{"id":155018,"date":"2024-05-19T14:05:56","date_gmt":"2024-05-19T18:05:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/rwddev\/?p=155018"},"modified":"2024-05-19T14:39:57","modified_gmt":"2024-05-19T18:39:57","slug":"transportation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/transportation\/","title":{"rendered":"Listen Up! Optimizing Huntsville\u2019s future transportation needs: A guest post by Hugh Holland | Commentary"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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This is a Listen Up! guest post by Hugh Holland. Hugh Mackenzie is taking a break from Listen Up! this week<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Hugh Holland<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The emerging era of low-emission transportation will bring many changes. Virtually all manufacturers around the world are moving rapidly toward building electric cars, electric trucks, and electric mobile equipment for construction and farming over the next 30 years. (Remember, it took 30 years to get us out of the horse and buggy) More and better public transit is an important part of the future mix.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The early bird gets the worm, so our Federal and Ontario governments have both invested heavily to get in on the ground floor for the development of supply chains all the way from new critical minerals from the Northern Ontario Ring of Fire to new final assembly plants for zero-emission vehicles. Part of that mix is the recently announced reinstatement of the Northlander passenger rail service. According to the Ontario Northland website, the government has already committed $139 million for three new state-of-the-art trainsets. The 60-year business case states that a subsidy of $12 million per year will be required, which is in line with most public transit projects in North America. However, the high cost of the status quo, such as time-wasting traffic density and unhealthy air and noise pollution in urban areas, is not included as an offset to the estimated subsidy.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To understand how all of this affects Huntsville, it is helpful to look back a few decades. Before Highway 11 had four lanes, it went right through downtowns like Huntsville. Passenger rail was popular. In the 1950s, people could go to Toronto in the morning, go to a concert or an appointment, and return with dinner on the train in the evening. Vacationers came by train in droves to resorts in Muskoka. But in the 1970s, a safer and faster four-lane Highway 11 bypassed downtowns. People found car transportation to be more convenient, and train use decreased dramatically. My last trip to Toronto by train was about fifteen years ago. It was very pleasant and convenient to go directly to Union Station and then anywhere in Toronto by TTC, but there were only four people on that train. Everybody said they wanted the train, but nobody used it. So, train service was cancelled in 2012, and Ontario Northland stepped up with an improved bus service. However, as the population continues to grow, highways are becoming more problematic again, and that is likely to increase with the inevitable development of Northern Ontario.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What can we do now to ensure the next few years don\u2019t end with an underused bus service and an underused new passenger rail service? The Huntsville bus terminal has been shifted several times and is currently completely unacceptable for many reasons. The old train station is not readily accessible by bus and has been sold and apparently is to become another restaurant.    <\/p>\n\n\n

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Huntsville is at the important intersection of Highway 11 to Toronto and to the north and Highway 60 to Algonquin Park, and Ottawa to the east.\u00a0 Huntsville needs a convenient and attractive station where both bus and rail passengers can interconnect. Popular fall colour tours used to do that.\u00a0 Brian Tapley described a good idea in a recent Doppler article. The area marked with an X on the above map could be an ideal location for a combined bus and rail interconnect. It could provide good access for the bus and for cars and taxis dropping off and picking up passengers. It is close to hotels and restaurants. Ideally, this kind of planning is done 15 years ahead, but with some minor easements and\/or land swaps, it could still be done.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new passenger rail service is coming, and Huntsville needs to be ready. <\/p>\n\n\n

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Hugh Holland is a retired engineering and manufacturing executive now living in Huntsville, Ontario.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/broadstreet-zone>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is a Listen Up! guest post by Hugh Holland. Hugh Mackenzie is taking a break from Listen Up! this week. By Hugh Holland The emerging era of low-emission transportation […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1904,"featured_media":154749,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-155018","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commentary"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nListen Up! 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