Thursday, February 08, 2007

The Bitter Truth

The City is more than happy to see Bikeshare die ...
Dale Duncan explains why.

The Bitter Truth is that Bicycles period are simply not a priority nor considered a transportation option in this town. No matter how messed up our planet is.
Think I am wrong? Go to the forum at the St. Lawrence Centre (Feb 28, 'Gridlock in the GTA'), walk up to the mic and suggest a huge increase in bike infra-structure for helping ease gridlock (which they already do by the way since they take up less space) and watch those officials smirk ... (more info on the forum in the comments)

2 comments:

Tino said...

How do you get around the city? On Feb. 28 we've bringing the transit heads
to the forum to discuss solutions to gridlock and we invite you to share
your views on how best to get the city moving.

We constantly hear about how the city can't improve underserviced
neighbourhoods and fix roads for lack of funds so we've invited all 3 levels
of government to talk about the fiscal state of our cities and
municipalities. There's real people and needs behind multimillion dollar
figures and that's where you, the forum audience comes in. Please join the
Hon. John Gerretson, Toronto Mayor David Miller and Brampton Mayor Susan
Fennel on March 8 to shine some light on the problem.

Gridlock in the GTA
Wednesday February 28, 7:30-9:30 pm

A free public discussion
St. Lawrence Centre Forum
27 Front Street East, 2 blks east of Union Stn.

People move from one end of the GTA to the other by train, car, bike and
their own two feet. But more often than not they are getting nowhere fast.
Years of under-investment means two way gridlock, loss of quality of life
and lost economic productivity estimated at two billion dollars per year. A
change of direction is needed and fast. Enter the new Greater Toronto
Transportation Authority, responsible for developing an over-arching plan
for the region.

What will the future hold for regional transportation planning? More roads
or road tolls? More HOV lanes or a regional transit pass? More Go trains or
more urban transit? How much should central Toronto take an interest in a
transit-friendly Ajax or Brampton, or the suburbs care about a revitalised
TTC? What will the new planning authority look like, where will the money
come from, and how will competing interests be balanced?

Panel:

Rob MacIsaac: Chair of the Greater Toronto Transportation Authority (GTTA),
former Mayor of Burlington.

Councillor Adam Giambrone: Chair of the Toronto Transit Commission; Toronto
City Councillor for Davenport.

Gary McNeil: Managing Director and CEO, GO Transit.

Natalie Helferty: Planning Ecologist, York Region Environmental Alliance.

Moderator: Bernadette Hardacher: Orangeville writer and broadcaster.

Anonymous said...

The Bitter Truth is hard to hear: the amanglemated motoropolis is carrupt, and we can't find the pennies amongst the billions of wealth for the yellow bike program - if this is how Mr. Miller is helping bikes and meeting the climate change targets, there's little hope.