The war on the car is over?

"Ladies and gentlemen, the war on the car stops today . . . Transit City is over. We will not build any more rail tracks down the middle of our streets."
-Rob Ford, mayor of Toronto

"The war on the car is over? If only it had actually BEGUN!"
-Christopher Hume

Map shows that Light Rail Plan delivers more winners than Subway Expansion Plan

[from Toronto Environmental Alliance]

Highway Funding

Since 1956, federal, state and local governments have invested nine times more capital funding in highway subsidies than in transit. In 2004, state governments spent nearly 13 times more public funds on highways than on transit. On top of all that, the process for securing funding for new transit lines is far more onerous and less certain than for highway projects, with the federal government generally picking up a smaller share of the tab for new transit lines than for new highway projects."
http://www.planetizen.com/node/34151

Bus Rapid Transit

Metrolinx has taken immediate steps to address our congestion and environmental problems. Called “Quick Wins” an early win was the approval of $57.6 million to cover the capital costs of a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) service along the Dundas Corridor (Highway #5) from Hamilton to Mississauga.

"This could be really good news, especially IF it is a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and not just a bt... bus transit. The BRTs have dedicated lanes so that they can actually be “rapid” and it would be a fantastic line, very well used. With the BRT people would go much faster than in a car and then there would be a real incentive to use it. People could link to it either through “feeder buses” or even walking or bicycling. When I was working for the City of Mississauga, it would have taken me 1:25 minutes each way using Oakville and Mississauga’s “transit systems” as opposed to 25 minutes by car; it would not make much sense to spend 2 additional hours per day of quality time on the bus, the equivalent of 15 working weeks per year!

People need the environmental incentives, but the minimum system has to be good enough to make sense."
-Gil Penalosa, Executive Director of Walk and Bike for Life

High Speed Rail from Windsor to Quebec City

"The possibility of introducing high-speed passenger rail service in the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor has been investigated extensively on different occasions during the last two decades. However, a number of fundamental conditions have changed since the completion of these studies, including the following:

- Strong economic growth resulting in increased development along the corridor

- Increased congestion on highways and railways and in airports in the vicinity of the Corridor

- Increased implementation, reliability, and service performance of high-speed rail technology

- Increased interest in environmentally sustainable transportation

Consequently, the governments of Canada, Quebec, and Ontario have announced their intention to update several elements of the previous studies that may have changed substantially since 1995..."

The Honourable Lawrence Cannon, P.C., M.P.

City's poor stranded in suburbs

Getting ready in the morning usually means grabbing your car keys or your bus pass. Which one of these you take says a lot less about who you are than about where you are. In Canada's big cities, only half of adults who live in the downtown core drive every day. Outside this core, four out of five adults drive every day, which is natural since fewer interesting places are within walking distance. In the newer suburban developments in the quickest-growing parts of the 905 region, walking to the nearest grocery store can seem like an epic trip. In Canada's suburbs, where you work, play, eat and sleep might well be in totally different areas of the community. This makes a car your ticket into a full suburban life.

Toronto Star, P.AA8, February 13, 2008

In the News...

Metrolinx to release Active Transportation Green Paper
A draft version of the Metrolinx (formerly the Greater Toronto Transportation Authority) Green Paper on Active Transportation is up for approval by its board this Friday, January 25th, and will then be released for public comment.
You can read the report by clicking here
______________________________________
Viva sets wheels in motion for rapid transit on Yonge
The wheels are in motion for officials to move forward with rapid transit on Yonge Street. The question is, will it be bus lanes or subway line? In 2005, Viva launched its 20-year transportation plan. Its second phase is a $1.8 billion project to install bus-only lanes on Yonge Street, between Steeles Avenue and Highway 7, then north to Bernard Street in Richmond Hill.
Thornhill Post, P. 9, January 31, 2008
______________________________________
StatsCan: Our car addiction is growing
Don't you just love statistics that challenge conventions and puncture presumptions? Until recently, my favourite batch were those suggesting that U.S. states that permit citizens to carry concealed handguns have lower rates of violent crime. Citing those statistics is like sticking a mischievous finger in the eye of anyone who wants to ban handguns in Canada. My latest favourite, though, is a new Statistics Canada report showing that despite all the gum-beating we do about protecting the environment, Canadians are actually more dependent on their cars with each passing year, even in big cities with good public transit.
Hamilton Spectator, P. 19, January 25, 2008
______________________________________
News Release: Consultation begin for Canada's first motor vehicle fuel consumption regulation
OTTAWA - Transport Canada is reminding Canadians that consultations for the country's first motor vehicle fuel consumption regulations have begun, as announced on January 17, 2008 by the Honourable Lawrence Cannon, Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities. The Government of Canada recognizes that the transportation sector is one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions in Canada and for the first time the government will regulate the fuel consumption of cars and light trucks, beginning with the 2011 model year.
Transport Canada, January 23, 2008

