by Emily Leedham You can’t pay while staying six feet away. So cities across Canada are implementing free public transit and back door boarding to encourage social distancing and curb the spread of COVID-19. Free transit reduces operator interactions with riders entering and exiting the vehicle and limits operator exposure to infection. Free transit also Continue readingCities across Canada implement free transit to curb COVID-19
public transit
Winnipeg’s city council proposes an austerity budget which would close libraries, pools & cut public transit. Meanwhile, police still receive the bulk of public funds.
ATU Canada has sponsored an audio documentary called Still Waiting for the Bus: The Unnatural Death of Prairie Intercity Transit, made in partnership with Winnipeg-based documentary producer and RankandFile.ca editor Emily Leedham. This documentary explores the impacts of losing the Saskatchewan Transportation Company and Greyhound bus services in Western Canada. It also interrogates the claims that Continue readingATU demands a national public intercity transit service
by Emily Leedham Winnipeg Transit drivers, who are members of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1505, will not be enforcing fares from riders tomorrow, Thursday, June 27. This will be the second time ATU 1505 has taken this form of job action, the first “fare strike” taking place last month on Tuesday, May 14th. After the Continue readingWinnipeg Transit drivers go on second “fare strike” tomorrow
Public transit infrastructure and services have been actively under attack over the past several years. In 2017, the Sask Party shutdown the Saskatchewan Transit Company, which provided intercity bus transit in Saskatchewan. Last year, Greyhound pulled out of all but one of their bus routes in Western Canada, with no provincial or federal governments stepping Continue readingFighting Uber & Lyft to Expand Public Transit
On Monday, May 13th, WestJet announced it was being bought out by a private equity firm Onex for 5 billion dollars. This would take WestJet from being a publicly traded company to a private one. WestJet pilots and cabin crew members have unionized all within the past several years. Chris Rauenbusch, president of CUPE Local Continue readingWhat will WestJet’s sale to Onex mean for workers?
By Emily Leedham On Tuesday, May 14, the majority of Winnipeg Transit drivers, who are members of ATU Local 1505, did not enforce payment from transit riders. This “fare strike” is the first time the ATU has done this type of action in North America. “Well, our members are tired and they wanted some action,” Continue readingWinnipeg Transit drivers’ fare strike ATU’s first in North America
Winnipeg Transit drivers, members of ATU Local 1505, will take their first job action on Tuesday, May 14th. Drivers will not be enforcing fares tomorrow. Essentially, if you don’t pay, drivers will look the other way. Members of ATU 1505 and community volunteers will leaflet bus stops today to inform transit riders of Tuesday’s job Continue readingWinnipeg transit drivers not enforcing fares on Tuesday
Today on the show, John DiNino, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Canada, provides an update on the talks between the union and the federal government over Greyhound shutting down all but one of its routes in Western Canada on October 31, 2018, and ATU’s commitment to fighting for public owned and operated inter-city transit. to Continue reading“It’s a bigger fight than Greyhound” | ATU Canada Pres. John DiNino on the future of Greyhound
by Scott Price In the autumn of 1956, Winnipeg’s electric streetcars were discontinued in favour of diesel busses. Usually seen as just a relic of a by-gone era, Winnipeg’s streetcars illuminate a lost history of class struggle and the importance of transportation to our cities. Like any city, public transit in Winnipeg continues to be Continue readingThe Class Struggle History of Winnipeg’s Streetcars
By Donna Burman, TTC employee Getting leaner and more efficient sounds great. It may even save taxpayers money. There have been endless cutbacks to all kinds of programs since the election. But still the province continues its endeavour to add subways to their burden by uploading Toronto Transit Commission into provincial control, presumably Metrolinx, the Continue readingThe Downward Spiral of Uploading Toronto’s Transit
By John Thornton Saskatchewan Transportation Company (STC) Annual Reports, available online, suggest that between 2010 and 2012 the Sask Party had figured out how to run STC. Ridership had increased in 2010, the first year-over-year increase in ridership since the NDP lost the election of 2007. Two seat sales had offset a 2010 fare increase; Continue readingHow the Saskatchewan government killed STC