STC’s 2012 Annual Report is out, and the numbers are disappointing. The bus service’s annual operating subsidy increased from $8.7 in 2011 to $9.2 million as ridership declined by 2 percent. The 2012 capital grant was $2.3 million compared to $2 million in 2011.
Transportation
STC eliminates three absurdly wasteful routes
The Saskatchewan Transportation Company is far from a hallmark of efficiency. But credit should be given when due, and the minister responsible for STC, Don McMorris, deserves recognition for making the politically difficult decision to eliminate three spectacularly wasteful STC routes.
Dr. Stephen Blank, Transport Expert: Widening Competition in North American Freight Transport: The Impact of Cabotage
Inhibiting cross border integration with the United States and with Mexico makes the economy generally less efficient and raises costs. It’s a trade barrier that is found in many places and it makes things move less efficiently, raises the costs, and it increases environmental load because you are running more empty vehicles around.
“Let’s all meet in Honolulu. It’s cheaper than flying home to Toronto”: the problem with Canadian air fares
Canadians are crossing the border into the United States to fly from American airports because departing from Canada is much more expensive. In fact, Canadians make up over half of the passengers departing from some American airports near the border. This is a result of government policy.
Featured News
Fostering a Constructive, Business-Friendly Regime Sustains Innovation, Not Government Money
For standards of living to grow, productivity growth must be strong and continually renewed. That is one notion that nearly all economists can agree on. So, it is not surprising that politicians scramble to discover new or not-so-new ways to boost productivity growth....
Big Tech Influence Can Tip Elections
Behavioural psychologist Robert Epstein believes Google can and does influence voters and that research teams in Canada and elsewhere need to monitor how users are being swayed. Epstein, the former editor-in-chief of Psychology Today and founder of the American...
Ethanol’s Dirty Little Secrets
How do you convince consumers that what's bad for you is good for you? You feed them a load of bull, and hope they don't catch on. So it is with the Ontario and federal governments, which are spinning their pro-ethanol campaigns as consumer-friendly solutions to our...
Winnipeg’s Perimeter Highway: Death by Design
Winnipeg’s Perimeter Highway is outdated in design, un-safe for drivers plus it could bestagnating the economy. What’s holding the provice back from updating it to freeway standards?
‘Smart’ Lights on City’s Wish List
Expanding the system of computerized lights and software that has eased traffic in the congested Polo Park shopping district was quietly added Wednesday to the city’s wish list of projects that could dip into a new $82-million pot of government funding earmarked for Manitoba.
Via’s Lessons for Amtrak
VIA Rail Canada, the Canadian national passenger rail system, improved efficiency when the Canadian government dramatically reduced rail subsidies, forcing VIA to improve operations or go out of business. The railroad opted for the former, and today it carries more passengers than a decade ago, but at a per passenger mile subsidy two-thirds less than what it was in 1990.
Taken for a ride?
IF A city goes to the bother of regulating its taxi industry, it should presumably have the interest of residents at heart. How then, to explain the system in New York?
Auto Competitive Transit Service?
People will not ride transit unless it is competitive with the automobile. It is as simple as that.
A Better Way For Transit
Fewer Canadians are taking the bus. Before mass transit reaches the end of the line, we should look at solutions that have worked elsewhere. The demographic indicators are not favourable. Our cities are dispersing, as more people choose the suburban and country...
A Conversation with Nick Newton
It’s really recognizing what the public sector and private sector are best at. The public sector is best at specifying what it needs in terms of funding, controlling, coordinating and the private sector are best at driving efficiencies in operations and improving customer service.
Urban Transport and the Purchaser/Provider Split
Over the past two decades, various countries have established policies to shift the production of transit services into a competitive environment.