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Episode 7 - Church Street, the big soccer (football) game, and travelling on VIA Rail (w/ The Greater Discussions)
230 Plays17 days ago
We're joined by Arden English, who is an undergraduate student studying planning at Simon Fraser University. He also produces educational videos on his YouTube channel “The Greater Discussions” covering topics around city planning and transportation within the context of British Columbia and has also been collaborating with the CBC Creator Network, bringing his YouTube style to a national audience.
Arden and Denis discuss their local insights into the closure of Granville Street for the duration of the 2026 World Cup so to allow a pedestrian zone, which includes Vancouver and Toronto as host cities. And on the subject of Toronto, Rodney discusses the closure of Church Street as a pilot project for its pedestrianisation.
Ever journeyed across the country on rail? Arden recently travelled on VIA Rail's The Canadian, travelling from Vancouver to Toronto. We discuss why he did this and what his impression was of this service that only runs twice weekly between two of Canada's largest cities.
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Church Street pedestrianisation:
https://www.experiencethevillage.ca
FIFA 2026 World Cup Granville Street closure:
https://vancouver.ca/news-calendar/granville-street-pedestrian-zone-june-2026.aspx
The Greater Discussions:
https://youtube.com/@TheGreaterDiscussions
Contact us!
mailbag@dwelltime.ca
https://dwelltime.ca
https://bsky.app/profile/dwelltime.ca
https://www.instagram.com/dwelltimepod/
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Transcript
Introduction and Overview
00:00:10
Speaker
Welcome to Dwell Time. is Canada's top number one, world's best transit advocacy podcast. I am joined here in the studio with Arden English.
00:00:23
Speaker
Hello everyone. Happy to be here. And we are joined through the internet by Rodney Chan. hi I love the internet as well.
00:00:34
Speaker
And introducing me, Dennis Agar. I'm the executive director of movement Metro Vancouver transit riders. And I forgot to introduce myself in the original table of this podcast.
00:00:48
Speaker
Yeah, great. um This is going to be a fun one. Arden is someone i know really well. Arden's been very inegrally integral in movement, our transit advocacy group here in Metro Vancouver.
Church Street Pedestrianization Project
00:01:01
Speaker
but has done so much on their own, which we're gonna get into in the interview portion of this podcast. But we start every podcast with a news portion.
00:01:25
Speaker
Hi, it's Christine Sinclair, the world's top international goal scorer. Exit here for bus connection to the FIFA Fan Festival Vancouver. The Church Street Pedestrianization Project in Pilot in Toronto was passed at a city council and it's coming up literally in a week on July nineteenth It's Friday at four p m We're Uh, there's going to be a little like press conference or whatever. And then we're going to start rolling out a picnic benches, uh, tables, and we're going to get the community involved in like assembling them. So if you'd like to volunteer, you can go to experience the village, uh, dot CA. we'll also have the link in the podcast description info.
00:02:15
Speaker
We're also asking for donations as well, because. We want to make it as beautiful as possible and cover all the security and permitting and all these other costs. So any amount helps.
00:02:27
Speaker
So yeah, it'll be really exciting. It'll be one week of the first week. And it's going to be a little strange because we'll have one week of the pedestrianization. And I'm a little worried because we're not going to completely roll out all the decoration and street furniture yet because Pride happens a week after and we have to kind of clear the street for um, all the vendor booths and like a lot have like the street space. Cause it's so much more crowded.
00:02:54
Speaker
And then after pride, then we kind of add fully the full patio build outs and all the planters and and everything else. So if the media is there, like the first week being like, Oh, it looks kind of dingy. It's like, okay, wait, wait, wait after pride, but no, it's, it's still exciting. I, I know a lot of people, we already have a lot of people volunteering. We had a volunteer orientation last week and we had like over 30 people come. We have an ambassador team where there will be a table. You kind of welcome people in and tell them what's going on and give directions. We have a street cleaning team just picking up litter, watering the plants, keeping the place looking nice and welcoming. We also have a public safety team, first aid, community aid, calling on community services if we need help with certain people or incidents and also logistics team. So helping out with the furniture and the other, i don't know, logistics of running the whole thing. So yeah, it'll be two months. This a really big deal. Like I just think it's, if this was Montreal, it would be like, oh, another street's closed for the summer. Like who cares? But in Toronto, it's really hard to close a street and well, to open it for pedestrian life, isn't it? Yeah, it's been really tough.
