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[amor de cosmos]

In March 2007 the BIg City Mayors' Caucus of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities released their National Transportation Strategy:

In June 2006, FCM’s Big City Mayors’ Caucus (BCMC) released a report entitled Our Cities, Our Future. One of the key recommendations of the report was that the federal government establish a national transit strategy to improve the global competitiveness, quality of life and environmental sustainability of Canada’s cities. This submission is BCMC’s proposal for such a strategy, demonstrating the Caucus’ commitment to this goal.

Safe, reliable and efficient public transit is vital to the movement of people in urban economies, presenting undeniable economic, environmental and social benefits not just for cities and communities, but for the entire nation.

Canadian transit riders pay a higher percentage of the total costs required to build, maintain and operate transit than do riders in almost all other Western countries. However, in spite of this (or perhaps because of it), meeting public transit’s needs remain difficult.

Almost every transit system in the world requires operating contributions to offset the shortfall between total costs of operation and total revenue from fares, and Canada’s systems are no exception. Likewise, almost all transit systems worldwide also require capital contributions to cover all spending on capital projects — that is, to renew and expand our transit networks. The Canadian Urban Transit Association (CUTA) has estimated that transit systems across the country need $20.7 billion for infrastructure between 2006 and 2010, or about $4.2 billion annually, which covers rehabilitating and replacing existing systems, as well as expansion plans to accommodate increasing numbers of riders.

Of the $20.7 billion required, 44 per cent is needed to rehabilitate or renew existing infrastructure, while 56 per cent is needed to expand service capacity to serve more riders. These figures speak to the need both to maintain infrastructure and to respond to the growth potential for transit. We must both restore transit infrastructure and respond to the increasing mobility needs of the growing urban population.

Municipal shares of both operating and capital subsidies derive primarily from property taxes, supplemented in some cases by special levies on gasoline sales, parking and hydro bills. Clearly, the property tax on its own is not sufficient to support public transit, given the estimated $60 billion municipal infrastructure deficit, the limited revenue sources, the growing responsibilities of municipal governments and the already substantial municipal support for transit. Municipal governments need help to deliver the transit services that the nation’s economy, quality of life and environmental sustainability rely on.

Finding the necessary funds is a major issue facing municipalities. CUTA estimates that the new investments required just to stay afloat, to say nothing of meeting unmet and future demands, are almost as large as the entire sum currently invested in all transit capital projects.

Clearly, much more needs to be done even just to maintain what we have. Recent federal government initiatives for municipal infrastructure funding are an important and welcome start. But we need to replace short-term, ad hoc funding with longer term, more predictable commitments from all orders of government that come closer to addressing the outstanding needs.

Canada remains the only OECD country without a longterm, predictable federal transit-investment policy, even though moving people efficiently in urban areas requires a partnership among all orders of government. As transit’s share of urban travel continues to grow, federal and provincial governments must provide long-term reliable funding, so that transit systems have the financial certainty they need to meet the needs of Canadians now and in the future.

Recommendations:
Given the importance of a national commitment to transit, the Caucus believes that this strategy should be made permanent through federal legislation. Following are the key elements we propose for a national transit strategy:

Investments
We propose that an annual amount of $2 billion be used for capital expenses, to maintain the transit system in good repair and to expand the system to accommodate both population growth and a modal shift toward transit over private automobiles. This amount would be revisited over time to see whether it is adequate, and the amount itself would be adjusted to keep pace with inflation.

Integrated land use and transportation planning
Land use and transportation planning must be integrated to ensure that development supports transit and is oriented toward it. There should be appropriate land use densities and a balance of municipal economic, social and environmental priorities. Cities will therefore only be eligible for funding if they have a council-approved land use and transportation plan that favours transit as the primary means for accommodating future growth in travel demand.

Demand incentives
For a transit strategy to be successful some people may need additional incentives to use transit. The federal government can play a strong role in developing tax incentives that support transit.

Innovative research
An important component of the strategy provides research to support greater transit use. Two kinds of research are needed—first, cooperative research that promotes information sharing and innovation among transit systems, and second, research that identifies policy approaches all governments can use to increase ridership and to meet important economic, social and environmental priorities through increased transit use.

Accountability
Given the proposed scope of the national transit strategy, it is important that all governments work together to ensure that there are appropriate accountability measures in place.

looks good!
http://www.fcm.ca/en.../transitsub.pdf

& Toronto, Montreal & Vancouver are going ahead with it already:

GTTA Board moves forward on National Transit Strategy, including collaboration with Vancouver and Montreal

TORONTO, Oct. 29 /CNW/ - Taking a proactive approach to the federal government's proposed National Transit Strategy, the Board of the Greater Toronto Transportation Authority (GTTA) today approved action to help set national priorities for transit funding, with a focus on the needs of the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area.

"This is Canada's largest and fastest-growing urban region, and obviously it has a tremendous impact on the entire country - economically, environmentally and socially," said GTTA Chair Rob MacIsaac. "We support the development of a national framework for transit investments, and we want to make sure we are a major part of it."

In June 2007, the federal Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities announced the development of a National Transit Strategy, as a framework to capture objectives and priorities for public transit funding across the country. The GTTA supports this effort to bring together the three levels of government to strategically develop transit projects.

"In many ways the National Transit Strategy concept mirrors what the GTTA is doing here in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area - facilitating a coordinated, strategic approach to transportation decisions and investments," MacIsaac said.

As part of this process, the GTTA will develop a framework for collaboration with Canada's other regional transportation authorities - Montreal's Agence Metropolitain des Transports (AMT) and Vancouver's TransLink - to identify and promote shared interests. Representing the three largest urban regions in the country, the geographic mandate areas of AMT, TransLink and the GTTA account for more than two-thirds of total transit ridership across Canada.

http://www.newswire.... ... c8986.html