Portage & Main is one of Winnipeg’s most prominent intersections, but because it undermines local retail and residential development by dissuading pedestrians. Opening it up to pedestrians is a necessary condition for any successful neighbourhood revitalization scheme.
Transportation
Ferries to Relieve Traffic Congestion?
The new football stadium in the south end of Winnipeg has tremendous gridlock, requiring many fans to leave several hours early to arrive on time. Traffic in southern Ontario’s Golden Horseshoe is some of the worst in the world. In each case, ferries are being floated as a potential alternative to driving. It’s not clear how much they can practically do to relieve congestion, but it is certainly greater than zero. Given the cost of congestion mitigation, it may become economical in both instances.
What Lessons Will We Learn From the Lac Mégantic Tragedy?
The explosion, shocking loss of life and the incineration of idyllic downtown Lac Mégantic, Québec, is a catastrophe for the ages. The tragedy, however, allows us to learn new lessons. The Transportation Safety Board will investigate the causes of the accident, and wider policy questions are being asked about the security of towns built along rail lines and the safety of transporting oil by rail.
Nation-Wide Voters Shouldn’t (Unknowingly) Vote on Local Road Closures
Should the City of Winnipeg close Plessis Road during construction? If you’re not from Winnipeg, you likely don’t have an answer. It’s exceedingly unlikely that any more than 14 federal MPs have the slightest clue. Yet, the entire national electorate has essentially (and unknowingly) made this decision in the affirmative.
Featured News
Preston Manning: Report of the COVID Commission
Introductory Comment Brian Giesbrecht, Retired Judge, Frontier Centre Senior Fellow: The Frontier Centre for Public Policy is honoured to present Mr. Manning’s latest offering, in what he calls a fictionalized story. It is about everything that has happened to this...
Canada: Returning to the Original Vision
Many Canadians are aware of stories of how immigrants were originally attracted to Canada through the promise of free land. The then Minister responsible for immigration, Clifford Sifton, had his staff spread out across central and eastern Europe promising free land...
Who Owns Taxi Licences?
Taxi regulation is almost unique in Canada because it controls the price and quantity supplied to market, rather than just the quality or safety. This approach creates a number of primary and secondary economic effects that are difficult for voters to understand. Because governments should act with the informed consent of their people, the onus should be on municipalities to report the effects of their regulatory activities on taxis and consumers. But most city websites show that such disclosure is abysmal and often absent.
High-speed Rail in Canada: Decade of Debate Chugs On
“A new debate is emerging among Canadians about whether high-speed passenger trains are the answer to rising oil prices, traffic congestion, airport delays and environmental concerns.”
A High-speed Train Collision with Fiscal Sense
Megaprojects around the world are subject to predictable cost overruns. In Canada, think of Montreal’s very expensive Olympic Stadium, BC’s 1990s-era fast ferry boondoggle, or the Vancouver Convention Centre and the 2010 Winter Olympic games.
Puncturing “Public” Auto Insurance Myths
In a Calgary Herald letter to the editor last week, Alberta NDP MLA Rachel Notley claimed BC has cheaper insurance than Alberta. Wrong.
The High Cost of Canada’s “Free” Parking
Senior Policy Analyst David Seymour and Transport Engineer Stuart Donovan make the case for removing minimum parking requirements from new developments, a reform that promises to improve economic efficiency, transportation, and social equality.
Media Release – Free Parking v. Sensible Cities
A new Frontier Centre backgrounder, How Free is Your Parking?, notes that so-called “free” parking has detrimental effects on economic development, undermine the transportation system, and come at a high cost to low-income households.
How Free is Your Parking?
“Somehow, the urban land use with the biggest footprint and a profound effect on the transportation system has been invisible to scholars in every discipline.” – Donald Shoup, The High Cost of Free Parking (2005) Introduction Drivers in North America typically...
The Myth of Cheap Public Auto Insurance
Few Canadians have much affection for insurance companies; in the event of a claim and a dispute about proper compensation or coverage, insurance rapidly become as popular as hives or H1N1.
The Case for Taxi Deregulation
Market failure, regulatory failure, and how to make taxi markets function for more jobs and better service.