Tag: FreeTransit
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Lower Fares, More Service!: Public Transit Struggles In and After the Pandemic
A second wave of the pandemic is raging across the country, and Toronto and other cities are again in lockdown. Austerity for social provisioning including public transit is high on the agenda for city governments across North America. Watch video »
When They Say Jump: The ATU and the TTC
On Thursday, December 17, Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU Local 113), the union that represents the majority of Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) workers, provided an example of how not to organize its membership for a job action. At 7:30pm, the evening before the action was meant to take place, members received a vague text from the … Keep reading »
Transit Policy and COVID-19
Public transit is an essential service. In the midst of a pandemic it is also a particularly dangerous one for transit workers and transit users. The City of Ottawa has tried to strike the right balance, but more needs to be done. Free Transit Ottawa calls on the Mayor and City Council to immediately take … Keep reading »
A Green New Deal for Public Transport
As the US confronts the twin crises of climate and the coronavirus, each disproportionately harming Black and brown Americans, it’s time for a reckoning over our failed federal transportation policies. To reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the necessary time frame outlined by scientists, we must make public transit a viable option for the majority of … Keep reading »
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 »