Tag: FreeTransit
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Transit Workers Are Still Dying – With No End in Sight
Though they’ve kept working in some of the most dangerous jobs, they’re now facing the prospect of furloughs and layoffs if there’s no more federal funding for transit. Keep reading »
Experiments in Free Transit
Among the few positive aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic, some localities have taken the impressive step of implementing free transit. Several cities in Ohio, including Akron, Canton, Toledo and Youngstown announced free fares as of March 16. Towns in Vermont and Nevada have done so as well. Unfortunately, local officials are quite clear that these … Keep reading »
How We Move Is How We Survive
A Statement for Free and Just Transit Free Transit Toronto, Free Transit Ottawa, Courage, Climate Justice Toronto, and others The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly affected public transit in cities and towns across Canada. There are fewer riders as people who are able to stay home avoid public transit to physically distance. For those who rely on it, … Keep reading »
Challenges and Openings for the Free Transit Movement in Toronto
Toronto is Canada’s largest city, with a population of 2.7 million (and over 6 million in the Greater Toronto Area). Its public transit system is the third largest in North America, after New York City and Mexico City. It is made up of four subway lines, 11 streetcar routes; and over 140 bus routes. The … Keep reading »
A Year for Fare-Free Transit
When I made the case last year for fare-free public transit in Ottawa, it seemed like a longshot. What a difference a year can make. Since then, we’ve seen mass-organized fare evasions, fare-free campaigns launched in major cities, and, last April, Victoria’s city council even passed a motion to make municipal transit free (although the … Keep reading »
Public Transit, Fares and Policing in Toronto: Riders Groups Respond
Oppose the Return to Fare Enforcement on the TTC Free Transit Toronto In Toronto, Jane Finch Action Against Poverty (JFAAP) has long made the link between transit fare enforcement and racism. TTCriders also connect transit advocacy and anti-racism, emphasizing that transit underfunding and transit enforcement has especially negative consequences for Black people. They reiterate their longstanding demand … Keep reading »
Free Transit is in Town, For Now
Even before the current pandemic, the idea of free transit had arrived on the mainstream political scene in Toronto as well as in other parts of Canada. In 2018, Saron Gebresellassi included fare-free transit as a plank in her campaign for Toronto mayor. Since then, some Liberal politicians have raised the issue. In 2019, CUPE … Keep reading »
Transport and the Climate Crisis: Lessons for the Left
Jens Holm invites the European Left to discuss the transition to sustainable transport: how can topics as diverse as the digital revolution, the climate crisis, the future of our cities and global value chains be integrated in one discussion? Keep reading »
Why Public Transit Should Be Free For All
Beyond tackling our carbon footprint, we need to open Canadian cities up to everyone. Keep reading »
J31 Fare Strike at Grand Central Station
Just a few hours before the J31 Fare Strike convened at Grand Central Station, I had the opportunity to speak with Mayor de Blasio as a call-in to the Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC. I alerted the Mayor to the fare strike taking place that day, scheduled by various NYC transit advocacy groups in reaction … Keep reading »
Travel Doesn’t Have to Cost the Earth
Five Concrete Steps Toward a Climate-Smart and Fair Transport Sector in Stockholm The climate threat is the most fatal problem humanity has ever faced. In 2009, the current Kyoto protocol will be replaced with a new international climate agreement, a process in which the EU must be one of the main drivers. As holder of the … Keep reading »
The Traffic Hierarchy
One is not born a motorist, one becomes one. Mobility and class are deeply entangled. Not only because one’s potential for mobility often has to do with one’s economic position, but also because a society built on today’s mobility paradigm – automobility – directly contributes to growing economic and social differences. A society which puts the … Keep reading »