M II A II R II K
Senior Member
Transit problems across Canada prompt calls for politicians to address issue
Mar. 25, 2011
SIRI AGRELL, LES PERREAUX, WENDY STUECK AND JOSH WINGROVE
Read More: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...sue/article1957897/singlepage/#articlecontent
Interactive Map: http://maps.google.ca/maps/ms?ie=UT...125&spn=91.124017,210.585938&z=2&source=embed
Commute times in Canadian cities are no longer just a source of rush-hour irritation, but a national liability affecting the economic performance of our urban centres and requiring immediate intervention from Ottawa. A new ranking of international cities by the Toronto Board of Trade saw major Canadian municipalities fall dramatically behind in the realm of transportation and transit, prompting big-city mayors and transit experts to call on all federal parties to address the issue in the election, or suffer the consequences.
“We need to make this a significant election issue and it’s critical that parties develop a response,†said Michael Roschlau, president of the Canadian Urban Transit Association. “I just hope it doesn’t take a crisis to get there: that traffic congestion gets so bad, commute times get so long, that we have to react instead of being proactive.†The rankings in the Board of Trade’s annual Scorecard on Prosperity, which measures cities on a number of economic, social and structural indicators, suggest that Canadian cities are already on the brink of crisis.
Not a single Canadian city cracked the top 10 on transportation issues, which measured such factors as commute times, transit ridership, kilometres of existing rail and vehicles per capita. Montreal fared best, in 12th place, followed by Calgary (13), Toronto (19) and Vancouver (21), but all were outperformed by Hong Kong, Stockholm, Paris, London and New York. And Canada’s failings in the transportation realm had a negative impact on cities’ overall rating, with Toronto dropping from fourth to eighth place due largely to its “crippling congestion.â€
The report noted that Toronto’s reputation is also tarnished by its 80-minute average round-trip commute, signalling an “urgent need to invest in public transportation.†“We would certainly hope that one of the key issues that this election is fought on is around a national transit strategy,†said Board of Trade president and CEO Carol Wilding. “There has to be a vision brought to it across all levels of government.†Unlike other countries, Canada has never had a national transit strategy. Although Ottawa has grown increasingly involved in transit over the past 10 years, averaging investments of about $600-million a year, the funding remains ad hoc, with no predictability.
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Mar. 25, 2011
SIRI AGRELL, LES PERREAUX, WENDY STUECK AND JOSH WINGROVE
Read More: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...sue/article1957897/singlepage/#articlecontent
Interactive Map: http://maps.google.ca/maps/ms?ie=UT...125&spn=91.124017,210.585938&z=2&source=embed
Commute times in Canadian cities are no longer just a source of rush-hour irritation, but a national liability affecting the economic performance of our urban centres and requiring immediate intervention from Ottawa. A new ranking of international cities by the Toronto Board of Trade saw major Canadian municipalities fall dramatically behind in the realm of transportation and transit, prompting big-city mayors and transit experts to call on all federal parties to address the issue in the election, or suffer the consequences.
“We need to make this a significant election issue and it’s critical that parties develop a response,†said Michael Roschlau, president of the Canadian Urban Transit Association. “I just hope it doesn’t take a crisis to get there: that traffic congestion gets so bad, commute times get so long, that we have to react instead of being proactive.†The rankings in the Board of Trade’s annual Scorecard on Prosperity, which measures cities on a number of economic, social and structural indicators, suggest that Canadian cities are already on the brink of crisis.
Not a single Canadian city cracked the top 10 on transportation issues, which measured such factors as commute times, transit ridership, kilometres of existing rail and vehicles per capita. Montreal fared best, in 12th place, followed by Calgary (13), Toronto (19) and Vancouver (21), but all were outperformed by Hong Kong, Stockholm, Paris, London and New York. And Canada’s failings in the transportation realm had a negative impact on cities’ overall rating, with Toronto dropping from fourth to eighth place due largely to its “crippling congestion.â€
The report noted that Toronto’s reputation is also tarnished by its 80-minute average round-trip commute, signalling an “urgent need to invest in public transportation.†“We would certainly hope that one of the key issues that this election is fought on is around a national transit strategy,†said Board of Trade president and CEO Carol Wilding. “There has to be a vision brought to it across all levels of government.†Unlike other countries, Canada has never had a national transit strategy. Although Ottawa has grown increasingly involved in transit over the past 10 years, averaging investments of about $600-million a year, the funding remains ad hoc, with no predictability.
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