Anne Bourgoin, Headline, News
A 35% REDUCTION IN THE NUMBER OF KILOMETRES TRAVELLED BY VEHICLE IS POSSIBLE SAYS ÉQUITERRE
By Anne Bourgoin
Équiterre and Enviromental Defence have just released a report showing that it is possible to double public transit use and thus reduce the number of kilometres travelled by car by 35% by 2035. How could this be achieved? Through more generous and better-targeted federal investment
The report recommends four measures that would have a direct impact on reducing carbon emissions. “This plan requires investments of $35 billion over 12 years, which is roughly equivalent to the government’s investment in the Trans Mountain pipeline. The difference is that our plan enables people—not oil—to get around faster and at a lower cost,” said Catherine-Anne Pilon, sustainable mobility analyst at Équiterre.
According to data from the Canadian Urban Transit Association, municipalities have expanded their bus fleets, but do not have the operating resources to put them into service, nor the authorization to use federal funds to increase service hours or frequency. As a result, “1,700 buses are gathering dust in garages across the country,” says the report.
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