This is the Transport 2000 Canada Hotline, #463, 19 September 1998. David Leibold reporting. Headlines: 1 SkyTrain Environmental Review 2 Ontario Road Number Confusion 3 VIA gains during Air Canada strike 4 Blainville commuter train success 5 Return of the Pickering Airport 6 Calls to restore provincial funding of GO Transit 7 Costly low floor buses 8 Saskatchewan air crash conclusions 9 Nav Canada fees affect the North 10 Highway to Canada's North Coast 11 Nova Scotia MP fights Ontario superhighway 12 and introducing, the Hotline Events Calendar Details: [ SkyTrain Environmental Review ] The BC government has decided that an environmental review of its Broadway-Lougheed SkyTrain project is justified after all. On 17th September the government announced that it will create a special review process for the project while exempting it from the requirements of the BC Environmental Assessment Act. The review will be headed by Derek Thompson, a career civil servant, who will be required to submit an interim report on the project by the end of December. The scope of the review will be limited and will not deal with the issues of transit technology or the need for the line but rather focus on specific environmental issues related to the design and construction of the line. The effect of the review on the construction schedule for the rapid transit project is currently unclear. [ Ontario Road Number Confusion ] Highway travellers in Ontario are confused by changing road numbers. The current Ontario government forced county and regional governments to assume over 5400 km of its highway system, after declaring these roads were for local service. Even portions of Trans-Canada Highway routes were offloaded from the province. Former provincial roads now have county or regional road numbers. For example, the historic King's Highway 7 north of Toronto is now York Regional Road 7, wherever the Highway 407 tollway runs alongside. Perth County not only completely renumbered former provincial roads, but also roads already owned by the county. Municipal groups want the province to grant them part of the fuel tax for funding road maintenance. Provincial Transport Minister Tony Clement rejected this proposal and expects municipalities to pay for roads and transit with property taxes. [ VIA gains during Air Canada strike ] This week, VIA Rail announced ridership gains during the Air Canada strike. Preliminary figures suggest a 28% increase in passengers in the Ontario-Quebec corridor over a similar period last year. For the Eastern Transcontinental service, that increase for Economy class was reported at 45%. [ Blainville commuter train success ] Patronage on the Blainville-Montreal commuter trains are already at predicted year 2000 levels, with 5000 daily passengers. Frequencies were doubled on the route last August. Meanwhile, feeder bus services are expected to be improved due to popular demand. Congestion on Autoroute 15 is also believed to be a factor in the line's success. [ Return of the Pickering Airport ] A new report released by the Greater Toronto Airports Authority proposes that the Pickering Airport be built and opened within a decade, making it ready in the event Toronto wins its bid for the 2008 Olympic games. The report promotes the idea of three airports in the Toronto area: Pearson Airport as the primary airport, Toronto Island Airport as a major regional facility, and the new Pickering Airport. The federal government wants the Pickering airport lands to be officially declared an airport site under the Aeronautics Act. Public comments on the proposed designation will be accepted by Transport Canada until the end of September. While operation of airports would still be left to local authorities, Transport Canada's actions indicate renewed federal interest in airport matters. Farmland covering 4 times the land area of Pearson Airport was expropriated in 1972 for Pickering. Local residents successfully fought that previous attempt to build the airport, and they plan on fighting attempts to resume construction. Meanwhile, Buttonville Airport north of Toronto is threatened with closure as a $1.5 million subsidy from Ontario is scheduled to end after this year. Canada's 10th busiest airport primarily consists of private rather than scheduled aircraft uses. [ Calls to restore provincial funding of GO Transit ] Local governments in the Greater Toronto Area are calling on the Ontario government to restore funding of GO Transit. As of January, the province cancelled subsidies for the regional bus and rail transit service, leaving municipalities to provide over $100 million in operating funding. Capital expansion costs must also be funded regionally. GO is the only transit system on the continent whose subsidy depends on local property taxes. The mayors of Toronto and surrounding communities held a recent meeting on a GO train to agree on how to approach the province for restored GO Transit funding. They have called on the province to designate a portion of gas taxes and drivers licence fees for such funding. [ Costly low floor buses ] A Toronto Transit Commission report declares that Orion VI low floor buses will be too expensive to operate. Extra annual costs of $110 million are predicted if the TTC's fleet is converted to the easy-to-board vehicles. General Manager David Gunn blamed higher maintenance costs and lower passenger capacities for the costs. Customers on the Dufferin route are facing overcrowded low-floor buses as TTC faces demand for more vehicles. A set of New Flyer low-floor buses is expected for testing next year, with more seating, but still with some expected additional costs. The TTC is hosting an October meeting of North American transit officials in an effort to create a common and affordable standard design for low-floor buses. This approach has similarities to the effort that created the PCC or Presidents Conference streetcar design many decades ago. A TTC fare increase is likely for next year, according to recent TTC planning documents. Additional low-floor bus expenses, the high exchange rate of U.S. dollars, and a potential wage settlement are blamed for the threat of higher fares. [ Saskatchewan air crash conclusions ] The Transportation Safety Board has blamed last October's northern Saskatchewan plane crash on a lack of proper equipment for cold and cloudy weather. Three people died and three survived after the twin-engine Piper plane flew too low and struck some trees, according to the Board's report. Autopilot failure and a lack of de-icing devices were also some of the problems found. [ Nav Canada fees affect the North ] Opening new air routes through Canada's North could mean extra revenues for Nav Canada, the privatised operation responsible for national air traffic control. Removal of Russian air space restrictions could be approved by the International Air Transport Association as soon as 1999. That would mean flights could take polar routes through Northern Canadian air space. Based on that scenario, Yellowknife North MLA Roy Erasmus wants Nav Canada to hold the line on user fee increases for northern Canadian aircraft, considering the monies that could be raised on the additional international flights. Dependence on air transport combined with substantial increases in Nav Canada air fees would make goods and services more expensive in the Northwest Territories. [ Highway to Canada's North Coast ] Plans are being drafted for a year-round highway between Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories. Bids for a feasibility study and an environmental assessment are being accepted, while the territorial government will conduct an engineering study. There is debate over how soon a road could be built. Some parties believe the sooner, the better, given that road travel is cheaper than the air travel required today. Yet other parties expect the road to be built over a longer term, given government financial constraints. [ Nova Scotia MP fights Ontario superhighway ] Peter Stoffer, federal Member for Sackville-Eastern Shore in Nova Scotia, has taken up the fight against the Red Hill Expressway in Hamilton, Ontario. The planned superhighway will bypass Hamilton while being of limited usefulness to local residents. Stoffer responded to a federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans environmental assessment of the project, prompted by the many river crossings in the road plan. [ and introducing, the Hotline Events Calendar ] Monday 21st September - Transport 2000 BC meeting in Vancouver Thursday 24th September - Public transit forum in Ottawa, at the Regional headquarters. Saturday 26th September - Transport 2000 Ontario Board meeting in Toronto Wednesday 21st October - Jane Holtz Kay, author of Asphalt Nation, will speak in Ottawa. 23rd-25th October - Transport 2000 Canada Board meets in Ottawa --------- Thank you for calling the Transport 2000 Canada Hotline and thanks also to Luc Cote, Ian Fisher, Tony Turrittin and Dale Wilson for their contributions to this edition. Transport 2000 calls for improved public transport in Canada and welcome new members and donations to support this work here in Ottawa and across the country. Our office number is (613) 594.3290, our mailing address is Box 858, Station B, Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5P9, and our fax is (613) 594.3271.