Segacs's World I Know

Posts Tagged ‘transit’

Our “distinct society” just got a bit distincter, with the introduction of a province-wide carbon tax:

Natural Resources Minister Claude Bechard, who announced Wednesday that a 0.8-cent-a-litre carbon tax will come into force on Oct 1, added that he hopes the oil companies, which are reporting record profits, would absorb the tax and not pass it on to the consumer. Oil industry spokespeople were unavailable for comment late Wednesday afternoon.

[ . . . ]

Asked why he thinks the oil companies will absorb the carbon tax, Bechard said, “Well, we count on the goodwill of the gas companies.”

Hah! Yeah, right. Cause we all know that the gas companies have philanthropy as their main purpose.

This may be a popular move for votes (big bad oil companies versus the underprivileged environment) but people don’t necessarily understand the impact of higher fuel prices. It’s not just SUV owners who get hit; trucks, public transit itself, shipping and the economy in general will all have to pay. The trickle-down effect raises prices on all consumer goods and on cost of living in general.

But of course, our government has a solution for that, too:

Bechard has also threatened to impose a ceiling price on gasoline. Wednesday he said an announcement on that matter would be made in a “few days.”

Right, because everyone knows that what our economy in Quebec desperately needs is more government regulation.

And to think, I was so optimistic after last week’s budget. Looks like that was a temporary blip; we’re back to business as usual in La Belle Province.

After four days of commuting hassles, headaches and havoc, the STM Maintenance Union has voted to end the strike and go back to work voluntarily, rather than face a possible government directive to do so that would likely come coupled with imposed settlement terms.

But it ain’t over till it’s over. The union and the STM haven’t agreed to anything yet, and the union hasn’t ruled out a second strike, either, if they don’t get their way.

The four-day strike has already cost the city countless amounts of money: Cancelled events, employees arriving late or leaving early, closed shops and businesses, traffic congestion, pollution, not to mention inconveniencing the people who rely on public transit the most: students, seniors, immigrants, low-income earners, and a whole host of others who aren’t lucky enough to have the maintenance workers’ cushy pay, perks, job security and pension. While rush-hour commuters only had to pack themselves into buses and metros like sardines, anyone needing to go anywhere outside of the hours deemed “essential” was SOL. About the only people happy with the strike were the taxi drivers.

For our troubles, monthly transit pass holders *might* get a measly $3.50 refund for our May passes… possibly by September. Whoop-dee-doo. That won’t even cover one day of extra gas spent driving instead of busing (at $1.20 a litre, I might add), never mind extra parking, taxis and lost work hours. If they expect me to do a little happy dance at this, they’ll be waiting a while. And I’m one of the lucky people who *had* options during the strike. Thousands upon thousands of others didn’t.

On principle I’d blame the union for holding the public hostage in order to try to extort more money out of the city. But of course, self-interest is a universal principle, and it’s hard to expect unions not to take advantage of these possibilities when they’re given the legal right and the clout to do so. After all, from their point of view, why shouldn’t they?

Nor can I really blame the city. I’m not a fan of Tremblay at all (needless to say), but I think he’s right to refuse to cave in here. This is the first of a whole series of city contracts that need to be negotiated, and if every union gets everything it asks for, Montreal will go broke and taxes will skyrocket.

No, on the whole, this public transit strike – the 15th in the past 40 years – just illustrates too clearly that the system is broken. If public transit is to be encouraged, it has to be reliable. Public transit, for most users, implies the ability to earn a livelihood, and as such, is just as essential a service as healthcare, education, police and firefighting.

It seems to me that there are two choices:

(1) Truly designate all public transit – not just transit for the 9-to-5ers – essential, and not allow transit workers to strike.

(2) Partially privatize public transit and open it up to competition, allowing more than one company to provide services.

Both options are fraught with problems. But I’m sick and tired of being told that I should stop being an evil anti-environmentalist and turn in my Civic for a bus pass, only to be left high and dry. I’m pretty sure most Montrealers feel the same way.

And if they strike again, I say fire ‘em all à la Reagan and just hire replacements. I’m pretty sure my friend’s cat could lick some of the graffiti off the sides of busses. And she works for catnip.

First it’s the local public transit that’s threatening to strike. And now, the longer-distance buses are getting in on the fun, too:

Unionized drivers, mechanics and terminal staff at Greyhound Canada have given the bus line 72 hours’ strike notice after the workers rejected the company’s last contract offer, both sides said on Tuesday.

Unlike public transit, Greyhound isn’t exactly an essential service. There are plenty of other – more comfortable and civilized – ways to get from place to place. But all these transit strikes are starting to feel positively… European.

After nearly a decade of merrily driving myself around, polluting with impunity (okay, I drive a Civic, it’s not *that* bad), as of this month I’m once again on the BMW transit plan: Bus, Metro, Walk.

Of course, that’s perfect timing for the transit workers to go on strike:

Any time after Victoria Day, you might be packed like an oily sardine into a sweaty, swaying metro car.

You could also be forced to cool your heels and watch a succession of jam-packed buses zip by your regular bus stop before you manage to shoehorn yourself aboard one of them.

If – or when – that happens starting two weeks from today, take a deep breath and remember one thing: In Quebec, this is the law.

Under legislation dating to 1982, “the welfare or the comfort of citizens” cannot be given any weight when the Quebec Essential Services Council rules exactly how to implement essential rush-hour metro and bus services on Montreal Island, council spokesperson Celine Jacob said yesterday.

That’s assuming the transit-maintenance union carries out its threat to launch its second strike in less than four years.

Timing is, as they say, everything. Here’s hoping the union caves in the face of public pressure before I’m forced to sleep at my desk.

