The transit strike is over - but don't fall asleep!

At long last, thank God, the transit strike is over.

There - was that so hard, you jerks?

It disgusts me that they could only agree to such a simple solution - that is, binding arbitration without preconditions - when they finally knew they were backed into a corner by the feds and going to have to do it anyway. The feds in question being Rona Ambrose and John Baird, who weren't going to do anything either but were publicly shamed and backed into a corner by Premier Dalton McGuinty. The feds who would have been positioned to do something in Parliament sooner had it not been for their leader, who put everybody on a time-out after being backed into a corner himself for not taking proper action on the economy, among other things.

Is anybody else as thoroughly disgusted as I am?

And does anyone notice that at every step in this process it was the Conservatives that needed to be cornered like a rat and forced to take proper action? From Conservative Mayor O'Brien to Conservative MP's Rona Ambrose and John Baird, to Conservative PM Stephen Harper - how such people get voted in is beyond me.

In any case, the end result of the labour board's decision that transit is not an essential service, according to its ridiculously narrow definition, is that the ATU will be able to strike again in the future. Baird has said (after the aforementioned cornering) that this definition can be reviewed. But if we are going to be smart about this, we cannot allow all of this to fade into the background now that the buses will be back on the road. As long as transit is not an "essential service," we know the possibility of a strike always looms at the end of every contract.

We must keep the pressure on Baird to pursue this and we must pressure the Mayor and Councillors to get some decent alternative transportation in place.

There is no way our entire city should be brought to a grinding halt, and our most vulnerable citizens victimized, every time the ATU decides it doesn't like something. The light rail nightmare O'Brien helped create needs to be sorted out and fixed. We need to get that thing going. We need to look into the feasibility of a driverless system like Vancouver's Skytrain. We need to press for more bike lanes. I've said it before and I'll say it again... we can live with this hanging over our heads for decades to come, or we can start mitigating the situation now so this never happens again. But if this situation has shown us anything, it's that we cannot rely on our public officials to take the initiative. We must call them and write letters to them, especially our Mayor and Councillors, demanding continued action. If we do not, we will only have ourselves to blame the next time we are left in the lurch for transportation.

Cycling Vision Ottawa

While surfing I ran across a group called Cycling Vision Ottawa that is trying to get the City to allocate proper funds to increasing the network of cycling lanes here. I'm not affiliated with them or anything, I just thought this is a progressive issue close to home so maybe it would be of interest. Their website isn't much I'm afraid but it's here.

Using the instructions there, I sent them the following to forward to my city councillor. Feel free to use/adapt any or all of it for your own letter.

Dear {name},

Especially in light of the bus strike, and the potential for similar events in the future given the fact that public transportation has not been designated an essential service, I find it quite disturbing that the City would place such a low priority on cycling lanes. For many people, especially in circumstances such as these, cycling is their only means of getting to work, school, the doctor's office, or even the food bank. There are also countless others who would cycle more often if only they felt safe cycling along the routes they must take. If people can't take the bus, and can't afford a car, yet feel endangered on their bicycles, what are they to do?

The strike notwithstanding, it behooves us all to make our city as bike-friendly as possible, for a number of reasons. First, while mass transit remains better than having the equivalent number of cars on the road, buses still contribute to pollution and therefore impact the health of all. Second, obesity is becoming a more widespread problem. It is a well-known fact that both air pollution and obesity are important contributors to a wide array of health problems. By encouraging people to cycle, we will be improving the overall health of everyone here. Over time, this translates into lower health care costs, shorter wait times, and less demand on public assistance, among other things.

Portland, Oregon, is the city to watch in North America in terms of being bicycle-friendly. They have quadrupled their cycling lanes since the 1990's and bicycle use has quadrupled accordingly in the same timespan, with no increase in crashes. This is only one of many excellent examples of the direct correlation between cycling lanes and the number of bike commuters. I lived in Portland for a time, until two years ago, and can attest from personal experience that the number of cyclists on the road there is truly astounding. Our good city could follow suit and reap the numerous advantages of such an arrangement.

I strongly support the development of an effective network of cycling lanes, including segregated lanes, and pathways, to make cycling in Ottawa more inclusive of those who prefer or need a degree of separation from motorized traffic. As a fellow cyclist, I imagine you are likely of the same mind and I am preaching to the choir. I ask City Council to allocate sufficient funds to the Ottawa Cycling Plan for this purpose.

Thank you for your time and attention to this matter.

Best regards,

{name}