Transit in Canada

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080123.LDRIVE23/TPStory/?query=transit

STATSCAN SURVEY: DRIVING HABITS
Western urban dwellers love their cars
REBECCA DUBE Globe and Mail January 23, 2008
City living doesn't mean a car-free existence - in fact, 69 per cent of people living in Canada's largest cities travel everywhere by car, according to a Statistics Canada survey released yesterday that details urban driving habits.

Most likely to buckle up are baby-boomer men in Calgary, Edmonton and Winnipeg, while Montreal women aged 18 to 24 are least likely to drive downtown.

But the biggest predictor of your driving habits is not who you are, but in what kind of neighbourhood you live.

"The way our cities are built has a huge impact on our dependency on cars," says Martin Turcotte, the study's author and a social-science researcher with Statscan.
Canadians increasingly depend on cars, despite growing concerns about pollution from auto emissions and even though we're steadily congregating in cities with public transit.

The proportion of adults who travel exclusively by car increased from 68 per cent in 1992 to 74 per cent in 2005, according to Statscan. Meanwhile, the proportion of Canadians who cycled or walked at least one trip a day fell to 19 per cent from 26 per cent during the same period.

The aging of the population may be partly to blame, Mr. Turcotte says, but the type of neighbourhood influences driving and walking decisions even more strongly than creaky knees. More people want to live in cities, but most new houses are built in low-density neighbourhoods far from the city centre, where people live a more suburban and car-dependent lifestyle.

"Many neighbourhoods are designed in such a way there's no other possibility than travelling with your car," Mr. Turcotte says.

Car culture influences everything from zoning rulings to the decision many cities make to plow snow off streets before they clear the sidewalks, says Preston Schiller, a professor with Queen's University's school of urban and regional planning.

"If we want to take this issue seriously, we need to start with feet first; we need to make communities more walkable," Dr. Schiller says. "You can't just plop down a high-rise condo out in the middle of nowhere and expect miracles to happen."

Mr. Turcotte found a huge difference in the composition of urban neighbourhoods across Canada. In Montreal, for instance, 93 per cent of inner-city neighbourhoods are high-density, defined as mostly multifamily homes and apartment buildings rather than detached single-family houses. By contrast, only 30 per cent of Calgary's downtown housing is high-density.

The different types of housing translate directly into different ways of travelling, Mr. Turcotte says. Only 29 per cent of downtown Montreal residents made all their trips by car, compared with 66 per cent of Calgary's inner-city dwellers.

Statscan looked at driving patterns gleaned from the 2005 general social survey, which asked Canadians about the trips they made on one particular day. Trips were defined as travel with a practical purpose - cycling or walking for exercise or pleasure did not count.

Car culture
The percentage of people in major Canadian cities (18 and over) who made all their trips (on the reference day) using a car compared with those who used public transit for at least one trip.
Toronto 66% 16%
Montreal 65% 18%
Vancouver 69% 12%
Ottawa 71% 15%
Calgary 75% 12%
Edmonton 77% 9%
Quebec 74% 9%
Winnipeg 72% 10%
Medium cities 75% 7%
Smaller cities 81% 3%
SOURCE: STATISTICS CANADA


STATSCAN STUDY: DRIVING HABITS
Transit in Canada. It's a joke
JOHN BARBER jbarber@globeandmail.com Jan. 23/08

I remember talking to an Edmonton friend about the Kyoto Protocol back when sophisticated opinion in Alberta held the thing to be little better than a Communist plot.

