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| Transport Action Hotline - 21 May 2010 | |||||||||||
In this issue...This is the Transport Action Hotline, issue number 1073, for 21 May 2010.
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1 - Lien ferroviaire avec l'aéroport Montréal-Trudeau : Jean Léveillé, Transport 2000« Le président-directeur général d'Aéroports de Montréal (ADM), James C. Cherry, a levé le voile hier sur son projet de navette ferroviaire entre l'aéroport Montréal-Trudeau et le centre-ville de la métropole, prenant de court le président-directeur général de l'Agence métropolitaine de transport (AMT), Joël Gauthier » Le Devoir a rapporté le 19 mai. Marco Bélair-Cirino a écrit pour le Devoir « On élimine avec ce projet [d'ADM] toute la clientèle possible de l'ouest de Montréal», a déploré le président de Transport 2000, Jean Léveillé. «Il y a des besoins importants pour l'Ouest-de-l'Île. Il y a une croissance démographique importante », a ajouté M. Gauthier. » | |||||||||||
2 - Ottawa Sparks Street rail line could be built in a few months: David Jeanes, Transport Action"Fifty-one years since the last streetcar ferried commuters down Sparks Street ... representatives from the various authorities responsible for the street met Friday to co-ordinate efforts of running a streetcar-line down its length," Centretown News reported on May 14. The paper reported "it will cost $16 million to get the project on track ... Ideally, the group wants slow-moving electric street cars extend from the old Union Station to the National War Museum at LeBreton Flats as a first phase, but was receptive to the idea of incorporating its plans with those of Gatineau andOttawa (for a rail loop).""David Jeanes, of Transport Action Canada, said that the due to the type of rail used by heritage street cars, the rail installation can be done fairly quickly - within a few months," Ryan Lux wrote in the Centretown News. http://centretownnewsonline.ca/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1651&Itemid=126
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3 - Unified métro fare would increase ridership: Normand Parisien, Transport 2000"At its last regular meeting April 22, the Montreal Metropolitan Community council said it had asked the AMT, the provincial overseer for metropolitan transit planning, for advice on the future of métro pricing. Prices are currently set by the Société de transport de Montréal, but new legislation expected in the fall could change that. One of the ideas that the AMT has been asked to consider is the wisdom of a single fare for métro users in Montreal, Laval and Longueuil, no matter where they get on or off the métro," the Montreal Gazette reported on May 16."Normand Parisien, a transit advocate with Transport 2000, argued in favour of a "single rate" for métro users as part of a question on transit pricing that he asked during question period at the last MMC meeting. ... Parisien says a single rate for the métro would do wonders for métro ridership, and help the STM's bottom line. But on-island suburbs aren't pleased, as they currently subsidize the métro through property taxes to a far greater degree than off-island municipalities do," David Johnston reported for the Gazette.
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4 - Transport Action's Mike Jager memorializedOn May 15 a bench outside of Beddgelert Station in North Wales was dedicated to the memory of Transport Action's Mike Jager. The plaque reads "He had Wales in his heart and steam in his blood". The view from the bench is magnificent. Snowdonia. WHR engine crews have adopted it for their breaks. Mike was a major force behind the O-Train. Mike Jager passed away in Ottawa on Sept. 19, 2009.
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5 - Le défi de VIA Rail: à l'heure plus rapidement« Le nouveau président de VIA Rail, Marc Laliberté, n'a pas mis beaucoup de temps à imprimer sa marque dans la gestion du transporteur ferroviaire depuis sa nomination en janvier dernier. Dans l'attente d'un hypothétique TGV, il entend raccourcir les temps de parcours et améliorer la ponctualité des trains actuels pour augmenter sa clientèle tout en utilisant les mêmes ressources, mais de façon plus efficace » Pierre Pelchat écrit poul Le Soleil le 14 mai 2010.
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6 - Why not put high-speed rail on fast track in land of Bombardier?"This is what 150 miles an hour feels like ... 220 feet per second... Welcome aboard Amtrak's Acela Express, the high-speed rail line that runs along the Eastern Seaboard Boston-Providence-NewYork-Philadelphia-Baltimore-Washington and, yes, it is a dream," Roy MacGregor wrote in the Globe and Mail on May 17."Canada has too much distance and too few people to imagine a similar situation here, but enough people in certain areas to make sense of strategic service. High Speed Rail Canada (www.highspeedrail.ca) thinks there are good arguments to be made, as well, for high-speed routes between Montreal-Boston, Toronto-New York and Vancouver-Seattle. They don't need to convince me or, it seems, any of the hundreds of other passengers on Acela this day," the Globe columnist wrote.
