Environmental Press Releases

Contents

• Benefits of Halifax Transportation Study Questioned
  WLRI Press Release 97-01
• 1996 Commuter Rail Study Raises Questions
  WLRI Press Release 97-02

Please contact Larry Hughes for more information.

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Benefits of Halifax Transportation Study Questioned

For immediate release
Halifax 26 February 1997

The Halifax Regional Municipality's "GoPlan" is a `No-Go' environmentally or economically according to a preliminary review done for Whale Lake Research Institute (WLRI) by Dr. Larry Hughes.

In an analysis of "Module 4 -- Transportation Infrastructure Profile Plan", Dr. Hughes critically examines several key issues raised and questions many of the conclusions reached by the document's authors:

• changes in emissions levels of auto-generated air pollutants without consideration given to the health and environmental impacts likely on residents in the affected areas. `The document predicts an increase in nitrogen oxides due to additional vehicular traffic -- if this is the case, we can expect more ground-level ozone, a known cause of eye irritation, chest discomfort, headaches, increased asthma attacks, and reduced pulmonary function,' writes Dr. Hughes.
• carbon dioxide emissions are ignored entirely. `Carbon dioxide from road traffic is responsible for about 25 per cent of Canada's greenhouse gas emissions,' says Dr. Hughes, `Any attempt by Canada to meet its international obligations to stabilize its greenhouse gas emissions will require a reduction in road traffic.'
• the document examines and ranks 24 projects, rejecting many as having costs that exceed the benefits. However, in at least one case (the Fairview Flyover to the MacKay Bridge, ranked 17th or 18th) the document ignores the cost-benefit analysis and recommends that the project proceed. `This project has a $30 million capital cost and will have a $3 million a year operating and maintenance budget,' observes Dr. Hughes, `Yet according to the document, its impact on the overall traffic flow is negligible or non-existent.'
• `The $7 million realignment of Lacewood Drive and Dutch Village Road makes little sense either,' states Dr. Hughes, `The document projects that by 2016, there will be less traffic at the Titus and Main intersection than there is today; if this is the case, why do the realignment?' The Lacewood Drive Realignment is part of a series of roadworks meant to reduce `shortcutting' between Lacewood Drive and Bedford Highway via Bayview Drive; the projected decline by 2006 is from 760 vehicles per hour to 670. The document admits that Bayview Drive will still be near capacity and is `not likely to be considered a complete solution by Bayview residents.'

In January 1997, the Halifax Regional Municipality adopted a `transportation vision' based upon work by the Transportation Association of Canada, emphasizing a more compact form of urban development that will:

• protect and enhance the environment;
• conserve natural resources including energy and land;
• provide a wider and more balanced choice of accessible and affordable transportation services;
• better respond to the need of the majority of residents.

However, putting emphasis on new road construction and paying lip service to Transport Demand Management will mean that:

• the environment will not be protected or enhanced. Additional roadways will add to the already growing problems associated with the automobile.
• natural resources (notably energy and land) will be lost to the automobile, energy in the form of petroleum products and land for additional roadways.
• putting limited capital and operating funds into one mode of transportation (roadways) is not the prescription for providing a wider and more balanced choice of accessible and affordable transportation services.
• residents of the regional municipality will be trapped into using road transportation, meaning that it will be possible to respond only to the needs of those residents who use the automobile.

The proposed GoPlan is shortsighted and does not offer a route to a cleaner, safer, and healthier future. The Halifax Regional Municipal council should reject the auto-centric recommendations in the Transportation Infrastructure Profile Plan and recommit themselves to the urban vision promoted by the Transport Association of Canada.

Copies of the Whale Lake Research Institute review of the Transportation Infrastructure Profile Plan are available from:

http://www.dal.ca/~lhughes2.

Dr. Hughes can be reached at 494 - 3950.

Whale Lake Research Institute is a privately funded environmental research organization based in Halifax, examining environmental issues pertaining to Nova Scotia and Canada.

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1996 Commuter Rail Study Raises Questions

For immediate release
18 March 1997

The recent public outcry against the possible widening of existing roads and the construction of new ones as proposed in Halifax Regional Municipality's (HRM) new GoPlan, has resulted in renewed interest in commuter rail as a means of reducing road traffic. HRM officials have been quick to claim that commuter rail is too expensive, citing the Commuter Rail Feasibility Study completed in February 1996 by consulting firm IBI Group, for the Metro Authority Commuter Rail Sub-Committee.

Whale Lake Research Institute (WLRI) researchers have just completed a re-evaluation of the 1996 Commuter Rail Feasibility Study. The three points highlighted in this re-evaluation are:

• The compatibility of the proposed station design and rolling stock.

  Commuter rail systems are designed for speed. Selecting low-level station platforms and rolling stock with high-level interiors will require passengers to climb stairs, thereby increasing station dwell time, lengthening travel time and potentially discouraging ridership.

  Furthermore, the use of stairs can be dangerous in adverse weather conditions and preclude wheelchair passengers.

• Opting for rolling stock that is over 40 years old.

  Spare parts for the Budd Rail Diesel Cars (RDCs) are hard to obtain, the equipment is not fuel efficient, and long term maintenance will be expensive.

  Adopting newer technology may cost more in the short term, but these initial outlays will be offset by increased passenger travel and lower operating and maintenance costs.

• Exaggerated staffing requirements.

  The proposed RDC units to not have automatic doors, therefore additional train crew are required to manually open and close doors at each station.

  The cost in additional salaries for door operators amounts to almost the cost of the annual repayments for new equipment.

For commuter rail to be successful in the Halifax Regional Municipality, the HRM must:

• make the downtown less attractive to the automobile.
• ensure that new subdivisions are located within easy access of commuter rail stations.
• build stations with platforms that match the door levels of the rolling stock.
• extend trackage to the city core with the eventual goal of reaching the dockyard and then across to Dartmouth.
• initiate a study of a possible commuter rail line between Cole Harbour, Dartmouth, and Burnside.

Based on the review of the 1996 Commuter Rail Feasibility Study, WLRI suggests that the HRM council reconsider its decision to reject commuter rail for Halifax. Commuter rail can make a significant contribution to reducing carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions, important to the health of the the planet and the local population.

Copies of the Whale Lake Research Institute review of the 1996 Commuter Rail Feasibility Study are available from:

http://www.dal.ca/~lhughes2.

Dr. Hughes can be reached at 494 - 3950.

Whale Lake Research Institute is a privately funded environmental research organization based in Halifax, examining environmental issues pertaining to Nova Scotia and Canada.

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