les Affaires a rapporté le 2 mai.

Le trolleybus aidera à améliorer l'offre de transport en commun sur les grandes artères lavalloises, comme les boulevards des Laurentides, Notre-Dame, de La Concorde et Curé-Labelle. Pour sa part, le directeur général de Transport 2000, un organisme qui fait la promotion des transports collectifs, Normand Parisien, ne tarit pas d'éloges pour cette initiative. "Laval a pris Montréal de vitesse", dit-il.

5 - Vancouver Sun: Time for Vancouver to get aboard Obama's Cascadia Express

It's potentially a game-changing development. We're no longer just talking about slight improvements to this unique Canada-U.S. rail link. The political will now exists in the U.S. for a real push to high-speed train travel in the corridor, much like Amtrak's Acela Express now running between Boston, New York and Washington, D.C. It's vital that Vancouver, the province, and Canada get aboard. This linkagewill further our role in the mega-region, the conglomeration of key cities that will be North America's economic hubs in the 21st century."

"Canada needs to find future-oriented infrastructure projects to stimulate the Canadian economy, cement U.S.-Canada trade ties and also take cars off the road. Nothing does that better than high-speed rail," the Vancouver Sun's Miro Cernetig reported on Apr. 27.

http://www2.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=e54300a9-b37a-4fac-a12d-a80061cd2ebe

6 - David Collenette: Key Note Speaker for London High Speed Rail Public Symposium

High Speed Rail Canada is putting on its third high speed rail symposium on May 28 from 5:00-9:00 PM at the City of London Council Chambers. On Apr. 29 High Speed Rail Canada announced the line-up of guest speakers for the Symposium, co-sponsored by the London Economic Development Corporation and the City of London. The key note speaker is the Honourable David Collenette, former Federal Minister of Transport. Pre-registration is mandatory. The cost to attend is only $15.00. It includes a light dinner. Seating is limited to 125. To register go to:

http://highspeedrail.ca

7 - Torontoist: High Speed Rail would create 10,500 jobs

"President Obama is on the right course in having the USA invest in modern high-speed rail," says Paul Langan, founder of High Speed Rail Canada. In California, it was estimated that the introduction of Obama's train system would create more than 450,000 permanent jobs, streamline the regional economy, and create new opportunities and new industry for a skilled workforce. Canada, especially its beleaguered manufacturing sector, would benefit from a similar transportation overhaul. "The last [High-Speed Rail] study in 1995 by the Canadian, Ontario, and Quebec governments," Paul Langan tells Torontoist, "stated that 10,500 jobs would be created per year over the construction period. It also stated that an output would be that government debt would be reduced by $6.5 billion after the full implementation of the Ontario/Quebec HSR corridor," Torontoist reported on April 24.

Paul Langan is a Transport 2000 member and co-founder of High Speed Rail Canada.

http://torontoist.com/2009/04/once_upon_a_time_the_line_followed_the_river.php

8 - TQS: André Arthur reçoit Michel Lambert, président du Groupe TRAQ

The Quebec TV TQS network featured an interview with TRAQ President Michel Lambert. Traq is an affiliate of Transport 2000.

http://www.tqs.ca/videos/le-midi-avec-andre-arthur/2009/04/3---la-passion-des-trains-44131.php

9 - North Bay Nugget: Few opportunities for the Ottawa Valley Railway

"OVR announced Monday it has issued (30) layoff notices to employees following a decision from Canadian Pacific Railway to reroute its freight traffic to its own system from Sudbury to Montreal. ... Mike Lovecchio, a CPR spokesman, said the decision to reroute train traffic was absolutely a reflection of the economy. "Traffic volume is way down. We have to make decisions to rationalize our own costs. As well, we have added capacity on our main line," he said.

Ottawa Valley isn't the only short-line railway in North America to be hit. Central West to Sault Ste. Marie and Okanagan Valley Railway in British Columbia will also be affected by track changes," the North Bay Nugget reported on Apr. 29.

http://www.nugget.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1544667

10 - Waterloo Region Record: May 12 Rapid transit proposal

"Waterloo Region government plans to unveil a rapid transit proposal next month. Construction could launch in 2012. Proponents say it will bring jobs and homes to underused urban neighbourhoods by increasing land values near stations. Critics agree better transit is needed but see rapid transit as a leap too far."

"Rapid transit will consist of electric trains or rapid buses on the urban spine linking Waterloo, Kitchener and Cambridge. Construction costs for trains will exceed $306 million. ... One real estate study predicts rail transit will boost land values by 10 to 18 per cent near local stations," the Record's Jeff Outhit reported on Apr. 25.

http://news.therecord.com/article/526573

11 - Courrier Bordeaux-Cartierville: Les bus gardent la ligne

"Des représentants de l'arrondissement, de Transport 2000 et de la Société de transport de Montréal (STM) ont récemment réalisé un bilan des bonifications de services effectuées par cette dernière au cours de la dernière année. Rappelons qu'en janvier, 35 nouveaux départs par semaine ont été ajoutés sur les lignes 45 - Papineau, 64 - Grenet, 69 - Gouin, 121 - Sauvé/Côte-Vertu et 171 - Henri-Bourassa pour améliorer le service durant les heures de pointe," le Courrier Bordeaux-Cartierville a rapporté le 24 avril.

12 - Globe and Mail: Bombardier wins massive Toronto streetcar contract

"Montreal's Bombardier has won a massive contract worth $1.22-billion to build the next generation of Toronto's streetcars, beating out German rival Siemens after a tangled process that saw Bombardier's first design tossed out because TTC officials said it would derail. The slick new low-floor fleet, air conditioned and accessible to the disabled, will gradually replaced the existing cars, which date from the late 1970s and early 1980s and are nearing the end of their natural lives. The first cars should roll into service by 2012.

"The deal for 204 cars, the biggest light-rail vehicle purchase in Toronto - and North American - history, includes a multi-billion-dollar option for hundreds of additional new vehicles to run on Mayor David Miller's proposed Transit City rapid transit lines outside the central downtown," the Globe and Mail's Jeff Gray reported on Apr. 24.

http://www.globeinvestor.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090424.wstreetcar0424/GIStory/

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

www.transport2000.ca.