Interview on Canada AM regarding lessons from Lac Megantic

By Transport Action Ontario | Intercity Rail and Bus

On July 7, Transport Action Ontario’s Peter Miasek was interviewed on Canada AM, CTV’s flagship morning news show.  The interview concerned the lessons from the  Lac Megantic disaster – what has the government changed to date, and what more needs to be done.

Miasek pointed out that Canada’s rail industry has numerous problems – safety, capacity, secondary line abandonment, and the decline of passenger rail.  These are all symptoms of a problem of lack of capital.   He recommended taking a page from the USA experience, where public-private partnerships between the federal government, state governments and the private railroad industry has lead to a revitalization of this important sector of our economy.

The full  interview can be viewed here.   Caution: the audio volume is a little too low, but can be comprehended without difficulty.   Our thanks to CTV News for this broadcast.

CTV – Canada AM 2014-07-07

Move the GTHA – Open Letter to Premier Wynne

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

Pembina Institute Issues Updated Report Analyzing GTHA Provincial Transit Investment Platforms

By Transport Action Ontario | Urban Transit

As readers know, Transport Action Ontario is part of the “Move the GTHA” collaborative of non-government organizations that is working towards improving public and political acceptance of new revenue tools for transportation.  The collaborative also includes Pembina Institute.

Pembina has just released an analysis of GTHA transit investment and expansion platforms from Ontario’s major political parties:  Green Party,  Liberal Party, New Democratic Party and Progressive Conservative Party.  This updates their interim analysis released in March and also posted on our website.   Five guiding principles were used as the criteria for the analysis:

• Rapid transit for the whole region
• A dedicated fund that puts transit first
• New dollars to build new transit
• Encouraging mode shift
• Fast-tracking transit improvements

Evaluations of the parties’ platforms on each of these five topics were presented, and a score was assigned:  “On track for transit”, “Gathering speed”, “Some forward movement”, and “Stuck in traffic”.

The Pembina Report can be found here:  http://www.pembina.org/pub/whos-ready-to-fight-traffic-with-transit

Op-Ed on Toronto-Kitchener-London High Speed Rail Initiative

By Transport Action Ontario | Intercity Rail and Bus

Transport Action Ontario colleague, Greg Gormick,  authored an Op-Ed in the Toronto Star on June 2, 2014, entitled “Glen Murray’s high speed rail plan is flawed”.    It indicates that Murray should instead commit to a conventional Amtrak-style rail improvement plan for southwestern Ontario.

The article can be viewed here: TORONTO STAR OPINION2014-06-02

Regional Express Rail GO Service forms Plank of Toronto Mayoral Platform

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/

http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/05/27/john-tory-unveils-yet-another-toronto-transit-plan-includes-53-km-relief-line-from-unionville-to-airport/

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/torys-transit-plan-rejects-drl-lrt-in-favour-of-surface-rail/article18864900/