All Posts by Transport Action Ontario

Use of Highway 407ETR as a Truck Alternative to Proposed Highway 413 – Media Interviews

By Transport Action Ontario | Highways and Bridges , Latest News

The GTA West transportation corridor, now officially known as Highway 413, continues to generate intense interest among local citizens, elected officials and media. Transport Action Ontario (TAO) is a core member of an alliance called “Stop the 413 Now” that actively opposes this project.

As described in our report “Is Building Highway 413 the Best Option” (see posting on this website August 20, 2020), people moving is more cost effectively achieved with rapid transit, which can move 4 times as many people per hour as the Highway, for the same capital cost.

For the important sector of goods movement by truck, there is increasing interest in the use of a truck toll discount on Highway 407. This was first analyzed by TAO in 2021 (see posting April 6, 2021), which showed that providing a full truck toll discount on the 407 is less than half as costly as building and operating the 413. And this solution can be implemented almost immediately, versus expressway construction which could take 10 years.

There has been considerable media interest in this solution. TAO President Peter Miasek was featured in two recent interviews:

• CBC Radio, March 26, 2022, with Mike Crawley, here
• Newstalk 1010 Radio, March 28, 2022, with John Moore, here

Northern Ontario Transportation Task Force looking for Input

By Transport Action Ontario | Intercity Rail and Bus , Northern Ontario

As readers know, in January, 2022 Ontario launched a Northern Transportation Task Force, one of 60 actions set out in “Connecting the North A Draft Transportation Plan for Northern Ontario”. On March 13, we received the following communication from Danny Whalen, Co-chair:

We had our first meeting of the full task force and our third meeting of the Co-Chairs.

We went around the table and gathered both concerns and wants for transportation in the north.
We listed both and it was no surprise that many concerns and wants were shared by numerous members.
We have taken the list and organized our upcoming meetings I order of priority.
Highway maintenance and classification was the highest scoring.
The benefits of increasing rail usage for both freight and passenger is another highly shared topic.

We also want to gather as much outside input as possible and have created an email box for collection. If you and your group want to share directly with the task force then please do and submit to

NorthernTransportationPlan@ontario.ca

Danny Whalen

Councillor – City of Temiskaming Shores

President – Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities

Briefing Note on CUTRIC Conference

By Transport Action Ontario | Intercity Rail and Bus , Latest News , Urban Transit

Board member Ken Westcar attended the Canadian Urban Transit Research and Innovation Consortium (CUTRIC) conference in November, 2021. His notes were circulated to the Transport Action Ontario board, but are of broad interest, so we felt that members and the general public should have access to them.

Prominent speakers included three Ministers of Transportation and various provincial, municipal and industry specialists. Ken’s briefing note can be viewed below:

Considerations for Peel Region’s Potential Purchase of OBRY Corridor

By Transport Action Ontario | Intercity Rail and Bus , Latest News

Transport Action Ontario (TAO) has long advocated to preserve the Orangeville-Brampton Railway (OBRY) corridor for transportation. See our posting of January 5, 2021.

The OBRY shut down in December, 2021. In January, 2022, we learned that the Town of Orangeville had agreed to sell about 5 acres of the railway lands in downtown Brampton to the City of Brampton. This deal closed in February. We also learned in February that Peel Region was investigating the purchase of the balance of the corridor lands.

TAO strongly supports these purchases so that the corridor remains in public hands. We have written Peel Region outlining 6 important factors supporting this purchase.

Our letter can be viewed below.

Incentivizing the Private Sector to Invest in Rail Infrastructure

By Transport Action Ontario | Intercity Rail and Bus , Latest News

Recent border blockages and on-going truck driver shortages are indicative of weakness in Canada’s national transportation system. Senior Canadian economists have called for increased Canadian business investment to remain competitive as a country. A change in Canada’s tax code to incentivize private capital investment has been discussed.

Transport Action Ontario has written key federal ministers recommending such tax incentives for rail infrastructure. Our letter can be viewed below.