Does the capital region need a regional transportation authority?

On Monday, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty announced construction of the express rail link between Union Station in downtown Toronto and Canada's busiest airport. The link will be completed in time for the 2015 Pan Am Games in Toronto. Last year the estimated price tag for the 23.3-kilometer line was $300-million, but no recent numbers has been provided for the project.

Throughout all my years of living in Toronto the Ontario Government invested heavily in the provincial capital, especially when it came to transit infrastructure and attractions. Ontario Place, the ROM, and the Ontario Science Centre were amazing childhood attractions of which I have great memories of family outtings and school trips.

GO Transit is a service that many Torontonians may take for granted, but it continues to link Toronto with the whole region. In most circles of urban thinking people are trying to get motorists out of their cars and onto public transit. It's commonplace for people to drive their cars 5-10 minutes to their closest GO Transit station and take the train and bus into downtown. That's not possible in the National Capital Region.

The Government of Ontario is at it again with the Union Station-Pearson Aiport link.

Meanwhile in the National Capital Region a company called Mobility Ottawa Outaouais: Systems and Enterprises Inc., or MOOSE, is trying to get inter-provincial commuter rail going in our neck of the woods. Although they're not asking for money from municipalities they will seek provincial or federal money to help pay for maintenance costs. MOOSE has spoken to a number of mayors in the region but we haven't heard anything from the mayor of Ottawa. I would love to see the mayor of Ottawa, not necessarily Jim Watson but whoever the office holder is at the time, take some leadership in the region even if it's just initiating dialogue on key regional issues.

Although I love the fact that an entrepreneur is taking the initiative to provide this service, where's the vision from higher levels of government? There are some areas where I want governments to do less and there are others where I want governments to do more, and transit infrastructure is one of them. Perhaps this is a Thomas Ahearn situtation where an entrepreneur will spearhead the thing and eventually some level of government will come on board. Hopefully they won't poo poo on the whole thing like they did to Thomas Ahearn's baby.

Skateway shacks would make nice water taxi stations

Today a lot of people are talking about the new chalets for the Rideau Canal Skateway. At $750,000 are they took expensive? Are they necessary?

Personally I think those shacks would make amazing stations for a water taxi service in Spring, Summer and Fall. Having a year-round use would make $750K easier to accept for a lot of people.

Reusing the chalets for a water taxi service would also eliminate part of the expense of getting such a service off the ground.

Winter chalets doubling as Spring, Summer and Fall water taxi stations? Just a thought.

Kevin Bourne
reinventingottawa.blogspot.com

Airport Cities on the rise...just not in Canada

There's a new urban form emerging around the world that's changing the way cities are built. There is also a race to implement this urban form that's sparking global competition. This concept in known as "airport cities" or the "aerotropolis" as coined by Dr. John Kasarda.

As railway and transit stations have become centres of economic, urban and social activity, airports, some having more citizens than small cities, are increasingly being seen as economic, urban and social centres to the point where small cities and business districts are forming around them. Amenities include leisure, entertainment, retail and business centres directly connected to terminals, and similar amenities located on surrounding airport lands. In this emerging urban form the terminals themselves act as public squares or shopping centres. The belief is that all the amenities found in a downtown core should be available either at the airport or on the lands surrounding the airport, and that people shouldn't have to leave the airport lands to experience these amenities.

In the United States, Europe and Asia cities are racing to complete aerotropolis projects in order to become more competitive in the global economy.

One of the main examples is the Songdo International Business District (IBD) in South Korea. Amenities include Central Park, the Riverstone Mall, residential development, office buildings, the Songdo Convensia Convention Center, the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea, as well as mixed-use retail, an international school, international hospital, and hotels. Similar projects in Asia and Europe are planned or in the works in Dubai, Hong Kong and Amsterdam. Closer to home Detroit, Memphis, St. Louis, and Washington DC.

So where is Canada in all of this? No where. Although we are the home of aerospace and rail juggernaut Bombardier, Canada has been an underachiever when it comes to transportation infrastructure and our air and rail travels industries. Our federal governments have not seen the value of transportation in the local and national economy; as a result the air and train travel industries are very small in Canada relative to other countries. Although the development of airport lands is the responsbility of airport authorities, our airports continue to pay some of the highest fees in the world making them uncompetitive.

Canada uses the web to fight urban gridlock

Good night all,

I wanted to share my latest news piece for CityMayors.com about the #CutMyCommute campaign from the Federation of Canada Municipalities (FCM). You can click on the link or read the story below.(http://www.citymayors.com/news/metronews_americas.html). Enjoy!

Kevin
reinventingottawa.blogspot.com


Canada uses the web to fight urban gridlock

Ottawa, 19 April 2011: As social media and Web 2.0 play an increasingly integral role in political communications, it is no wonder that organizations like the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM), the national voice for municipal government in Canada, have followed suit. This week the Federation, which represents 2000 members, including 21 provincial and territorial municipal associations, launched their CutMyCommute social media campaign challenging all federal political parties to fix gridlock in Canada’s cities.

Aside from raising awareness during the current federal election, the ultimate objective of the campaign, supported by the Canadian Urban Transit Association (CUTA), the Canadian Construction Association (CCA) and the Toronto Board of Trade, is to cut commute times nationally.

According to FCM, “Since the federal election was called [on 26 March 2011], long commute times have cost the economy $292 million and Canadians have wasted 2.7 million working days stuck in traffic.”

Carl Zehr, Mayor of the City of Kitchener and Chair of FCM’s Big City Mayors Caucus (BCMC), has also weighed in on the issue. “While their campaign buses are rolling across the country, party leaders need to take a good look out the window at the traffic gridlock chocking our cities. Reducing commute times must be a priority in this election and in the future, no matter which party forms the next government.”

As the average Canadian living in a big city spends an average of 75 minutes per day commuting, it is believed that long commute times are hurting Canada’s economic competitiveness with traffic delays costing more than $5 billion per year in 2006. In Toronto it is estimated that drivers spend roughly two working weeks a year stuck in traffic.

Zehr went on to say, “This is a national problem requiring a national solution. Every hour Canadians spend on the road is an hour they spend away from their families, their businesses, and their studies. That’s time none of us can afford to lose.”

Municipalities are calling on federal party leaders to set concrete targets to cap rising commute times; to reinvest more of the tax dollars Canadians send to the Federal Government in new buses, subways, and commuter rail; and to work with municipalities, provinces and territories to fill critical transportation gaps.

The campaign website has a number of tools for visitors including a rolling counter of how much commute times have cost the economy and Canadians since the beginning of the election. The website is also equipped with an online calculator allowing visitors to find out what their daily commute costs the economy, their pocketbook, and time to spend with their family, friends and businesses. (Report by Kevin Bourne)