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I read the attached message about a climate change workshop in Truro. It sounds interesting and I may go, but I have the following comment: ***************************************************** I find it ironic that the directions to reach the Climate Change workshop were written on the assumption that people would only be arriving in automobiles. For those travelling from Halifax to Truro, there is frequent bus service on Acadian Lines. According to their online schedule at www.smtbus.com, there are 6 buses per day from Halifax to Truro. The most relevant for this meeting are as follows: Departing Halifax: 7:00 AM every day Arriving Truro: 8:15 AM In the afternoon, returning buses are: Departing Truro: 4:00 pm and 6:30 pm Arriving Halifax: 5:20 pm and 8:00 pm You could finish the workshop, have a bite to eat, and rest on the bus home at 6:30 pm. The adult one-way fare is $15.23 (Round trip twice that amount). The Truro bus station is on Willow Street. The Best Western Glengarry in Truro (site of the workshop) at 150 Willow Street is about a ten minute walk north (towards town centre) on Willow Street from the bus station. Taxi service is also available in Truro. The Halifax bus station is inside the VIA rail station in the South End (Hollis Street, beside the Westin). The bus to Truro also picks up passengers in Dartmouth (Highfield Park transit station) on its way to Truro, so there is another place you can catch it. It would be rather convenient for me (and possibly others in Halifax) to take the bus to this workshop, but this was not mentioned in the information message I received about the workshop. Is there any interest in "bus-pooling" (taking the bus together) among those people going to the workshop from Halifax? If so, contact me: Wayne Groszko phone: 902 429 0787 email: rain@chebucto.ns.ca ************************************************ P.S.: How does this relate to climate change? As a mode of transportation, inter-city passenger buses have among the lowest average greenhouse gas emissions per passenger kilometre. By using the bus, you support a system that reduces greenhouse gas emissions. Also, the bus system has to maintain a certain schedule, so that bus is going to travel anyway whether you use it or not. If you use a previously empty seat on a bus, the average per-passenger-kilometre emissions of the bus system go down. It's like participating in a big car-pool. Which brings me to my next point: Bus-Pooling over Car-pooling Bus-pooling means getting together as a group to take the bus. Car-pooling is great, but by car-pooling you are still adding a vehicle to the road and to the emissions. By bus-pooling on buses that are already scheduled to travel, you create almost no additional emissions (because that bus was going to go anyway). The only situation in which you would actually increase emissions by bus-pooling is if the bus was already full and the additional people caused the bus company to run an extra bus. In my experience of bus travel in Atlantic Canada, this would happen sometimes but not very often. Cost of Bus-Pooling One of the barriers to bus pooling is that if everyone in the bus pool buys an individual bus ticket, the total (apparent) cost may be more than if those same people borrowed or rented someone's car and drove together. To reduce the cost of bus-pooling, it may be worthwhile to approach Acadian Lines and ask them for a discount group rate or even to sponsor free travel to the workshop. This contribution could be acknowledged and become a public relations benefit that the bus company may find valuable enough to offset the discount. Opportunity A Climate Change workshop is an opportunity to demonstrate innovative ways of working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It's quite handy that the workshop location is so well-served by bus transportation, making a demonstration of bus-pooling feasible, at least between Halifax and Truro. I have not yet investigated other routes (Yarmouth, Cape Breton, Pictou, Antigonish), but if people are interested in those too, I can do the research. happy days, Wayne Groszko rain@chebucto.ns.ca home phone: 902 429 0787 office phone: 902 490 6993 Begin forwarded message: > From: "Steve Harder" <tehlsee@ns.sympatico.ca> > Date: Mon Nov 25, 2002 11:28:02 AM America/Halifax [. . .] > Directions: Take Highway 102 to Exit 13 in Truro. If you're coming from > Halifax or other communities south of Truro, turn right at the exit and > keep > driving until you come to a "T" in the road and a set of lights > (there's a > gas station on one side and a Tim Horton's on the other). Turn left and > keep > driving until you see another set of lights. The Best Western > Glengarry, 150 > Willow Street, will be on your left. If you're arriving from Cape > Breton or > other communities north of Truro, still take Exit 13 off Highway 102, > but > turn left. The rest of the directions are the same. [. . .] -*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- SUST-MAR is provided FREE by the Chebucto Community Net and YOU! For more info, please send "info sust-mar" to majordomo@chebucto.ca CBC enviro news-briefs follow: -*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- NO CAT TRAPS FOR HALIFAX A proposed bylaw that would allow people to trap nuisance cats in the Halifax area was narrowly defeated Tuesday, by a vote of 12 to 11. FULL STORY http://novascotia.cbc.ca/template/servlet/View?filename=ns_catde20021127 DEBATE ON SMOKING BYLAW SNUFFED OUT Plans to strengthen Halifax's no-smoking rules have been shelved, after Halifax Regional Council decided Tuesday there would be no public hearings on the matter. FULL STORY http://novascotia.cbc.ca/template/servlet/View?filename=ns_smokde2002112 7 N.S. JOINS KYOTO MEETING BOYCOTT Nova Scotia is skipping the next round of meetings on the federal government's plans to endorse the Kyoto climate change accord. FULL STORY http://novascotia.cbc.ca/template/servlet/View?filename=ns_kybal20021126 SLOW MIGRATION TO CITY OK: ECONOMIST A slow move to the city from rural communities may not be such a bad thing, according to a research economist with Statistics Canada. New numbers show young people are continuing to leave small towns in Nova Scotia. FULL STORY http://novascotia.cbc.ca/template/servlet/View?filename=ns_apec20021126 SERIOUS FINE SUITS SERIOUS CRIME: WWF Environmental activists are cheering Monday's court decision ordering a shipping company to pay a record fine for a 91-litre oil spill. FULL STORY http://novascotia.cbc.ca/template/servlet/View?filename=ns_wwfoil20021126 N.S. COURT GIVES RECORD FINE FOR OIL SPILL A shipping company has been fined $125,000 for dumping about 92 litres of oil off the coast of Nova Scotia last March. FULL STORY http://novascotia.cbc.ca/template/servlet/View?filename=ns_cslfine20021125 Copyright CBC
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