"What's the alternative?" he asked sarcastically, after a long, detailed denunciation of naive environmentalism. "Public transit?"

He was so scathing he shut me right up. But at the time we were riding a minivan through suburban Calgary, which is to say Calgary, so what could I say? Public transit was not an alternative. To suggest it was would have been blindly Toronto-centric.

A Montrealer might have made the same mistake, but the fact remains: The only Canadians for whom public transit is a welcome alternative to car travel generally live within a few kilometres of two, maybe three, widely separated city centres.

"Residents of Calgary and Edmonton are more dependent on their cars than those living in other large census metropolitan areas," Statistics Canada reported yesterday, summarizing the findings of a new study. But why single them out? With respect to car dependency, they are identical to Canadians in medium cities and small towns, indeed everywhere else except those few constrained centres.

Transit-dependent, pedestrian-friendly Canada - urban Canada, in effect - is vanishingly small in size.

Only 29 per cent of Montrealers living in the very centre of town travel everywhere by car, according to the study, compared with 43 per cent of equivalent Torontonians. But a majority of people living farther than five kilo metres from the centre of each city travel everywhere by car. A majority of all Vancouverites, no matter where in town they live, still go everywhere by car.

No wonder successive national governments in this country, alone in the developed world, have pretended they aren't responsible for ' public transit: Seen clearly, the challenge seems hopeless.

It isn't getting any easier, according to Statistics Canada, despite demographic trends that are piling more of the country's population into urban centres.

Depressingly, the share of adult Canadians "who went everywhere by car" has risen from two-thirds to three-quarters since 1992, according to the study. Over the same period, the share of Canadians who occasionally walked or rode bikes has dropped from one-quarter to less than one-fifth.

Transit in Canada? A joke. "How can we explain why Canadians, most of whom live in large metropolitan regions, now need their cars more than ever to go about their daily business?" the study asks.

There are lots of potential answers, beginning with the fact that there is still nothing remotely urban about so-called urban development in Canada today. But attitudes always show up. Age and sex are just as likely as location to create driving dependence, according to the study.

Male baby boomers, no matter where they live, are the worst offenders. They are also the ones, according to my own experience, who complain most trenchantly about the lack of alternatives. But if every car trip is so necessary, why do older people take more than twice as many of them as younger people? The answer is that they can afford to. Even given a reasonable alternative, Canadians who own cars overwhelmingly choose to use them, more and more, for every conceivable trip - including millions of unnecessary ones. They rationalize by saying there is no alternative, which is often true but just as often not.

Look to the future and what do you see? Suburban Calgary from sea to sea.

Paved paradise

GO Transit abandons pedestrian-friendly station to build jumbo parking lot for car-happy commuters.
http://www.nowtoronto.com/news/story.cfm?content=161209

ITDP Sustainable Transport Awards

Please come and join us celebrate these cities that are

transforming their streets and fighting climate change

to create high-quality public spaces

Being held at the
Washington Hilton
International Ballroom West
1919 Connecticut Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20008

Doors open at 6:00
With hors d’ouevres and beverages
Award ceremony begins at 6:30

All are welcome!

For more information about our award and previous winners, visit:

http://www.itdp.org/index.php/news_events/event_detail/sustainable_transport_award/

Congestion Pricing Deal Struck in NYC

For immediate release: Thursday July 19, 2007

For more information: Neysa Pranger at (917) 532-0567

NEWS RELEASE

Hallelujah! Transit Riders Rejoice!

Straphangers Campaign Applauds Legislature on Congestion Pricing Agreement

Cleaner Air, Gridlock Relief Among Benefits

The Straphangers Campaign congratulates the state Legislature for authorizing New York City to design and implement a congestion pricing system for New York City.

