The recent report from the Conference Board of Canada did not bring good news for Windsor. Our city received a C grade, ranking 23 of 27 cities on the list. Calgary, Toronto, Vancouver, Edmonton and Victoria were the top 5 cities, with Windsor, St. Catherines-Niagara, Saguenay, Saint John and Thunder Bay bringing up the rear.
One of the areas that Windsor scored poorly on was public transit. Anyone who has attempted to make use of our public transit system knows that we are in terrible shape, without some sort of 3rd party think-tank to tell us. With a decreasing tax base, and lacking a visionary council (aside from Alan Halberstadt), our infrastructure, from sewers and roads to sidewalks and bikepaths, has suffered. As council has permitted, through sins of omission, the sprawling residential, and now commercial, landscape, costs of providing a usable transit system have spiralled. Instead of increasing service and decreasing costs, Windsor is doing exactly the opposite.
A couple of months ago I read an article by Dave Olsen of The Tyee entitled Fare-Free Public Transit Could Be Heading to a City Near You. Olsen suggests that municipal transit systems are self-castrating, effectively stopping any possibility of growth because they insist on doing exactly what Caroline Postma and the rest of the transit board have done -- raise rates while restricting service. After reading the article, high on hope and delusions of grandeur, I emailed Alan Halberstadt and suggested that Windsor adopt policies similar to those of Chapel Hill (NC), Vail (CO), Logan (UT), and a myriad of European cities. Halberstadt's response was disheartening, 'great idea, but you couldn't sell that in Windsor'.
It seems that the blogsphere may be right, and council is the impedence to the growth of Windsor. Mayor Bloomberg of NYC was quoted in the New York Daily news saying "I would have mass transit be given away for nothing and charge an awful lot for bringing an automobile into the city." A massive population density has both allowed and compelled NYC residents to become dependent on public transit, even their billionaire mayor uses the subway to get around. With a visionary mayor at the helm of that city, the future looks bright for NYC public transit. Windsor city council plays it safe, opting to build an arena (hey, everyone loves a good hockey game right!?!) instead of leading out. When council tells us that there is no more money for transit, after spending $65 million (without ancilliary property developments), I find it hard to believe that they really have the best interests of the city in mind. I believe that the problem with council is that they don't often feel the impact of their decisions. It is easy to cut the library budgets, transit budgets, etc. because, I hypothesize, council does not frequent these public institutions. If they did, they might find public transit and library books a priority.
Fear not, I have a plan! I suggest that councilors be required to use public transit to travel TO and FROM all city meetings. That means council on Mondays, board meetings, and especially those all-to-frequent "closed" meetings. I think that, after a week or two of riding our buses, council might find their purse-strings loosened.
It really is a travesty when it takes 1.5 hours to travel from the University of Windsor to Forest Glade Arena, each way! The irony of the situation, as pointed out by Olsen, is that the more we fund transit, the more ridership increases, the less we spend on infrastructure development and maintenance. If you listen to Mayor Francis, we can't afford the infrastructure costs we have despite multi-million increases in funding over the 2006 levels. Investing in public transit would increase the mobility of all of the citizenry of Windsor, decrease traffic levels on all commuter routes (the Mayor said that EC Row is at capacity already!) and provide benefits to our air quality. This does not mean that the automobile will become outmoded, rather people will be able to decide to take the public or private transit as they discover all that Windsor has to offer. When we decide to invest in our built environment and learn to be good stewards of all that we have in this city, only then will our perception of ourselves, and perception of our city by others, experience a positive change.
3 comments:
YES! ..and don't stop there...
..from the wash-post..
Nickels to employees: Take bus
Mayor proposes giving all city workers free passes by 2009
Mayor Greg Nickels has proposed giving all city employees free bus passes by 2009 to encourage use of transit as a means for reducing the air pollution that causes global warming.
"This is a great incentive to get people out of their cars and using public transit," City Councilman Nick Licata said.
"This is a great step forward."
If the council approves Nickels' legislation, the city will double its employees' transit pass subsidy next year to $30 per month, more than half the $54 cost of a one-month PugetPass good for $1.50 trips at peak times within one zone.
In 2009 and 2010, the city would cover that pass' cost entirely, even if the rates increase. The program is expected to cost $1.1 million over the next three years; the city has been contributing $15 per month to the cost of its employees' bus passes since 1993.
City Councilman Richard Conlin, chairman of the council's Environment, Emergency Management and Utilities Committee, called the proposal a great investment at a relatively modest cost.
"It's really putting our money where our mouth is in terms of our commitment to transit and the environment, and to easing traffic congestion," Conlin said, indicating that the council would likely not vote on the matter until early next year.
Currently, 2,600 of the city's roughly 10,000 employees are issued transit pass subsidies; the program now costs about $150,000 per year, mayoral spokesman Marty McOmber said.
Using mass transit can slash the carbon dioxide produced by a commute by more than 75 percent, according to the Sightline Institute, a Seattle-based non-profit that promotes sustainable growth in the Pacific Northwest through policy research.
Sightline found that the average car produces about 1 pound of carbon dioxide per trip mile.
"Taking the bus is one of the most climate-friendly ways to get to work," said Sightline spokeswoman Elisa Murray, who hailed the proposal as a "really positive thing" for city employees and the larger community.
"It's healthier, and it's safer. Taking the bus is more than 10 times safer than driving a car" -- which results in a fitter working environment, fewer accidents, fewer lost workdays and increased employee productivity, Murray said.
Sightline encourages development in neighborhoods along transit lines and believes public transportation should be made so convenient and affordable that people would naturally choose to use it rather than driving a personal car.
"I began taking the bus to work because the city made it so easy," said McOmber, who commutes to City Hall from Ballard.
Sightline recommends that employers decrease their workers' parking subsidies and use those funds to offer bus and other public transit passes.
The city's proposed bus pass subsidy came about during October negotiations with the union, which like Nickels favored the move, McOmber said.
The city is seeking to extend the practice to its non-unionized employees with this legislation, as it has with other past policies.
The subsidy will not be extended to city police officers, who can already ride transit for free, and firefighters, whose irregular hours and workplace locations make taking the bus more difficult, McOmber said.
The city also provides free bicycle parking, lockers and showers to encourage employees to commute by bike and will pay for up to 40 miles of cab fare per year for workers who, when pulling overtime, stay too late to bike or bus home.
The city encourages employees to car pool, van pool and occasionally telecommute, and provides discounts to Flexcar users.
i've actually just started researching free public transit. things i have learned fairly quickly is that some costs are actually offset. route speed is improved as drivers do not have to wait for fares to be paid. this in turn leads to less idling and less gas being used. it also cuts costs from a social services as they are no longer needing to give travel subsidies to social service recipients. the state the city is in right now, those numbers are sure to increase.
Here is a great article about the topic of free public transit. its well worth a read:
Fare-Free Public Transit Could Be Headed to a City Near You
Josh, I think this is a very worthwhile direction for Windsor. There should be some sort of incentive/requirement for city employees of all levels and even councilors to use transit. I'm wondering how much the city subsidizes car parking at the goyeau/chatham garage. I think its 2 or 3 floors worth. And thats just one location. What if these parking subsidies were reduced/eliminated and transit put in its place. I think that would be very do-able. Something as simple as promoting city transit for city employees. It sends the right message. Others would be sure to follow. If we dont see this in our current leadership, maybe it should be demanded by the next. Who can drive this through? Does it fall under 'efficient municipal government' (which is WeACT territory perhaps) Is this a good idea? Can our councilors send this up the flagpole?
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