Transport 2000 Canada Hot Line

20 November 2009

This is the Transport 2000 Canada Hotline, issue number 1047, for 20 November 2009.

In this issue...

1 - Calendar

2 - Gare Windsor et terminus Lucien-L'Allier: Transport 2000 appui

Montréal, le 16 novembre 2009 - L'association Transport 2000 Québec donne son appui entier au projet de développement d'un pôle intermodal à la gare Windsor et à l'intégration du terminus Lucien-L'Allier, envisagé conjointement par l'Agence métropolitaine de transport (AMT) et la société immobilière Cadillac-Fairview, tel qu'annoncé dans un quotidien anglophone de la Métropole la semaine dernière.

L'Association a eu l'occasion à maintes reprises de suivre l'ensemble des projets d'aménagement et de transport au centre-ville de Montréal, dont l'acquisition de la Gare Windsor par le groupe Cadillac-Fairview l'été dernier et les études ou options du tracé du train de l'Ouest au comité consultatif, qui examine les tenants et aboutissants d'un tel lien entre l'aérogare (éventuellement l'ouest de l'île) et le centre.

Monsieur Jean Léveillé, président du conseil de Transport 2000 Québec, qualifie même l'idée de géniale car « ce projet arrive à point nommé et nous entendons y donner un appui inconditionnel dans la mesure où il correspond à une certaine vision historique d'intégration des modes pour nous, une approche susceptible d'exercer encore une attraction accrue sur les usagers actuels et potentiels des services de transport, autant pour l'ouest de l'île que pour d'autres secteurs de la Région métropolitaine ».

3 - Acadian Bus Lines' cuts leave rural Maritimers with few options: Transport 2000

"Acadian Bus Lines is gradually shifting focus from serving rural towns to dealing only with major cities. These cities such as Sydney, Halifax, Moncton, Saint John, and Fredericton already have excellent health care, educational, business and shopping facilities. There is less need for citizens to travel from one to another than years previously. But now those in towns and villages, who need to travel to major centres for these amenities are being left out in the cold," Transport 2000's John Pearce reported on Nov. 13. "The specific cuts between Saint John and Bangor, Maine mean that there is no way for Maritimers to travel to New England except by car or air or summer-only tourist ferry. The last bus service is gone. In 1990 after rail service was cut in the Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia, there were three daily Acadian return trips from Halifax Yarmouth. Now, west of Kentville, there will be none," Pearce wrote. http://thechronicleherald.ca/Business/1152733.html

http://dailygleaner.canadaeast.com/cityregion/article/856143

4 - Island Corridor Foundation: Railway could help make Nanaimo a transportation hub

"Nanaimo would become more of a transportation hub for Vancouver Island if passenger rail service starts each day travelling south to the provincial capital from Nanaimo. But even as the Island Corridor Foundation moves forward with the plan to turn rail service around, no one has given much thought as to how air, rail, marine and road transportation would hook up in Nanaimo, or what the hub should look like," The Daily News reported on Nov. 16.

"Foundation executive direction Graham Bruce recently said daily passenger rail service will travel south to Victoria daily from Nanaimo, starting as early as next spring," News reporter Darrell Bellaart wrote.

http://www2.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/news/story.html?id=4d4d5530-208d-4459-83bc-2c92bc4fb580

5 - Montréal: Comité exécutif et orientations en transport

L'association Transport 2000 Québec a livré ( le 18 novembre ) ses premières réactions suite à la formation du comité exécutif de la Ville de Montréal par le maire Gérald Tremblay. D'abord, l'organisme se réjouit de la nomination de madame Manon Barbe à titre de responsable des transports au Comité. ... Elle a fait preuve selon l'organisme d'une capacité d'écoute, d'un esprit de collaboration voire même d'une vision articulée et d'un intérêt certain pour les questions de transport, et pourrait contribuer à combler le vide laissé par la défaite électorale de monsieur André Lavallée.

Dans un autre ordre d'idées, l'organisme accueille avec une grande surprise mais avec beaucoup d'intérêt l'arrivée de monsieur Richard Bergeron au poste de responsable de l'urbanisme. Cette fonction «sera de nature à mieux intégrer les dossiers du transport et de l'aménagement à Montréal, une fonction qui faisait grandement défaut et à laquelle avait commencé à s'attaquer monsieur Lavallée d'ailleurs», comme le rapportait monsieur Jean Léveillé, président du conseil de Transport 2000 Québec, ajoutant que «la majorité des électeurs montréalais ou plus de 60 % d'entre eux ont appuyé deux formations politiques qui s'opposent à toute hausse des tarifs du transport en commun pour 2010, sinon à des réductions graduelles ; il est à espérer que le Maire et son comité exécutif prennent acte de cette situation et agissent en conséquence à l'approche du prochain budget de la STM».

