By Transport Action Ontario | Intercity Rail and Bus , Press Releases and Open Letters
On May 13, Transport Action Ontario board member Ken Westcar wrote to VIA Rail’s new president, Yves Desjardins-Siciliano on behalf of rail passenger advocacy groups in South Western Ontario. His letter summarized a number of challenges with VIA’s operations.
The letter is posted here with permission of the author: KenWestcar letter to VIA 2014-05-13
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