Public transit in crisis

Greens have long called for significant investments in public transit. The reasons are obvious. Transportation, movement of goods and people, is a huge chunk of Canada’s contribution to global warming. Second only to oil and gas, transportation at 186 megatonnes is 25.5 per cent of our total emissions (729 MT in 2018, the last year for which figures are available). Eliminating the internal combustion engine to move to zero-emission vehicles is key. Infrastructure discussions now include the need for electricity corridor connectivity between provinces, more inter-ties and smart grids. The House Environment Committee has been hearing evidence on the need for charging stations and ancillary issues of costs and jurisdiction. But as positive as those moves are, moving to zero-emission vehicles only deals with some of the downsides of dependence on the personal automobile. It leaves out people who cannot afford a car. And it allows cars to continue to occupy vast amounts of space, dominating urban design. As well, most discussion of public transit almost invariably focuses on urban centres. The real crisis in Canada’s public transit system is in rural and remote areas. It was a clear finding of the Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls that Indigenous women, marginalized and two-spirit people are put at risk by the lack of affordable and available public transit. Across most of Canada’s vast geography getting from A to B requires a personal vehicle or a flight. The alternative, hitch-hiking, puts marginalized people at risk. In the last few years, private sector bus service has disappeared from much of Canada. Bus service is no longer available in remote and rural areas of British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Atlantic Canada. The need to focus on VIA Rail as a key part of Canada’s public transit system has never been greater. With the loss of bus service, people of limited income are turning in increasing numbers to VIA Rail’s quite limited service outside the Windsor-Quebec Corridor. Only three days a week are trains available on the transcontinental routes (from Toronto to Vancouver and from Montreal to Halifax). But riding economy does allow relatively affordable travel between remote and little serviced communities. VIA Rail crew members have told me the so-called “Greyhound effect” has created new stresses to meet increased demands in the economy cars. Since early spring these routes have been suspended due to COVID-19. Only Vancouver to Winnipeg service is to be partially restored with one trip a week by December 11, with no word on the Montreal to Halifax route or Toronto to Winnipeg. In 2016, a very disturbing recommendation was made by the Canada Transportation Act Review, chaired by David Emerson. Among many recommendations was the proposal to eliminate VIA Rail’s transcontinental lines, reducing service to only the Windsor-Quebec corridor. In the context of loss of bus service, this is a non-starter. No modern society should kill its passenger rail service, but I fear we may be close to doing so. Unlike in the United States where Amtrak has a statutory obligation to provide passenger rail service, VIA has no legislative framework. That is why I have introduced Bill C-251 to establish a statutory foundation and ensure VIA is managed in order to meet a fundamental need across Canada—passenger rail service. Meanwhile, remote areas are also losing regional air service. Just as in the case of bus service, the private sector is walking away from obligations to meet the needs of Canadians living outside more profitable areas. Can we meet the Speech from the Throne commitment to climate action and the commitment to invest in air service? It will not happen over-night, but perhaps we can achieve it with a commitment to move to zero emission flights. This is no longer a pipe dream. Harbour Air, the first carbon neutral airline in the world, is now aiming to be the first electric battery powered airline with zero-emissions. It took its first electric flight in 2019 and is now gearing up to convert its fleet of seaplanes. Electrification could meet short-haul flights and 75 per cent of all flights world-wide are under 1600 km. An investment in electrified flight could be a world-beater for Canada. When we talk about transportation, we need to apply a climate and a social justice lens. Safe, reliable, convenient, zero-carbon public transit—whether for urban or rural Canadians—is within our reach. Elizabeth May is the MP for Saanich-Gulf Islands, B.C., and the Green Party parliamentary leader. The Hill Times