6 - Federal government spent $15,000 promoting Flight Rights Canada

The government launched "Flight Rights Canada last fall to inform air travellers of their rights, but only after airline executives reviewed several drafts, provided input and approved the final product - a process that raised the ire of a top bureaucrat involved," Canwest News Service reported on Nov. 18

"The transport minister at the time, Lawrence Cannon, also ignored warnings from the senior bureaucrat about a tiny communications budget of $15,000 to fund the initiative, so the promised rollout of "prominent signage" at key airports has never materialized," Canwest's Sarah Schmidt reported.

http://www.canada.com/travel/Airlines+helped+craft+Canada+passenger+bill+rights+Documents/2236241/story.html

7 - Passenger bill of rights is in public interest

"Surely the branch of government which oversees federally-regulated industries should protect passengers? Between Nav Canada and Transport Canada, the federal government determines just about everything else to do with the airline industry and many of those regulations involve protecting passengers, as they should," the Nanaimo Daily News editorialized on Nov. 17.

"Ottawa determines how long a runway has to be before a large plane can land on it. It's one of the reasons the Nanaimo Airport is expanding its runway. The federal government establishes the number of air traffic controllers who must be at an airport to ensure safety. It also ensures that safety demonstrations by airline staff are done in both of this country's official languages. Perish the thought that Ottawa stop the nation's airlines from overbooking passengers, cancelling undersold flights and making refunds difficult," the Daily News editorial said.

http://www2.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/news/ours/story.html?id=c8a8bb97-865e-4413-bd78-341375306c38

8 - Windsor border crossing: Business, governments seeking clean, efficient model

"Former federal transportation minister Lloyd Axworthy will chair a joint business and government action group that will seek more sustainable methods to ship freight across North America. The CEC freight transportation study will consider public input, as well as from the three NAFTA governments, said Evan Lloyd, CEC's acting executive director. The final report is expected by mid-2010," the Windsor Star reported on Nov. 12.

"To simply meet the demands with freeway construction is not a sustainable path," Lloyd said. "There may be shifts toward more efficient use of rail and trucks combined that may make a significant difference." Other groups to participate include Pollution Probe, American Trucking Association, Railway Association of Canada and the Mexican Institute of Transport," the Windsor Star's Dave Battagello wrote.

http://www2.canada.com/windsorstar/news/business/story.html?id=4dcd83ee-244f-4ad1-9cde-c54d35084304

9 - Arrêt d'autobus problématique

« La citoyenne de Pierrefonds Marie-Lucie Samuel tient tête à la Société de transport de Montréal (STM). Celle-ci s'est présentée à l'assemblée publique de la STM, le 10 novembre dernier à Montréal, pour se plaindre à nouveau du manque de fréquence de l'autobus 68 direction Est les soirs de fins de semaine et les jours fériés. Son histoire a touché l'assistance et les dirigeants ont promis de faire suite à sa demande » Cités Nouvelles a rapporté le 15 novembre.

« "Nous avons réussi à capter l'attention des dirigeants de la STM", s'est pour sa part réjoui le directeur général de Transport 2000, Normand Parisien qui a aidé la dame dans sa démarche » Olivier Laniel a écrit.

10 - Freight rail more than doubles trucks' fuel efficiency

On Nov. 19, "the Federal Railroad Administration released a study showing freight-rail fuel efficiency increased 22 percent between 1990 and 2006. Entitled "Comparative Evaluation of Rail and Truck Fuel Efficiency on Competitive Corridors," the study determined that diesel-electric locomotive improvements, increased double-stack train usage, track and signal upgrades, and longer trains were the primary fuel-efficiency drivers. Conducted by ICF International, the study found that rail fuel efficiency varies from 156 to 512 ton-miles per gallon while truck fuel efficiency ranges from 68 to 133 ton-miles per gallon," Progressive Railroading reported.

http://www.dot.gov/affairs/2009/fra0809.htm

11 - Metrolinx touts private sector for Transit City

"The private sector is poised to play a key role in Toronto's $10-billion transit expansion as pressure builds to improve transportation before the city hosts the 2015 Pan Am Games. Metrolinx, the GTA's transportation agency, said yesterday it is considering partnering with private companies in carrying out the Toronto Transit Commission's Transit City plan to build a series of electric light-rail corridors that are expected to carry 175 million riders a year," the National Post reported on Nov. 17.

"John Howe of Metrolinx said any increased costs of such a partnership, of which the TTC has long been resistant, would be offset by the efficient delivery of construction, and the ability to defer potential cost overruns to contractors," Post writers Philippa Croome And Kenyon Wallace reported.

http://www.nationalpost.com/scripts/story.html?id=2230388

12 - One person killed every three hours on Canadian roads

"We are speaking out against the devastation caused by carelessness, recklessness and impaired judgment behind the wheel. On average, one person dies every three hours in road collisions in Canada - every day of the year. Many more people are seriously injured or indirectly affected by the death or maiming of loved ones," Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators president Charles O'Donnell said on Nov. 18 the global day or remembrance or road crash victims.

O'Donnell pointed out that deaths and injuries sustained in road collisions disproportionately target the young: "In Canada, 28% of road traffic deaths and 32% of road traffic injuries occur among people under the age of 25."

http://www.rememberroadcrashvictims.ca

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www.transport2000.ca.