Letters, Dec. 29

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 29/12/2023 (988 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Keep transit app handy

Re: Getting back on board (Dec. 27)

Thanks to Eva Wasney for her insights on the importance of shared spaces, on using the bus beyond commuting and on transit apps. A dedicated bike commuter, I rarely ride Winnipeg Transit but this summer when bike routes in the B.C. lower mainland proved to be poorly interconnected we looked at alternatives.

When our borrowed vintage car died, CAA took care of the car and a transit app took care of us. The app identified a local bus option that was surprisingly cheap, convenient and fast.

Even if the bus isn’t your No. 1 choice, a transit app should be part of your transportation repertoire.

Daniel Prowse

Winnipeg

Make time to chat

I enjoyed the article about riding Winnipeg Transit.

Don’t forget that “the delicate social mores of the bus” used to include, not very long ago, striking up conversations with strangers, but smart phones, ear buds, and COVID all disrupted those mores.

In the last few years I’ve become more courageous initiating conversations with strangers at the bus stop, on the bus, waiting in lines, etc., and the results have felt so nice!

It’s as easy as asking a simple question like “How’s your day going?” or a comment on some clothing I like, and it’s always pretty obvious whether or not they want to talk based on their reaction.

Try it. You literally can help knit the fabric of society back together again.

Stuart Williams

Winnipeg

Re: Driving Mr. Mayor (Dec. 27)

Having recently returned from Europe where public transportation is modern, electric, efficient and safe I think there are some lessons our mayor and partners could learn from.

For example in Zurich, a city with a similar population as Winnipeg, hasn’t appropriated land to widen major streets. I watched in amazement as two lanes, on a major route, accommodated two tram lines, interspersed with car, bike and pedestrian traffic. How do they manage that? They have automated tram routes that run within a maximum of 10 minutes wait time before the next tram comes. Very busy routes run every 4 minutes. The tram arrives on time and the doors close automatically at the prescribed leaving time. This keeps trams reliably running on time, Riders adjust their behaviours accordingly.

Reliable schedules also reduce the need for elaborate bus shelters. A covered space with benches suffices. The fare is “collected” with the tap of an electronic ticket or a credit card. The driver is totally encapsulated in a driving compartment with his/her attention totally devoted to the tram’s operation. A second transit employee sits mid tram in a booth announcing stops and keeping an eye on potential needs of passengers and disruptions that might occur and soliciting help when required.

I saw pairs of transit “checkers” board the tram and do a quick walk through to ensure all was well. I also saw a team of 12 transit employees wearing illuminated vests enter every entrance of the tram to check that riders had tickets. These were random checks and this team of inspectors worked all day everyday. The fine for not being able to produce a ticket was around $100.

Back to Winnipeg. I hope our mayor and those who support our city will redirect the funds earmarked to widen our streets to accommodate more traffic to embrace the future by instead, installing transit routes that quickly, efficiently and safely whisk citizens to their destinations.

Lori Tighe

Winnipeg

Be cautious about remote work

Re: Time to admit remote work’s perks (Think Tank, Dec. 28)

Columnist Shannon Sampert offers some valuable positives associated with the growing trend towards remote work. Notwithstanding these, there are cautionary notes that workers ought to consider.

First and foremost is the important question as to who decides about remote work and its terms and conditions? Employers are not likely to leave this to employees to opt into, or not, as the case may be. What is predictable is employers constructing rules that will apply to everyone. Where does this leave a single parent with a home environment that contains no quiet space for a home office?

There is also the issue of electronic monitoring. It is hard to believe that employers will not engage in electronic monitoring, and absent a union to negotiate work rules surrounding this, where will this leave employees? There are countless examples of homework in the needle trades where piece work rates consign women to a life of poverty. If one cannot imagine this happening to white collar clerical / technical workers, consider the plight of gig workers, viewed as independent contractors, without even baseline protections of employment standards legislation.

These cautionary notes do not mean that remote work cannot work. But proceeding with caution, especially with the vast majority of workers who do not enjoy trade union protections, is warranted, in order to ensure that the promised benefits of remote work do not become miserable conditions of isolation and increased electronic monitoring.

Paul Moist

Winnipeg

Look to own fuel use

Re: “Are fuel taxes justified?” (Letters, Dec. 27)

I read with dismay the letter by R. McCammon regarding climate change. It seems to argue that, because China produces more total greenhouse gases (GHGs) than Canada, we should be excused from combating climate warming. Because, you know, it might be inconvenient and cost us a bit.

Well, perhaps we should consider that we, as individual Canadians, are substantially worse offenders than individual Chinese citizens. In 2020, per capita, Canada produced almost twice the GHGs as China. That’s about 19 tonnes versus 10 tonnes per person.

Additionally, perhaps we shouldn’t decide about fighting climate change based simply on whether we’ve found statistics that conveniently justify a point of view. Instead, perhaps we should decide to fight climate change because it’s the most moral choice — the one that provides the best chance for leaving a habitable world for future generations.

Perhaps we should stop finding reasons to avoid acting and, instead, simply do something positive.

Calvin Brown

RM of St. Andrews

Kindness to animals

It is beyond discouraging that our city planners and decision makers care so little for the wildlife who have made the area surrounding Winnipeg their home.

As the city sprawls out of control, many animals including deer, fox, and coyote, are losing their natural habitat. Here is south Winnipeg the newly expanding (widening) of the Perimeter Highway was the scene of much destruction of a forest – like area this past spring and summer. Trees were cut, and shrubs and grasses were graded down for readying of the concrete.

Speeders now have more lanes to pass each other while deer wander around private yards in search of food and scurry to cross Pembina Highway at great risk to themselves and possibly to drivers of vehicles as well. It is unconscionable that we treat the wild animals around us in this way. This city has even decided to fine us for feeding squirrels! A single squirrel is responsible for planting hundreds of trees every year! But l digress, in the future building should be kept to infill projects. Let us get creative in Winnipeg.

We can show kindness to the wild life around us, demonstrating to our children that we value nature and wild animals, after all, they were here first.

Leslie Fingler

Winnipeg