According to Auditor-General Michael Ferguson’s recently released Fall Report, “significant weaknesses” continue at Transport Canada. These weaknesses have been flagged for some time, dating back a dozen years to when the federal government adopted a new rail safety...
Transportation
Time for Winnipeg to Get Serious About Rapid Transit
Rapid transit is a long standing topic of debate in Winnipeg. In the last municipal election, Mayor Sam Katz pledged his support for light rail transit (LRT), while runner up Judy Wasylycia-Leis supported bus rapid transit (BRT). Three years later, we have 3.6km of...
Lessons from the Lac-Megantic accident
Since 2008, important policy debate has been developing in the United States on risk in the transportation of dangerous goods. The Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway (MMA) bankruptcy protection following the Lac-Mégantic disaster last summer provides an opportune...
Lessons from Lac-Megantic
Executive Summary Since 2008, the United States has been developing important policy relating to risk in the transportation of dangerous goods by rail. The dialogue has not been restricted to the conventional corporate participants—the chemical producers and...
Featured News
Why University?
In this essay, I explain that young people should come to university to be educated, and not to become credentialed; the public should support universities because universities educate young people, not because they produce credentialled workers. Why should a...
A Lamentable Tale of Two Colonies
During the whole of recorded history, the empire has been the most constant and common form of political organization. A basic, self-evident feature of all empire-building has been the successful occupation of the lands of the local, Indigenous inhabitants by outside...
Our Traffic Problems Solved — Simply
Public planners tend to look for big, dramatic solutions — social engineering, infrastructure construction and so on — when small economic signals might have the same desired effect.
How to Kill Traffic Congestion: Apply market pricing to Canada’s roads
Traffic in Canada could be more evenly spread out during the day the roads more efficiently—if market pricing was used.
Winning the Battle with Traffic Congestion: The benefits of accurate transport pricing
Instead of increasing road capacity, Canada’s government agencies should implement accurate transport pricing.
Media Release – Winning the Battle with Traffic Congestion: Why inner city and rush-hour traffic pricing makes sense
Instead of increasing road capacity, Canada’s government agencies should implement accurate transport pricing.
Toward Creating Sustainable Transit
“Introducing competition and competitive contracting into a system now dominated by union and operating monopolies, combined with a shift in reliance from rail to buses, would go a long way toward curbing costs and increasing productivity.”
This Shouldn’t Fly With Canadians
“The Frontier Centre for Public Policy compared airline fares on similar-distance flights in all three jurisdictions and found that fares were the most expensive in Canada.”
‘Open Skies’ Policy Unlikely To Take Off In Canada, U.S.;: Europeans enjoy cheapest rates, study says
“A study from the Winnipeg-based Frontier Centre For Public Policy surveyed five cheapest-fare 3,300-mile flights and found: Canadian passengers pay an average fare per mile of 45 cents, Americans pay 28 cents, Europeans pay 16 cents.”
Study Calls For Canada To Open Skies To Competition; Affordable Flying;: Review finds airfares higher han U.S., Europe
“Consumers pay more for air travel in Canada than in the U.S. or Europe, says a new study that calls on Ottawa to open the market to more competition.”
Want Cheap Airfares? See Europe: Why Europe is a low-fare zone
Airlines fares are cheapest in Europe—this thanks to competition.