This is truly an historic moment for New York. Mayor Bloomberg deserves praise for envisioning a bold initiative and State Senate Majority Leader Bruno, Speaker Silver and Governor Spitzer deserve praise for doing what’s right for the future of New York.

Congestion pricing is a forward-thinking solution to local and global problems whose time has come. From soaring asthma rates, to snarled traffic, to global warming, congestion pricing will help New York lead in addressing all these issues.

There are many compelling reasons to act now. Manhattan is drowning in traffic, New York City suffers from twice the national rate of asthma and we are desperate for new funds to repair and expand our vital subway, bus and commuter rail network. Gridlock is bad for the region's economy, whether measured in lost jobs, reduced business income or unreliable shipping.

We hope New York City is still eligible to receive up to $500 million in federal funds. These funds are desperately needed for immediate transit enhancements to 22 outlying city neighborhoods with inadequate transit options, as well as for technology to set up a congestion pricing pilot program.

There will be many winners with congestion pricing – kids suffering from asthma, drivers stuck in traffic – and transit riders and commuters should rejoice outright. Congestion pricing revenues will help keep fares down and fund $30 billion in vital long-term transit repairs and expansion—which will mean faster, safer commutes, repaired stations and new bus routes. Perhaps at long last, the Second Avenue Subway will shed its moniker as “the greatest project New York could never build.”

In reviewing congestion pricing options, we hope the Commission the Legislature will establish to make congestion pricing implementation recommendations considers the thoughtful concerns we have heard from legislators, including: the wisdom of creating a new SMART authority; safeguards to ensure that the funds generated would all be spent on transit; ways the MTA could pay for quickly added service; and the potential for neighborhoods bordering the congestion zone to become parking lots.

We believe these issues can be fairly resolved.

http://www.straphangers.org

New Mobility Model

What's the difference between the old mobility model and the one that is quietly taking its place? Well, the one that is winding down, often with considerable pain, is the hugely costly "all car/no choice" system which has dominated public policy and private practice for more than half a century in most cities around the world. The big problem with the old system is similar to that of any kind of dominant monoculture: it simply lacks the variety and flexibility, and hence the resilience and adaptability, needed to ensure long-term survival in a changing world.

What is striking about this is that the main driver for this new mobility model lies not in fears of environmental catastrophe or oil shut-down, and not even in our collective good sense or ethics --but rather in the fact that enough successful new practices and models are starting to show results that we now, finally, start to have real choices. The climate issues give us a global frame and strong sense of urgency; the New Mobility Agenda tell us how to get the job done.

[Reinventing Transport in Cities]

Old Mobility model in Los Angeles:

Metrolinx (formerly GTTA) releases Discussion paper #1

Yesterday, Metrolinx, formerly the GTTA, released its first of six discussion papers, Towards Sustainable Transportation. It can be found at http://www.metrolinx.com/, along with details about registering for updates, providing feedback, etc.

A Call For Better Transportation in Vaughan

The City of Vaughan is a great place to live, work, and play. However, it seems to me that city planners and politicians continue to indirectly encourage people to drive their cars more. If you drive on Major Mackenzie between Keele Street and Bathurst Street, there are sprawling, low-density subdivisions under construction as far as the eye can see. How will public transit effectively serve these communities? Buses will continue to be too slow, infrequent, and inconvenient to attract people away from their cars.

Vaughan is an unfriendly place for those who manoeuvre its streets with a bike or two feet. When cycling in downtown Maple, one has to either risk their life on Major MacKenzie Drive or break the law by riding on the sidewalk. Canadian motorists make an average of 2,000 trips each year that are less than three kilometres, trips that can easily be made by bike. York Region Cycling and Pedestrian Master Plan proposes only 1.5 km of additional bike lanes in Vaughan in the next five years. When priorities are right, a street can be transformed into a vibrant place for people. It's obvious that priorities are elsewhere.

At Vaughan Corporate Centre (Hwy 400 & Hwy 7), the big box stores with their massive free parking lots make walking from one store to another very challenging. Moreover, all this pavement is where nature was before. Where do the birds go? What effect does this have on our watercourses and the air we breathe?