It only took 30 years of talking about it, 5 years of construction, and $745 million, but the 3 Laval metro stations are finally opening to the public this weekend.

Will it be worth it? The stations will really only conveniently serve people in Laval-des-Rapides, and the cost of a monthly pass will be prohibitively high:

$750 million in new transit infrastructure spending would be spent more wisely elsewhere.

“No serious cost-benefit analysis would have given the Laval metro top priority,” he said. “Dorval would have come first” – meaning improved transit and road links between downtown and Trudeau airport in Dorval.

Other higher priorities, by purely objective criteria, would have included improving mobility along the Metropolitan Expressway corridor or extending the metro’s Blue Line east to the Anjou area, Galella said.

Still, it’s nice to finally see a project move from “Hell-Freezes-Over” status to complete, whatever its faults. Maybe this means there’s still hope for other projects, like finishing highway 30. Or fixing the potholes. Or even extending Cavendish. (Yeah, right!)

The city’s mayor is all aghast that the man in charge of selling Montreal to international tourists dissed the condition of our roads:

The fate of Charles Lapointe, the city’s chief tourism promoter, hangs in the balance after he publicly trash-talked the condition of Montreal’s streets.

Directors of Tourism Montreal will hold an emergency session Thursday after Montreal Mayor Gérald Tremblay suggested Wednesday that Lapointe should be booted from his job because he has undermined the city’s international reputation.

Lapointe stepped over the proper line of conduct Tuesday when he issued a public warning that the city risks losing tourism traffic unless it cleans up its act, Tremblay told reporters at a city hall news conference.

Tourism Montreal’s directors, he added, “should be asking themselves: ‘is Mr. Lapointe still credible to sell Montreal?’ ”

So according to Tremblay, credibility is achieved by . . . lying?

That’s the only explanation for why Lapointe is taking so much flack for voicing what can only be described as the truth. Our roads are a mess. Anyone who goes outside can see that. Is the city looking for someone who will merely compliment the Emperor’s New Clothes? I really think someone needs to redefine the term “credibility” for these guys.

Here’s a thought: Instead of firing Lapointe, why not, you know, actually fix the problem and clean up the streets?

But that would imply that perception ought to be based on some semblance of reality. And that’s clearly not a position that Tremblay’s team endorses:

The mayor acknowledged that the city does have a problem with dirty streets, but “not all truths should be said in public,” the mayor added.

Remind me, M. Tremblay, exactly whose credibility is the issue here?

They’re rare, but they do exist. Check out the story of this New York construction worker who risked his life and jumped on a subway track to save a complete stranger who was having a seizure:

While waiting for a downtown Manhattan train, Autrey saw Cameron Hollopeter, a 19-year-old film student, suffering from some kind of medical episode. After stumbling down the platform, Hollopeter, of Littleton, Mass., fell onto the tracks with a train on its way into the station.

Autrey, traveling with his two young daughters, knew he had to do something.

“If I let him stay there by himself, he’s going to be dismembered,” the Navy veteran remembered thinking.

He jumped down to the tracks, a few feet below platform level, and rolled with the young man into a drainage trough — cold, wet and more than a little unpleasant smelling — between the rails as the southbound No. 1 train came into the 137th Street/City College station.

The train’s operator saw someone on the tracks and put the emergency brakes on. Some train cars passed over Autrey and Hollopeter with only a couple of inches to spare, but neither man suffered any harm from the incident.

Hollopeter was taken to a nearby hospital; Autrey refused medical attention — and then went to work.

According to bystanders, Autrey had time to shout to people to take care of his daughters before the train came. I can’t imagine what was going through his mind when he did it, but he was probably acting more on instinct than anything else:

Meanwhile, Autrey said the impact of the risky rescue was sinking in.

“It’s all hitting me now,” Autrey said. “I’m looking, and these trains are coming in now. … Wow, you did something pretty stupid.”

Perhaps, but it worked out well for him. It’s really nice to know that, with all the bad news out there, some people still care about others.

Happy 2007, all.

So much for all of his talk about “democracy” at city hall… Tremblay got his way after pressuring his councillors, and Park Avenue will soon be no more.

I’m not sure which is sadder: that Park’s name is being changed, or that this is the only issue for which Tremblay has cared enough about to fight for since taking office.

City politics are a mess, and it’s time for some new thinking down at City Hall. How about this: Segacs for Mayor! Not only will I change Avenue Bourassa back to Park Avenue, but I also promise to change Rene-Levesque back to Dorchester, Marcel-Laurin back to Laurentian, and – for good measure – Lionel-Groulx metro station to… anything else. Maybe I’ll even open that one up to a vote.

A viaduct on de la Concorde collapsed this afternoon, and at least five people are dead as a result.

This is the second overpass in Laval to collapse in less than a decade. Usually, the poor conditions of the roads here in Quebec are a bit of a running joke, but this isn’t funny anymore. In fact, it’s downright scary. The government has to start investing into proper road construction and repair, rather than cutting corners at every opportunity. Chronic potholes are one thing, collapsing overpasses quite another.

I can’t help it. But my first cynical reaction to today’s horrific terrorist transit bombings in Mumbai was that the reaction in the Western media wouldn’t be anywhere near as frenzied as it was for 9/11, 3/11, or 7/7, because to much of the world, India is just so far away and remote and different from us and an attack in India is not as immediate or threatening as an attack in New York or Madrid or London.

Of course, that’s not really the case. We’re one world and the reverberations of today’s attacks will be felt everywhere. But the knee-jerk cynicism is there just the same, and it says otherwise.

Over 150 people are dead for no good reason today. Hopefully we won’t lose sight of that.