Big City Mayors Want National Transit Plan to Help Economy, Climate Change
Posted on: Monday, 5 March 2007, 15:00 CST
MONTREAL (CP) - The Federation of Canadian Municipalities and big city mayors are calling on Ottawa to create and fund a national public transportation strategy.
The mayors said Monday at a news conference they need $2 billion annually from the federal government to maintain and expand public transit systems. They also said they need such a strategy to help deal with climate change and maintain a healthy economy.
"The environmental impact of public transit is extremely important," said Toronto Mayor David Miller. "And the truth is that Canada's major cities cannot expand their systems. In fact, we don't have the money to keep them going."
Miller said jobs need to be sustained by a public transit system that works.
"If you don't have a national transit strategy, it won't. Every other country in the G8 has it, we don't," he said, referring to the club of industrialized nations.
He said the Toronto Board of Trade has estimated that $2 billion a year is lost because of gridlock in that city.
The mayors say that one city bus can carry as many passengers as 50 cars and pollutes 10 times less.
Montreal Mayor Gerald Tremblay said public transit is a necessary part of the urban landscape.
"If we look at the impact of the quality of life on our citizens and greenhouse gas emissions over and above the rest of it, we must invest in public transit that has a direct impact on the future of our cities," he said.
"In that sense, we don't have a choice."
Tremblay also said he's asking the federal government to respect Quebec's jurisdictions under such a plan.
Source: Canadian Press
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