The GO Train takes only 35 minutes from Maple to Union Station. Fantastic! But with only four trains in the morning and evening, Monday to Friday, there is standing-room only. What about those who work in North Toronto, or to the East or West? There are few alternatives to driving, except spending a very long time travelling by bus. In Vaughan, the majority who take transit do so because they don't have an available vehicle, not because it's easier or more convenient. Far from it.

Imagine our City with dedicated lanes for buses and light rail that come every five minutes, so people would choose not to drive. Imagine a network of bikeways throughout the City that would take you anywhere you want to go, with vibrant public spaces to walk and socialize in the absence of noisy traffic. What a wonderful place it would be. We need decision-makers to champion a better transportation system. A happier, healthier, and more sustainable future depends on it!

-S

Hwy 407 @ Keele Street

6 lanes of traffic lanes, but no bike lanes

Check out the state of this sidewalk at Keele and Steeles, as you enter Vaughan!

Buses inch along in rush hour traffic

Cars are the priority here... no sidewalk.

The City of Vaughan has since repaved this intersection (Keele St & Major Mackenzie) but still no bike lanes.

Jim Bradley, Ontario's new Minister of Transportation

Toronto Star
Monday, November 5, 2007

Environmentalists bet on Bradley
New transportation minister expected to exert influence well beyond his portfolio
Peter Gorrie - Environment Reporter

A surprise name comes up when environmentalists assess Ontario's new cabinet. They tout Jim Bradley as the minister, among the half-dozen with a direct impact on green issues, who offers the most hope for progress.


Yes, that Jim Bradley – the gregarious 30-year Legislature veteran from St. Catharines who's been nearly invisible during the past four years in stints as the minister for seniors and tourism, and government house leader.


His new job, minister of transportation, isn't much more of a political powerhouse than those others.


But green observers say transportation policies will be crucial in deciding southern Ontario's environmental fate. They also expect Bradley to wield strong influence beyond the borders of his ministry.


They are pleased by the choices for all six ministries, announced last Tuesday, which include John Gerretsen in Environment, Gerry Phillips at Energy, Donna Cansfield in natural resources, Jim Watson in Municipal Affairs and David Caplan, returning as minister of public infrastructure renewal.


"None of the six is a lead weight; none are anchors," says Chris Winter, executive director of the Conservation Council of Ontario. "They all have the potential to move their agenda forward. We're miles ahead of where we were 20 years ago."


Advocates are also pleased by the government's apparent recognition that environment issues aren't separate from others – as, for example, with the recent report that linked the spread of diabetes to the sedentary lifestyle encouraged by car-dependent suburbs.


"You can see how these things fit together," says Julia Langer, of World Wildlife Fund Canada. Agriculture ministry support for local food buttresses the climate-change plan. Several ministries must mesh to ensure new housing is never more than an easy walk from a transit stop. "The cabinet has to have more than one environment minister."


But Bradley occupies a special place, partly because of his record as environment minister under then-premier David Peterson from 1985 to '90, but also because he's reputed to have been a quiet force since the Liberals regained power in 2003.


"Bradley is considered to be the father of the modern environmental government," says David Donnelly, a lawyer who works on issues such as urban sprawl, building standards and protection of Lake Simcoe.


Among other things, Bradley stared down nickel-smelting giants Inco. Ltd. and Falconbridge Ltd. and other industries that caused acid rain, and, over strong business objections, pushed through regulations that reduced toxic pollution from sewer pipes.


Now, he's in charge of a ministry that's fixated on more and bigger highways and bridges, and that critics argue must shift to support public transit, cycling and walking.


"He does a wonderful `aw shucks' routine," Donnelly says. But "very few people are shrewder.


"He holds a great deal of sway with the cabinet....I expect him to fight and, based on his past history, I expect him to win."


Winter adds: "He had a lot of spine back then (as environment minister) and I don't think he's lost it."


