We recently joined other members of the public and advocacy groups like Horizon Ottawa, Ottawa Transit Riders, and ACORN Ottawa to speak against proposed cuts to transit service. OC Transpo's draft plan addresses lower pandemic ridership by suspending, shortening, and reducing frequency on many routes linking suburbs to downtown, to begin in June. It's bad … Continue reading Our Remarks at the March 31st Transit Commission Meeting
Québec solidaire’s recovery plan
Toward free public transit The pandemic has discouraged the use of public transit. Confinement, telework, and fear of catching the coronavirus have made people avoid collective transit options. We cannot allow this decline in popularity to be permanent. Between 2006 and 2019 the Quebec population of driving age increased by 13%, while the number of … Continue reading Québec solidaire’s recovery plan
Read our statement on Transit Policy and COVID-19 here.
Read our statement on Transit Policy and COVID-19 here.
FTO Presentation on Urban Boundary
Urban Boundary Expansion Statement at the Joint Planning Committee/ Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee - May 11, 2020 By Kirstin Pulles on behalf of Free Transit Ottawa May 11, 2020 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGqiyApahuA&feature=youtu.be As a representative of Free Transit Ottawa, I want to focus on how urban expansion impacts not only the functionality of the city, but … Continue reading FTO Presentation on Urban Boundary
Free Transit is in Town, For Now
Free Transit Toronto member Stefan Kipfer has written an important piece about free transit during the COVID-19 pandemic. Read the article on the Socialst Project's website here. "Demands for free transit in Toronto, Oshawa, Edmonton, and Ottawa might generate such demands elsewhere. And calls for fare freedom may yield other calls for freedom, with regards … Continue reading Free Transit is in Town, For Now
Transit Policy and Covid-19
Public transit is an essential service. In the midst of a pandemic it is also a particularly dangerous one for transit workers and transit users. The City of Ottawa has tried to strike the right balance, but more needs to be done. Free Transit Ottawa calls on the Mayor and City Council to immediately take … Continue reading Transit Policy and Covid-19
Free Public Transit in Canada?
The Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Canada has added its voice to discussions about fare-free transit in Canada. This is an important development in the fight for free transit. Read the ATU's piece, Free Public Transit in Canada" here. "ATU Canada advocates for fares to be affordable for all, and advocates for progress toward creating a … Continue reading Free Public Transit in Canada?
Trillium Line Extension
SNC-Lavalin’s Trillium Line extension plans failed to meet the minimum technical requirement not once, but twice. That the City could accept SNC-Lavalin’s flawed proposal is down to the use of a secret clause included in the Request for Proposals (RFP) contract which gave senior managers discretion to disregard technical requirements in favour of financial ones. … Continue reading Trillium Line Extension
Free transit is just the beginning
Check out this new article by James Wilt in Briarpatch about international movements for free transit! "Free transit is about much more than transit: an end to austerity, a refusal of police power, and a demand for decommodified and universal public services. We simply can’t build the world we dream of until we confront ruling … Continue reading Free transit is just the beginning
Victoria city council endorses proposal for free transit in the Capital Region during committee of the whole
Victoria, BC is on its way to free transit! Read more about it in this article.