Posts from — April 2011

Could BC reduce transportation-generated greenhouse gas emissions to zero in just 30 years? A new study by the CCPA’s Climate Justice Project says we could, but it will take cash and, even more critically, political will.

The study released today provides a good backdrop to assess Metro Vancouver’s current struggle with Victoria over transit funding. An increase in carbon tax, one of the measures favoured by many mayors, gets thumbs up from the authors.

What makes the report especially important is its emphasis on social equity, reflected in many proposals to ensure that low income families — who contribute much less per capita to greenhouse gas emissions than wealthier ones — do not pay a disproportionate cost in the battle to fight climate change.

Among the most significant suggestions:

• a greater emphasis on affordable housing organized at greater density around key services to allow lower income families to reduce the length and frequency of their daily trips;
• a rejection of electric cars as a cure-all;
• an excellent list ofchanges possible in rural communities, where options are usually much more restricted; and
• a review of how goods movement, a source of a large share of greenhouse gas emissions, could become greener through more reliance on electrified rail lines.

(UPDATE APRIL 19: Thanks to Keith Ippel of the Vancouver Area Cycling Coalition for pointing out that the number of cities with public bike share is now well over 200 , not the 80 I reported here.)

Creation of a public bike sharing system in Vancouver took a step closer Friday with the posting of a request for expressions of interest on the city’s web site.

Since the city began exploring the issue in earnest in 2009, the number of cities with public bike share systems has roughly quadrupled to more than 80. A whole host of problems and opportunities have been identified by the first generation of bike share programs, putting Vancouver in a position to create a world class system. Yes, helmets will be part of the mix.

Vancouver’s goal is to have the system up and running in 2012. The RFEOI describes the design work already done by a non-profit organization called Bike Share BC. The system could be delivered by another supplier, by BikeShare BC or a partnership, but the goal is to minimize risk and cost to the city.

In Montreal, meanwhile, the Bixi bike system launched its third season a few days ago with lower prices, more than 5,000 bicycles and over 400 bike stations.

Alarm is spreading among environmental campaigners that BC’s carbon tax may be at risk of disappearing, along with Gordon Campbell’s cap and trade system, as Premier Christy Clark reviews the province’s climate change program.

The carbon tax, now embraced by all the front-running NDP leadership candidates, is undergoing review along with the HST as Clark prepares for a possible fall election.

Metro Vancouver mayors have been hoping that proposed future increments in the carbon tax in the Lower Mainland could be allocated to transit investment.

But recent news reports suggest BC is poised to abandon the cap-and-trade system championed by Campbell. Economist Mark Jaccard has pointed out that the tax was actually “revenue negative,” providing a wide range of tax cuts that were skewed to heavy carbon users. Any rationalization of the tax to make it do a real job would hit key government supporters.

CCPA economist Marc Lee rang the alarm about the backsliding on the carbon tax as early as February in this article originally published in the Vancouver Sun. But I was told this week that many climate change campaigners believe the situation is deteriorating in Victoria, particularly with climate change hawk Gwyn Morgan now offering advice in Christy Clark’s inner circle.

One possibility: cancellation of planned future increases in the carbon tax.

If that happens, kiss goodbye to the main source of new revenue for transit that has broad support among Metro mayors. Don’t expect a seat on the bus anytime soon.

Surrey Mayor Diane Watts’ call for at-grade light rail systems to build sustainable transportation in her city are a pragmatic response to Surrey’s lower densities.

And as Vancouver’s experience with the B-Line has demonstrated, buses can do a lot to build ridership and shift people from cars while we’re waiting for the trains.

This recent report from San Francisco — illustrated, oddly, with a photo of a Translink 99 B-Line bus — shows how good bus connections can produce a 30 percent mode share for public transit even in a sprawling office park if employers take the lead and good bus connections are nearby.

It takes a transit “cult” based on a number of gains for transit riders, but it can get drivers out of their cars, even if they’re heading for a Chevron office.