The Livable Blog

Photo Timothy Neesam/CBC - Black clad protestors in Toronto.

The G8/G20 farce is starting to unravel, and hopefully it will unravel Harper at the same time. Not only is this clique of the powerful and corrupt meeting as oil continues to gush into the Gulf of Mexico, as we wait for the first hurricane of the season. Not only is their main agenda stimulating increased consumption and production of consumer goods like cars, and infrastructure such as freeways, which is only possible with increased rates of oil and coal extraction. But once again, our police forces seem to have engineered incidents to justify imposing a police state to stifle dissent during a major international event.

Photo Timothy Neesam/CBC - Environmental Justice Now banner held by more dangerous protesters.

As John Hillary of the prestigious UK newspaper the Guardian writes in a June 27 article titled May Toronto's G20 be the last:

Many Canadians have become suspicious of police tactics since the Quebec police force admitted that it had disguised three of its own officers as rock-wielding anarchists in an attempt to provoke violence at a peaceful protest in the town of Montebello two years ago. Somewhat farcically, the three were exposed as agents provocateurs when they were found to be wearing official issue police boots identical to those of the uniformed officers "arresting" them.

There are concerns that similar skulduggery may have played a part in Toronto this weekend, where the burning of three police cars quickly became the defining image of Saturday's otherwise peaceful demonstration. Questions are being asked as to why the police chose to drive the vehicles into the middle of a group of protesters and then abandon them, and why there was no attempt to put out the flames until the nation's media had been given time to record the scenes for broadcast around the world. . . .

As an invitation-only club whose membership was literally drawn up on the back of an envelope, the G20 never laid any claim to legitimacy. Now it is also in danger of losing any credibility as a forum for global economic governance. Its failure to address any of the structural problems that caused the financial and economic crises of the past three years has certainly not gone unnoticed in Toronto, let alone its complete refusal to deal with the challenge of climate change.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jun/27/g20-toronto-policing-charade

Another report states:

A number of police cars which were set on fire. They were abandoned in the middle of intersections beforehand, and stripped of all their equipment by police--the cars were discovered to have been damaged previously, which led to reports that the police had purposefully left the cars there as bait, hoping to tempt protesters into set the cars on fire, in order to justify their own violent acts. Later accounts have led many to believe that the fires themselves were set by undercover police, or agents provocateurs.
http://toronto.mediacoop.ca/story/erosion-rights-quick-descent/3886

The Harper-led G8 / G20 meetings have not just been about avoiding the subject of the climate crisis. They seem to be focused on finding ways to make it worse. What is going on behind the rows of robo cops and millions of dollars of fences is heinous climate crime.

Even if every bit of the photogenic destruction was just the result of justified rage at the crimes being committed inside the fence, a few dozen broken windows and three trashed cars does not justify police attacks on anyone who steps onto the street.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaYbq484abs&feature=player_embedded

On the streets police are attacking and arresting anyone and everyone near protests, including journalists, seniors and young women. It does not seem to matter if they are protesting this crime scene, or just committed the crime of walking down the sidewalk in a Canadian city. People are even having police burst into their bedrooms at 4 am. They are raiding university dormitories and hauling away dozens of people of all ages away in buses. And this is what the world is seeing of Canada – climate (and other corporate) crime backed up with brute force.

Photo Toronto Star - Injured protester after police attack.

Today is a day to be proud of the people who are still out on the streets of Toronto expressing their belief that Another World is Possible. It is also a day that makes it very clear that Another Canada is Necessary.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Heb9BXjYcII

After almost two months of oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico, President Obama has cited the disaster as the most vivid incentive yet to end "America's century-long addiction to fossil fuels."

As this news video shows, this is not the first time a US president has called for an end to oil addiction.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vj3yGsb22w0&feature=player_embedded

But the time is right for real action now. The Gulf Gusher provides the political symbol, and the end of cheap oil provides the economic imperative. The fact is that it is getting much more expensive to extract oil. And as the US has found in Iraq it is getting more expensive to steal it too.

So are Obama and other politicians going to stop spending billions to expand freeways and airports while neglecting public transit and passenger rail? Not unless the people lead and demand change. You had better bet that the people who own car dealerships and oil companies won't be leading the way.

Well Campbell has made a very important move towards getting the province off dirty oil and reducing the greenhouse gas emissions that are cooking our planet. This is a great step and Premier Campbell and Minister Bond should be congratulated.

“Not only will the U-Pass BC Program make transit more affordable for post secondary students, it will create a transit culture resulting in more people leaving their cars in the driveway, leading to less congestion and reduced greenhouse gas emissions,” said Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Shirley Bond.

But take a closer look and you may be puzzled. Translink is basically on life support, and BC Transit is not in much better financial shape (for example there has been discussion of cutting nighttime bus service to UVic). When the U-pass was introduced to UBC traffic congestion disappeared on the approaches to the campus, and buses immediately became jammed across a whole swath of Vancouver. Translink had to scramble to put enough buses on the road to keep pass ups from becoming the norm on many routes.

The Province will invest over $20 million through April 2013 to support implementation of the U-Pass BC Program in Metro Vancouver. In all other regions, the Province will provide funding as required to ensure the U-Pass rate remains below $30 per month or to enable new institutions to join the U-Pass BC program at existing rates.

$20 million is just a small down payment on what is needed, given that the transit system is already leaving thousands of passengers behind (helpfully informed that the bus is full by the fancy new signs on the front of buses).

U-pass across the province could have a major positive effect, but without increased funding for more bus service the effect will be buses jammed with so many students that other bus riders will have to rush out and buy cars.

So, Premier Campbell and Minister Bond, where is the money to operate more buses? You already know my suggestion, the $2 billion or so you plan to spend on the South Fraser Freeway could buy and operate a lot of buses.

