By Transport Action Ontario | Press Releases and Open Letters , Urban Transit
On June 24, the Move the GTHA collaborative, including Transport Action Ontario, sent a letter to Premier Wynne congratulating her on her election victory and offering to continue to work with her government to increase funding for public transportation and active transportation options.
The full letter can be viewed here: MTGTHA-LettertoWynne2014-06-25
By Transport Action Ontario | Press Releases and Open Letters , Urban Transit
On May 27, Toronto mayoral candidate John Tory unveiled his transit platform. The flagship component was SmartTrack, an electrified “surface subway” transit corridor based mostly on parts of the GO rail network. It has the same thrust as the Province’s Regional Express Rail announcement in mid-April, which was virtually identical to Transport Action Ontario’s concept of Regional Express Rail, proposed in its major report released last July.
Transport Action Ontario is very pleased to se the RER concept picked up by one of the top-tier candidates for mayor of Toronto. Our media release can be viewed here: TAO-JohnTorymediarelease2014-05-27
The Tory announcement, and Transport Action Ontario’s role in it, was picked up by various Toronto media. Some links are provided here:
http://metronews.ca/news/toronto/1047150/breaking-down-john-torys-smarttrack-transit-plan/
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 , Press Releases and Open Letters
On February 2, 2014, the Canadian government announced it will start buying land in Detroit to speed up building of the New International Trade Crossing, a planned bridge between Detroit and Windsor.
Transport Action Ontario has issued a position statement opposing this latest effort by the Canadian government to induce construction of this ill-conceived and uneconomic project. The statement can be viewed here: TAO-NITC-2014-03
By Transport Action Ontario | Aviation , Major Reports
With the proposed expansion of Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport (BBTCA) and the introduction of jets, it will be necessary to review and very likely expand the safety zones at the airport. These safety zones have received very little public discussion.
On March 24, 2014, Transport Action Ontario released a major report on future safety zones at an expanded BBTCA. In summary, assuming regulatory standards and specifications are followed, there will be major impacts to the harbour and Port Lands. These impacts are large enough that the City should say “no” to the expansion proposal. If exemptions from these standards are provided, this will significantly increase safety and liability risk.
Our media release can be found here: Toronto Island Airport Media Release 2014-03-24
Our full report can be found here: Toronto Isl Airprt Safety Zones 2014-03-24
The computer illustrations presented at the press conference can be found here: Toronto Island Airport Media Release Illustrations 2014-03-24