In their most optimistic moments, environmentalists picture Bradley killing plans for new expressways through the Greenbelt – the extension of Highways 404 and 407 and a new route along the Niagara Peninsula and across York Region's mid-section.


More realistically, they say he might reduce the scale of those massive road plans, which seem to fly in the face of the government's claim to want more compact, transit- and pedestrian-friendly communities.


A cautious Bradley, still busy moving to his new office, says he hasn't yet "turned my attention" to that issue. He is certain, though, that much of his effort will focus on how to spend the $17.5 billion Premier Dalton McGuinty has pledged for transit projects.


The other five ministers have reasonable green credentials but those with track records get mixed reviews.


Gerretsen, former mayor of Kingston, earns high marks for creating the Greenbelt over strong objections from developers and landowners. He's downgraded, though, for approving energy-efficiency standards for new houses that Donnelly calls "disappointing."


Caplan, with part of the responsibility for containing sprawl, is praised for general direction but considered weak on putting it into practice. Phillips strongly backed the creation of the Rouge Valley park on Toronto's eastern border.

Street car was desired in York Region of old

Streets near Old Town Hall such as the Main and Botford streets area (left) used to offer streetcar rides in the early 19th century.

From: http://www.yorkregion.com/article/53847

Oct 15, 2007 08:18 PM
Newmarket street car service? It's been done before

By: Sean Pearce

It’s perhaps a little ironic, seeing how many commuters are forced to crawl along highways or cram into buses on a daily basis, that Newmarket once possessed a streetcar route into Toronto.

No, that’s not a misprint. According to the town’s own website, in 1899 a set of electric railway tracks came up Yonge Street and curved over towards Newmarket’s Main Street via what would today be Cane Parkway.

The terminal for Newmmarket was at the Railroad Hotel, later known as the King George Hotel, at Timothy and Main Streets, although later on it did move a little west and a new terminal was built on Botsford Street across from the Old Town Hall. Amazingly, the tracks then continued northward up to Sutton West.

It can be problematic at times these days to even catch a bus up that far.

The so-called radial was quite the phenomenon for tourists from the big city of Toronto to the south.

Many Torontonians came up for the popular Newmarket Farmers’ Market held each Saturday in the town and, according to the town of Newmarket’s website, a North York Agricultural Fair was held here each September that also brought a great number of weary urbanites out for a bit of country charm.

The streetcar line also had other uses and was sometimes utilized to ship freight, such as fresh produce, down from the area and into Toronto.

The line was at first operated by the Metropolitan Railway Company from 1897 to 1904, before being acquired by the Toronto and York Radial Railway Company.

The TYRRC operated the service for a further 18 years until it was acquired by the City of Toronto and operated by Hydro Electric Power Commission of Ontario as the Hydro Electric Railways: Toronto and York Division in 1922.

As the automobile continued to gain traction as the faster way for folks who could afford it to get around the fortunes of the streetcar line began to sour.

A better network of roads and highways and cheaper automobiles also contributed to a sharp decline in the service’s usage.

Ultimately service beyond Richmond Hill was discontinued in the early 1930s and in 1947 the tracks running from North Toronto to Richmond Hill were torn up as the automobile was clearly ruling the road.

Remember that the next time, when you’re caught in traffic, and you’re wondering if there isn’t a better way to get to the city.

GO save the planet

taken on a blistery cold day in Feb at Union Station, Toronto...

New roads make it easy to ignore public transit

Another road opens in Vaughan, with sprawling, low-density subdivisions under construction as far as the eye can see. Take a drive on Major Mackenzie between Keele St and Dufferin St to see for yourself. How will public transit effectively serve them? Buses will be too slow, infrequent, and inconvenient to attract people away from their cars. And that's an inconvenient truth. -S

October 9, 2007

MCNAUGHTON ROAD EAST OPENS TODAY

VAUGHAN, ON – The McNaughton Road extension which runs from Keele Street to Major Mackenzie Drive was officially opened to the public today.

“The completion of the McNaughton Road extension will have a positive effect on our community as it will allow the City to provide the appropriate infrastructure to relieve gridlock through Maple on Major Mackenzie and help attract and retain businesses,” said Mayor Linda Jackson. “The extension is especially important to the redevelopment and intensification of the existing Civic Centre site.”

