A small city in France had a problem: their transit system was failing and it was expensive to run. Their solution was to make ridership free for all, and it has turned out to be a success that other cities are looking into.
The motivations for making a transit system free are obvious. Increased ridership […]
Tag: transit
Northern Insight: Political TransLink "audit" is worthless
The BC government claims it “found significant savings” following a performance audit of TransLink. Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Mary Polak says, “As we conducted the audit, we told TransLink about many of the efficiencies we were finding… a total of $98 million in savings. The completed audit… found a further $41
Continue readingThings Are Good: An Extra 32 Minutes a Day for People in Greater Toronto
Your32 is an effort by CivicAction to promote a financially sustainable and more efficient transit solution for people living in the greater Toronto area (GTA). This project is a great way to engage the people in the GTA as the region is regressive when it comes to transportation, even going
Continue readingThe Progressive Right: Karen Stintz on Tim Hudak’s Transit Credentials
Karen Stintz, Chair of the Toronto Transit Commission, on Ontario Progressive Conservative leader Tim Hudak`s credentials on the transit file. Mr. Hudak has some experience with the TTC, its infrastructure delays and its funding, from his time in [Ontario Progressive Conservative] caucus in 1995. Tough decisions were made then. Those
Continue readingopenalex: METRO MTL: The Boardgame!
Montrealer’s and transit geeks will love this. Yes, it’s a boardgame inspired by Montreal’s iconic metro. I discovered the other day at Chez Boris, a hip little Russian Coffeeshop that’s part of Montreal’s nascent ‘nouveau doughnut’ scene. The goal is simple, whoever gets to their destination and back
Continue readingopenalex: METRO MTL: The Boardgame!
Montrealer’s and transit geeks will love this. Yes, it’s a boardgame inspired by Montreal’s iconic metro. I discovered the other day at Chez Boris, a hip little Russian Coffeeshop that’s part of Montreal’s nascent ‘nouveau doughnut’ scene. The goal is simple, whoever gets to their destination and back
Continue readingopenalex: METRO MTL: The Boardgame!
Montrealer’s and transit geeks will love this. Yes, it’s a boardgame inspired by Montreal’s iconic metro. I discovered the other day at Chez Boris, a hip little Russian Coffeeshop that’s part of Montreal’s nascent ‘nouveau doughnut’ scene. …
Continue readingPaulitical Satire: Who Else is Getting Tired of Writing About Rob Ford
So, sometime really soon I’m going to have to take a serious break from writing about Mayor Ford…our “embarrasser-in-chief”. I mean, I’ve already written this and this. But, like George W. Bush did for John Stewart, Robby is a gift that keeps on giving.Still, I seriously considered taking a pass
Continue readingPaulitical Satire: Show and Tell – What I did on my Summer Vacation
Toronto in all it’s glory! So, today is my first day back to work after 10 days of vacay and I must say….it was pretty awesome! My girlfriend and I took part in the time honoured (?) tradition of a “staycation”. Given that we live in the Big Smoke that
Continue readingNunc Scio: Count me in for “OneCity”
By now you’ve probably heard about TTC Chair Karen Stintz (pictured) and Councilor Glenn DeBaeremaeker mega-plan for transity in Toronto- OneCity. Royson James has all the details over at the Star, so I won’t rehash them here. But in short – subways, LRT, and a plan that actually works for
Continue readingPaulitical Satire: The Bike Stops Here – The Politics of Cycling – Movie Monday
So, I’ve started riding my bike to work a couple of times a week again and as usual it’s a pretty awesome way to get around. Not only do I get to work faster than public transit ever could, but I also get exercise and have a pretty good time
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Parliament in Review – May 7, 2012
Monday, May 7 saw another day largely dominated by debate on the Cons’ omnibus budget bill. The Big Issue Plenty of MPs rightly focused on the Cons’ move to combine so many disparate types of legislation into a single behemoth of a bill. Don Davies remembered his first instruction as
Continue readingPaulitical Satire: Help! My City is Broken!
So, in a personal Paul update, not to mention context to this post, I recently purchased a used car. I talked about this briefly in my earlier post about my trip across the north. But I’m not in the North anymore…I’m home in Toronto, where I live in a Condo,
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Parliament in Review – April 5, 2012
Thursday, April 5 was the final sitting day in the House of Commons before a two-week Easter break. And the debate was much less sharp than in previous days, as the primary bill up for discussion was supported by all parties. The Big Issue That bill was S-4, a bill
Continue readingPaulitical Satire: Toronto’s Queen Streetcar – Movie Monday
So, this week our illustrious movie maker William Matthews, over at www.digitialfootprint.ca, and I wanted to do something a little different for Movie Monday. Thus, we set out on our 1 and a half hour journey (really, more like 5 hours) from the west end of our fair city all
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: How To Resolve The Transit Fare Evasion Problem
Transportation Minister Blair Lekstrom is bringing in new legislation to crack down on fare evaders, allowing collection agencies to go after people who don’t buy tickets. If Lekstrom really wants to deal with fare evasion, then he needs to realize why people don’t pay the transit fares. If people can’t afford to buy a transit
Continue readingNorthern Insights / Perceptivity: Premier Photo Op is a compulsive liar
Premier Christy Clark calls for an audit of TransLink over Evergreen Line, Mike Raptis, The Province, March 22, 2012 “Premier Christy Clark is calling for an audit to TransLink to make up the funding gap needed to build the Evergreen Line. “Clark, in Port Moody to support Liberal candidate Dennis
Continue readingDriving The Porcelain Bus: Nail In The Coffin For Rob Ford On The Tranist File
Rob Ford lost a another key vote today in Toronto City Council. Weeks ago, the councillors called a meeting to bring back Transit City (essentially), voted on it, and Transit City is back. Also at that time they formed a special panel to look into the options for Sheppard East.
Continue readingPaulitical Satire: Quick Hit: A Great Rebuttal to More Subway/Rob Ford Nonsense
So, there’s a flyer going around from a crappy group called S.A.F.E telling us the “truth” about Rob Ford’s subway plan. Side note: how self satisfied do you think the people who came up with the name for this group were. But I digress.I found a fantastic rebuttal to this
Continue readingDriving The Porcelain Bus: Rob Ford’s Lackey, Gordon Chong, Rips Off Consultants for $80,000
Gordon Chong mismanaged his funds and ripped off consultants to the tune of $80,000 (hired them knowing there was no money to pay them).Now the city will be on the hook to bail out his mismanagement. Guess who picked Chong to do this? Yep, Rob Ford, mathematician extraordinaire. THANKS ROB
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