Don't want to end up like Cyprus and Greece? Make public transit fare-free.

Cyprus, dedicated transit funding and guerrilla warfare: Salutin | Toronto Star: "What might be the next step in a guerrilla campaign to restore the public realm — as the guerrillas of yore encircled the cities? How about: not just decent public transit but free? Free is tough to argue with. Free public education and health care have been hard to dislodge. Of course everyone knows they’re not actually free; we pay but we pay as a society, it’s a shared cost because everyone benefits, even if they don’t use them. Same goes for public transit. And this generation of youth can be passionate about free, especially when it comes to content on the Internet. (A case, like free trade, where I personally have reservations.) That, too, would be a perk: increase the base of citizen engagement instead of downsizing it like everything else."

'via Blog this'

American streetcars deliberately, illegally dismantled

Who Funds Public Transit | Catch the Trout

Who Funds Public Transit | Catch the Trout: "Beck and Mis point out that, “Since auto ownership is a surrogate of income, it means the lower income resident who cannot afford a car is paying taxes to support a higher income resident who owns a car. Yet, if there is no transit service, then the higher income resident does not support the low income resident through the taxes needed to support a good level of transit service; herein lies the unfairness.”

We, who offer public transit service to the seven municipalities that comprise the north half of Hastings County, along with the municipality of Highlands East in Haliburton County, encourage councilors with vision to continue to champion local public transit. Further, we hope councilors who have not supported public transit in the past will begin to understand the value of supporting their non-driving constituents with the fair and equitable allocation of property tax dollars toward public transit."

'via Blog this'

Gridlock in the Hamilton-Toronto area to thicken if left unchecked: Metrolinx president | TheSpec.com

Gridlock in the Hamilton-Toronto area to thicken if left unchecked: Metrolinx president | TheSpec.com: "Getting to work takes longer in the Hamilton-Toronto area than anywhere in Canada, and the problem is going to get a lot worse warned the head of the agency trying to solve the problem."

'via Blog this'

Pembina survey: People want #publictransit and are willing to pay for it

Dedicated to transit: Having our say and winning the medal | Pembina Institute:

• 70% of drivers surveyed were more willing to pay a user fee on a highway or road if they could see the results in the form of new rapid transit built in the GTA.

• 69% were more willing to pay a user fee on a highway or road if it the fee was dedicated to building new rapid transit that connected their community with a broader rapid transit system in the GTA.

• 69% would find a road toll more acceptable if the funds were fully dedicated to building a rapid transit line close to this same route.