For Immediate Release
2010PREM0119-000675
June 9, 2010

Office of the Premier
Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure

U-PASS BC TO SAVE STUDENTS ON TRANSIT FARES

VANCOUVER – B.C. is the first province in Canada to offer an affordable, universal U-Pass transit program to students at all publicly funded post-secondary institutions, Premier Gordon Campbell announced today.

“This fulfils our commitment to establish a universal U-Pass program for all students studying at B.C. colleges and universities,” said Premier Campbell. “Students will enjoy the benefits of discounted transit passes to help with the costs of getting to and from school.”

Once implemented, U-Pass BC will be the most comprehensive student transit program in Canada, providing significant savings for students. In Metro Vancouver, post-secondary students will pay $30 per month for a system-wide U-Pass, compared to $81 they would pay for a monthly pass. Students will have the opportunity to vote in referenda on whether to join the new U-Pass BC Program.

Starting Sept. 1, 2010, U-Pass rates at Langara College and Capilano University will be decreased to $30 per month. Rates for students at the University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser University will stay as they are now until Sept. 1, 2011, when they will be eligible to enjoy the same subsidized rates as other students.

“Not only will the U-Pass BC Program make transit more affordable for post secondary students, it will create a transit culture resulting in more people leaving their cars in the driveway, leading to less congestion and reduced greenhouse gas emissions,” said Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Shirley Bond.

“The Province and TransLink are to be congratulated for implementing a common U-Pass program for Metro Vancouver at an attractive price,” said Nimmi Takkar, Canadian Federation of Students’ B.C. Chairperson. “Affordable transit will be of tremendous benefit to post-secondary students in British Columbia and the communities where they live.”

“The new U-Pass BC program is a great opportunity for students in our region and the province as a whole, and the partnership that made it all happen opens up great new opportunities for us to move forward and fulfill our region’s transportation goals,” said chair of the Mayors’ Council on Regional Transportation and the mayor of the City of Langley Peter Fassbender. “The Province, TransLink and regional partners have created something that will generate sustained, widespread and long-term benefits right across Metro Vancouver.”

The Province will invest over $20 million through April 2013 to support implementation of the U-Pass BC Program in Metro Vancouver. In all other regions, the Province will provide funding as required to ensure the U-Pass rate remains below $30 per month or to enable new institutions to join the U-Pass BC program at existing rates.

“The U-Pass program has the potential to help almost 439,000 students across B.C. achieve their educational goals,” said Moira Stilwell, Minister of Advanced Education and Labour Market Development. “I’m so pleased we’ve been able to work with our partners to support so many of our students.”

The U-Pass BC Program is a partnership of the Province, TransLink, BC Transit, local governments, post secondary institutions and students.

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In the world of human ground based transport, there are two strains of thought.

1. We can all have what we want, ie. endless freeways, transit, bike lanes & walkways.


2. One option always comes at the expense of another or choices must be made or those without cars will have limited transport choice.

Taxes for transportation infrastructure are paid by all of us, so we all must benefit. Not just road builders, car dealers and those that choose to drive. In this video, Eric Doherty puts forward an excellent case for why more BTW is the way to transport oneself.

Jarrett Walker has one of the best blogs about transit issues I have ever found. In this post from 2009 he describes the kind of choices cities like Metro Vancouver and Los Angeles face. This post should be required reading for anyone involved in the rapid transit planning processes going on around BC; such as the South of Fraser rapid transit study, Broadway/UBC Corridor and the Victoria - Western Communities line.

The frame of this post is between bus and rail, but if you read further you will see that the issues are more involved with many possible steps from subways through to express buses such as the #99 B-line in Vancouver (Metro Rapid in LA). I personally think the key choice is between predominantly surface transit with dedicated lanes (such as light rail and bus rapid transit) and 100% grade separated systems such as the Skytrain light metro lines; that is where the really big price difference is.

bus-rail debates in a beautiful abstract city, and in los angeles

On a recent post, commenter Pantheon laid out the core idea that explains why I cannot be a full-time rail booster, even though I love riding trains as much as anyone:

The problem can be posed in the abstract in the following way. Let's say we have a city with 20 neighbourhoods, A-T. Our city has a big deficit in transit infrastructure, and limited resources for redressing it. We have X dollars to build infrastructure, which is enough to do one of the following things:

1. High-speed, premium rail serving neighbourhoods A-F.

2. Really good busways (a la Brisbane) serving neighbourhoods A-L.

3. Busway network with ROW on city streets and traffic priortization, a huge improvement over what exists currently, but with some compromises and thus not a 'perfect' system that emulates rail. Nonetheless, serves all neighbourhoods A-T.

I don't know if my assumptions on the financials are perfectly accurate, so feel free to correct them. But as you can see, this is really a political question. What represents the most just approach for the citizens of our city? Is it fair to ask the residents of neighbourhoods G-T to make due without transit so we can build a premium rail network in A-F? And what about the poor residents in neighbourhoods M-T? They don't get any transit unless we go with the cheapest option.

But the main thing to remember is that a paving moratorium would free up billions for transit improvements. Better Transit, Not Freeways! As Walker describes about the US context:

A sudden dramatic expansion in the money available for transit would obviously change many corridor-level debates, shifting many current recommendations in the direction of higher-quality options. On the other hand, even such a renaissance would not eliminate the crucial role of Bus Rapid Transit at least as interim solution, because in such a scenario, corridors that current do not justify any project would rise to the level where at least a Metro Rapid would make sense.
Read the full post at http://www.humantransit.org/2009/11/busrail-debates-in-a-beautiful-abstract-city-and-in-los-angeles.html