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7 - The truth about road costs: Fuel taxes don't cover them"There are two elements of road costs. First are the financial costs -- the costs of building and maintaining roads. Fuel taxes don't cover these costs, as noted by a Canada West Foundation research report. Even when added to other taxes related to transportation, the whole basket of taxes covers only 60 to 70 per cent of financial road costs, with the remainder subsidized by other tax sources," David Thompson wrote in a letter to the editor of the Edmonton Journal."Second, there are environmental and health costs of driving, which include costs arising from air pollution and CO2 emissions, traffic congestion and lost productivity, and health-care costs from vehicle accidents. According to Transport Canada figures, the cost of collisions alone in the metropolitan Edmonton area are upwards of $500 million per year. The existing basket of taxes doesn't begin to cover these costs," the May 19 Edmonton Journal letter said. http://www.edmontonjournal.com/health/real+costs+driving/3045584/story.html#ixzz0oNnuIo8A
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8 - No national transit plan in the works: Minister Baird"City leaders, don't hold your breath for a national transit strategy. Transport and Infrastructure Minister John Baird told the country's top transit brass Tuesday there's no such plan on the way," QMI media reported on May 18."Baird insisted the federal government does provide predictable funding to all Canadian municipalities for transit and other green infrastructure through the gas tax fund.(Baird said,) "That's why we made it permanent. That's why in last year's budget we doubled it," Bryn Weese reported for QMI media. "That fund -- which was doubled in 2009 -- has given $5 billion to Canadian municipalities on a per capita basis since 2005." http://www.theobserver.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2585127
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9 - Needs assessment for Pickering Airport submitted as Pearson's traffic drops"Toby Lennox, the vice-president, corporate affairs and communication for the Greater Toronto Airports Authority, said the group has finished the analysis on whether an airport in north Pickering is needed. A confidentiality agreement meant he couldn't talk about the possibility of an airport in Pickering, Mr. Lennox told Durham Regional Council's planning committee on Tuesday," the Durham Business Times reported on May 19."Last year, passenger traffic dropped 6.1 per cent, with most of that domestic or 'trans-border' (U.S.) traffic. International travel was only off1.6 per cent. ... The GTAA is "expecting to see a rebound" in travellers this year, he noted, but only by about half of one per cent," Keith Gilligan reported for the Durham Business Times. http://www.newsdurhamregion.com/news/article/154501
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10 - CommunityAIR: Toronto island airport runways are too short for fully-loaded Q400sMay 17 CommunityAIR reported on its filing with the Ontario Securities Commission over Porter Airlines plan to issue an Initial Public Offering of its shares. CommunityAIR said the Toronto Island Airport "has 3 runways. The main runway, 08/26, is aligned east/west. It has three published lengths: 1220 metres, 1218 metres, and 1160 metres. It is the only runway that can be used by the Q400. This runway cannot be lengthened because there is a prohibition against doing so in the Tripartite Agreement. Bombardier, the aircraft manufacturer, states its Q400 requires 1402 metres for take off and landing, almost 200 metres more than the longest runway.""Because of this safety risk Porter has reduced the number of passengers it carries to 70 from 78, and fewer - or less baggage - for destinations beyond 500nm. These limitations on the use of Porter's hub are not disclosed in the Preliminary Prospectus.
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11 - UK scraps Heathrow third runway: New PM prefers improved rail links"Plans for a third runway at Heathrow have been scrapped by the new coalition government. The decision, which came in a joint policy agreement, effectively means that the plans will be put on ice for the foreseeable future," Heathrow News reported on May 14.(T)he Conservatives opposed the plan, preferring improved rail links to and from Heathrow including a direct link to a new London to Scotland high-speed rail line," Heathrow News reported. For a good read on UK aviation environmental issues try "Flying Matters" by David Howarth, University of Essex and Steven Griggs, De Montfort University, Leicester. http://contemporarycondition.blogspot.com/2010/05/flying-matters.html http://heathrownews.com/2010/05/14/plans-for-third-runway-scrapped/
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12 - Metrolinx study will kill Peterborough train, says local MP"A Metrolinx study has dealt a severe blow to plans for a rail link between Peterborough and Union Station, saying the cost could soar as high as $1.5 billion. But the Conservative MP for Peterborough says it won't stop his crusade for a commuter train option for the city 120 kilometres northeast of Toronto," the Toronto Star reported May 20."The Metrolinx report, commissioned jointly by the provincial and federal governments, looked at three route options, with capital costs ranging from $541 million to $1.5 billion for the rail and trains. Annual operating and maintenance would run from $21 million to $25 million annually for a basic service with two trains travelling in each direction daily, making eight stops. It could initially attract about 1,900 riders on weekdays, says the study. An enhanced service would cost at least $43 million," Tess Kalinowski wrote for the Toronto Star. For Peterborough MP Dean Del Mastro's comments see http://www.deandelmastro.ca/index.php?section_copy_id=112145§ion_id=6647
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