York Major Holdings constructed the capital work on the City’s behalf in order to accelerate the development of their nearby lands. City Council authorized completion of the extension in April 2003.

“The extension and the development of York Major Holdings’ land is an important part of the City’s strategy with respect to the closure of the Keele Valley Landfill,” said Ward 1 Councillor Peter Meffe. “It will also encourage redevelopment of the secondary buffer zone of the landfill.”

The new four-lane road runs east 1.6 kilometres and connects to the existing McNaughton Road at Keele Street, approximately two blocks north of the intersection at Major Mackenzie Drive and Keele Street.

The extension is adjacent to the former Keele Valley Landfill Site. These lands, with an area of approximately 245 hectares, are being rehabilitated under the Maple Valley Plan that includes new parkland and natural open spaces, and some commercial development.

McNaughton Road east will reduce traffic volume at the intersection of Keele Street and Major Mackenzie Drive, site of the new Civic Centre currently under construction.

The Record
Thu 11 Oct 2007

New roads make it easy to ignore public transit
Byline: Shelley Maw

As long as we continue to build more roads in Ontario to reduce traffic congestion, we will not stop driving and start using public transit.

Human beings do not change their ways of doing things until their current method becomes unbearable, and when there is an alternative that is reasonably convenient and affordable.

If we keep making driving easier and more convenient, we might as well save our breath (and our money) trying to sell the idea of leaving our cars at home and taking public transit.

Why do people in this region take public transit? By far the majority of those who do, do so because they don't have an available vehicle. Why do those of us who drive not take public transit? Because it is neither easier nor more convenient. Far from it. Why do many of us take public transit to or in Toronto? Because it is easier, and more convenient than trying to drive and to park in Toronto's traffic.

Forget a new Highway 7 and the proposed 424 bypass, and give us a public transit alternative that is reasonably simple and convenient.

Eventually the traffic nightmares will push us to use it. If you solve the traffic congestion problem, we won't change our car habit.

The World's Newest and Cheapest Subway: Beijing Line 5

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/10/beijing_subway_5.php

Transportation key election issue in York Region

Metroland York Region newspapers

Wednesday, October 3, 2007
COLUMN

No one route to better commute
By: Sean Pearce

As anyone who wakes up impossibly early every weekday morning to make the trek to Toronto for work well knows, traffic congestion isn’t going away.
Far from it.

Every year, the number of cars on the road, often occupied by a single person, seems to multiply exponentially on hwys. 400 and 404 and any other route that leads into the big city.
The drive home isn’t much better.

So far, all four major party leaders have come out saying Ontarians deserve better than to become virtual prisoners in their automobiles for 10, 15 and, in some cases, 20 hours a week. And the economic implication of all this congestion is nearly as costly as the social one.
It is then safe to say, in terms of transportation issues, York Region faces a multitude of obstacles, but has a myriad of possible solutions at its disposal.

Transit
In terms of improving public transit in the region, each party presents a slightly different approach, but all agree more is needed.

The Liberals spent a number of months leading up to the election introducing a whole host of transit initiatives, each more ambitious than the last.

One of the more recent was MoveOntario 2020, a $17.5-billion plan that would see, among other things, construct a new subway into York Region under Yonge Street, up to Hwy. 7 in Richmond Hill. This, along with the subway to Vaughan, would give the region a subway in the east and west portions with the idea it would help more people to park their cars and choose transit instead.

Of course, the only problem is determining whether or not the cash-strapped TTC, who would have to pay the operating costs, will be able to foot the bill in the long run.

Is the subway even the best possible solution for York Region in the long haul? The Progressive Conservatives don’t seem to think so. The PCs, under John Tory, have vowed to create a new funding model for Ontario, one that sees all gas tax collected going back to municipalities.

That way, it is the municipal governments that can decide for themselves how they should spend the cash.

