On the DEWLine 2.0: Dwight Williams

"Petition to the Government of Canada
Whereas:

Passenger rail is a safe, efficient, sustainable, affordable, and accessible mode of public transportation;
Due to federal cutbacks and underinvestment over many years, Canada’s current passenger rail services lag far behind those available in other countries;
Since its creation in 1978, VIA Rail has lacked both the legislative mandate and stable budget necessary to maintain and expand passenger rail service in Canada;
While VIA Rail's on-time performance on tracks it owns is over 90 percent, it is only 60 percent on tracks it shares with other railways;
Rail privatization and outsourcing schemes in other countries have led to higher fares, reduced service, deteriorating safety performance, and lower salaries for workers;
Unlike other public passenger rail providers around the world, VIA Rail lacks representation from passengers and workers on its board of directors; and
In its Corporate Plan, VIA has warned that its long-distance fleet, built in the 1950s, is overdue for replacement, without which it will soon be unable to provide services in Atlantic and Western Canada.

We, the undersigned, Residents of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to:
1. Incorporate the contents of Bills C-371, the Rail Passenger Priority Act, and C-236/C-640 (41-2) the VIA Rail Canada Act, in a Government Bill and prioritize its passage through the legislative process;
2. Commit, in the 2024 federal budget, the funds necessary to renew VIA Rail’s long-distance fleet;
3. Provide passenger and worker representation on VIA Rail’s board of directors; and
4. Revise the High Frequency Rail project to protect VIA Rail’s role in delivering public passenger rail service along the Windsor to Quebec City corridor."

https://www.ourcommons.ca/petitions/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-4754

And we've lost another one: Comerford's Cigar Store.

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/deachman-a-victim-of-covid-and-changing-times-comerfords-closes-after-75-years

I used to visit for the newspapers, the magazines and the snacks.

Public health matters on public transit and this is another part of why.

Question for those who renew their #OCTranspo bus passes montly *in person*: have you been getting charged extra fees by #ShoppersDrugMart for doing so?

#publictransit #Ottawa #OttawaGatineau

I have concerns(!) about the choice of phrasing in Treasury Board President Mona Fortier's arguments for a hybrid work model for those branches of the federal civil service that her branch of the federal cabinet has jurisdiction over.

Also, doubling down on "right of the employer" rhetoric is not helpful.

The civil service needs sufficiently safe workspaces to return to and, for those who do not or cannot drive, a sufficiently safe public transit system to use to get there. I'm not seeing that here. OC Transpo and STO must be allowed to return to "mask up!" rules for everyone who can medically manage it or this isn't going to do what the current government is hoping for. And the same requirement exists for public transit in any city that has such services and a federal civil service presence.

Without at least the mask rules back in place, we won't have safe federal workspaces. We'll have superspreader sites. Again.

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/treasury-board-president-calls-return-to-office-plan-right-of-employer

(Yes, there's other arguments to be made for efficiencies, pollution/ecological considerations, savings on government expenditures, etc.. Other people are making those arguments.)

I got my dosage yesterday.

Still masking for my public travels, and wishing more of my neighbours would get back to that habit. It would make finding and holding a new job again easier for me and any prospective employer.

Context: Lincoln Fields is one of the Transitway stations being refitted for service as part of OC Transpo's Confederation Line O-Train service in Ottawa's West End...

Watching the Ottawa Transit Commission meeting on YouTube at the moment.

https://app05.ottawa.ca/sirepub/mtgviewer.aspx?meetid=8514&doctype=AGENDA

Also, still job-hunting...

Got some pix of the construction of one of the new O-Train stations, doubling as the renovation of one of the old Transitway stations here in eastern Ottawa.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/dwight_ew/albums/72177720297478784

Also, got some laundry done this morning before I went out for my day's shopping errands.

Rain day, too. Not the worst rain we've had, just enough to keep the spring melt moving along.

Oh, and I got a haircut last week. The CPAP machine mask harness was part of the impetus, the new job search was another reason. Although some people seem pleased with it regardless of the motives.

COVID-19 might have given me a break from the stresses of public transit...but it still isolated me from people I've wanted to stay in touch with. Flawed as that public transit still is.

(And the "blah" emoticon should NOT be smiling.)

As someone interested in passenger rail, graphic design and where the two intersect, this gets my attention:

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2021/sep/22/british-rail-logo-designer-appalled-by-green-makeover-mess

I do think Mr. Barney is correct about the idea of re-nationalising the passenger rail system(s) of the UK to whatever degree practical and possible, but I've lived in the land of VIA Rail here in Canada all my life. CP and CN had their own passenger services when I was born, but VIA has been around so long that I can't quite imagine the idea of each rail line running its own passenger lines along with the freight services.

Getting back to watching Ottawa City Council discussing motions re: the O-Train in particular and OC Transpo public transit service in general...