By Transport Action Ontario | Highways and Bridges , Intercity Rail and Bus , Urban Transit
On April 14, 2014, Premier Wynne announced the Move Ontario Forward plan, which will create two 10-year funds to invest a total of $29 billion for transportation infrastructure in Ontario.
Our statement on this plan can be viewed here: TAO-WynneAnnouncement2014-04-15
By Transport Action Ontario | Intercity Rail and Bus , Urban Transit
On April 11, 2014, the Move the GTHA collaborative, which includes Transport Action Ontario released a new Angus Reid Forum poll, showing nearly 60% of Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area residents are now more likely to support a political leader who brought in new funding sources for transportation improvements. Support for new revenue sources for transportation infrastructure has increased in the past few months.
Details on the survey are available here
By Transport Action Ontario | Intercity Rail and Bus , Press Releases and Open Letters
Transport Action’s Senior Researcher, Karl Junkin, wrote a letter to the Toronto Star on March 20, 2014 on implementing Positive Train Control in Canada.
His letter can be viewed here: Toronto Star-JunkinLetter 2014-03-20
By Transport Action Ontario | Intercity Rail and Bus
Canada’s rail system has recently been beset with crises ranging from an inability to move a bumper crop of grain, to derailments, to drastic cuts in passenger rail. What is common to all of these issues is a lack of capital investment in Canada’s rail infrastructure.
There has been increasing discussion on the need for Canada to follow the lead of the USA and engage in public-private partnerships, involving the railways, the federal government and provincial governments, to develop a fully functional rail system.
Greg Gormick, noted transportation writer and colleague of Transport Action Ontario, has started a discussion in this area, with more to follow. His op-ed, published by the Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal on March 16, 2014 can be viewed here: NDR ThunderBayOpEd 2014-03-16
By Transport Action Ontario | Intercity Rail and Bus
On March 3, 2014, NDP MP Olivia Chow introduced Bill C-577, an Act respecting VIA Rail Canada. This private member’s bill is comprehensive. It requires the maintenance of VIA’s route system prior to the 2012 cuts, it gives VIA trains scheduling and operational preference over freight services, adds resolution protocols if disputes between VIA and other railways, requires public consultation, and more. It is an encouraging first step to meeting a pressing need for a national passenger rail act in Canada.
The act can be viewed here</>
Olivia Chow had reached out to Transport Action Ontario (TAO) last fall and asked us to comment on earlier drafts of this Bill. We engaged our colleague Greg Gormick, independent consultant, for this work. Greg is extremely knowledgeable in this area and we felt he would have valuable comments. Greg produced two memos, one for each draft of the bill, in November and December, 2013, which were forwarded to Olivia Chow and her staff.
TAO-NDP VIA Rail Canada Act Draft2 Review 131212
TAO-NDP VIA Rail Canada Act Draft1 Review 131129
There was one item in Greg’s December memo that raised some controversy within TAO. This was with regards to the relocation of VIA’s headquarters out of Montreal. We wish to clarify that this opinion was based on a statement in the cited government report, and does not reflect the position of TAO. TAO has no position on where the headquarters of VIA should or should not be located.