In a similar fashion, Mr. Tory has said it should be the Greater Toronto Transportation Authority, the experts, recommending these major transit projects and not politicians.
More to the point, the much touted plan for the subway, seeing as how it may take at least four to five years to get things under way, might simply be too little too late.
The time for rapid transit and action is now, Mr. Tory said.

The NDP also has said it favours increasing public transit and, in some cases, freezing fares to keep from deterring would-be riders with increasing prices. That might be a valid point seeing as how the York Regional Transit committee is in the midst of implementing a possible fare increase at this precise moment.

The Greens are, naturally, also in favour of more public transit as the answer to congestion and, to that end, are advocating the diversion of 75 per cent of all funds currently budgeted for highway construction, up until 2012, toward transit.

The one thing all parties seem to support is the extension of GO Transit’s rail corridor through the region to Barrie and the implementation of all-day rail service in York.
Roads

Of course, improved and enhanced transit in York Region will not get everyone out of their cars and on to trains, buses or even subways.

The Liberals seem to have recognized this and have been working away building and expanding the province’s network of high occupancy vehicle lanes in the hope if people must drive, they will, at the very least, carpool.

Work on the long-discussed extension of Hwy. 404 to Georgina also seems to be under way.
The PCs, among them former minister of transportation Frank Klees, have come out saying York Region needs more than future subways and even enhanced transit.

The extension of Hwy. 404 to Georgina, Hwy. 427 to Orangeville and the construction of the Bradford Bypass are of vital importance, Mr. Klees said.

If these major arteries were built or extended, the logic goes, congestion would decrease dramatically as there would be less need for through traffic to clog up roads such as Davis Drive, Wellington Street or Woodbine Avenue on a daily basis.

The NDP and the Greens also seem to support ideas such as encouraging consumers to buy more eco-friendly vehicles and the creation of more HOV lanes in addition to new transit initiatives and simple ideas such as tele-commuting and people-powered solutions such as cycling and even good, old-fashioned walking.

Reality
The fact remains voters are looking for action on the congestion issue and it is likely whichever proposal is most sound, the real answer will likely be a multi-pronged approach. Is more and improved public transit needed? Yes, absolutely. Too many people complain schedules are inconvenient for their lives or routes don’t go where they need them to go, so, instead, they drive.

Does York Region need a faster network of highways? The answer, again, is yes. The fact is, no matter how good transit is, it will not entice everyone out of their cars.

Hopefully, as the HOV network continues its expansion, more people will be encouraged to travel with others, but the fact remains many people in this region still continue their age-old love affair with the automobile.

Creating a longer and more efficient network of highways will undoubtedly remove much of the unnecessary through traffic in the region and, in the end, allow everyone to get where they are going more quickly and efficiently.

Finally, sprawl must be reigned in. Construction continues often without the benefit of infrastructure such as adequate roads and transit. All four parties are agreeing this cannot continue.

The fact remains whoever the voters choose, there must be action and it must come soon. York Region and Ontario, on the whole, cannot afford to wait.

Green in the News

Study awards Victoria urban transit kudos
Victoria has the greenest urban transportation practices in Canada, followed closely by Vancouver, Ottawa-Gatineau and Winnipeg. But none of the 27 cities surveyed received an "A" on their report card, says a study to be released today. And while the top cities only received Bs, five others got Fs. "It's amazing how many shades of green there are in this country," said Toronto international trade lawyer Barry Appleton, whose private Appleton Charitable Foundation funded the study conducted in co-operation with the University of British Columbia's business school.
www.canada.com, September 21, 2007
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Ideas for a greener region are out there
When it comes to action on climate change, Canadian cities should be the leaders. Sadly, this is not the case in Niagara. According to the Pembina Institute, the region ranks 27th out of 27 Ontario municipalities - dead last - in environmental sustainability. It's shocking considering that Niagara has been talking about smart growth - a planning policy intended to foster more environmentally friendly communities - since at least 2001. But, the Pembina report notes, there has been a lot of talk and little action. The glaring shortfall is Niagara's continued reliance on the car.
St. Catharines Standard, P. A12, September 20, 2007