00:04:12
Speaker
I think what's also exciting is Councillor Josh Matlow and Councillor Chris Moyes are bringing another motion to council to create an even more formalized citywide kind of program to identify uh, more viable pedestrian streets and kind of, wow kind of process and framework to
Traffic and Transit Impacts
00:04:31
Speaker
go about that. So I'm really excited to see how, I mean, all eyes are on the project to see how successful it is and will probably perform the future projects i already saw today.
00:04:41
Speaker
Yesterday, some of the traffic counters with like the cameras, the like Spectrum company along Church in Jarvis, where they're probably counting like vehicles and pedestrians and cyclists and seeing how the existing volumes and then how much is diverted onto other streets. so And so the theory, like i think kind of old-fashioned transportation theory, is that if you close one street, you're going to make traffic worse on parallel streets like Yonge.
00:05:08
Speaker
and Jarvis, but like we saw, I think in more recent examples, like that, that doesn't necessarily happen. Like in, in Vancouver, when Water Street was closed for a bit, um, we didn't see a lot of diversion. So I don't know. It's going to be really interesting to have that data point, but I'm really not that worried that it's going to be that for you. I definitely think there there will be some diversion.
00:05:31
Speaker
cause it's just like literally two blocks. So people will still like drive, divert and come back on. But yeah, we see in a lot of other cases that traffic quote unquote just evaporates where people change their behavior, change their mode. Like on King Street, um there was no significant delay on parallel streets because um i don't know, just King Street, the streetcar became a lot more fast and reliable. So yeah people started using it as well.
00:05:58
Speaker
And speaking of pedestrianization, I know you guys in Granville just did that. But then also my friend was telling me that it's transit street, but now transit has to divert around and it's kind of controversial.
00:06:12
Speaker
I can definitely touch on that. Yeah. So our office is just off of Granville street at Seymour street, which is one of the streets where all these buses have been diverted to.
00:06:24
Speaker
And what's interesting about this is Granville street was built as this pedestrian mall, uh, sorry, sorry, this transit mall, um, for all the buses to all just get funneled down this one same street. uh, all the trolleys, um, channelized along Granville streets, you know, it hits Vancouver city center station and it hits Granville station. And then it ends right at waterfront basically.
00:06:46
Speaker
Um, and one of the big critiques of Granville street is that it doesn't really work as intended. Um, there's still Ubers and taxis that are allowed to use Granville street. They get in the bus's way. there isn't the same kind of turn restrictions and throughput restrictions that King street has and in Toronto. Um, which personally I would have loved. mean, even then King street is always filled with, um, taxis and Ubers and even just people not respecting the restrictions. And there's been a lot of discussion about the, how the lights look and the, the, someone posted like the, like 50 signs on one of the King street signs. It's like, no, one's gonna read this. And just like, we just need like dedicated transit lights with the white bars and stuff. And then like traffic lights to say, you have to turn right and left, but.
00:07:35
Speaker
um Yeah, the MTO and City of Toronto are not really interested in like adopting like the, I don't know, more standardized like white light transit things. But yeah, Granville.
00:07:46
Speaker
um Yeah, there's definitely, there's like there's levels to it. And Granville, I would always consider to be kind of towards the lower end of those those levels. But what's happened right now throughout throughout the World Cup is that Granville has been pedestrianized basically right off of the bridge, I believe. Yeah. Long stretch.
00:08:06
Speaker
Yeah. From right off Granville bridge, all the way to waterfront station, they've got mini plazas put up throughout the the space, expanded patio spaces. And all of this with the idea that they are diverting the buses to Seymour and Howe, uh, for anyone not familiar with the way that the street network works in downtown Vancouver, when you come off the Granville street bridge,
00:08:27
Speaker
which is one of the main thoroughfares into the downtown peninsula, traffic gets diverted into two one-way streets. Seymour goes north, Howe goes south back towards the Granville Street Bridge.
00:08:38
Speaker
For the most part, they are three to four lanes wide. And what they've done is they've taken the rightmost lane and turned it into a bus lane. big win. And at least from what I've seen so far, it's working pretty well. Would you would you agree?
00:08:53
Speaker
I mean, yeah, it's it's working well from the perspective of bus speed and reliability. Like the the context here is that there are are about 1600 buses a day that go along Granville that are now diverted onto Seymour and How. So this bus lane is is really, we're asking a lot of it. I've noticed also on how they have some hard diverters. Like they actually have like plastic barriers get cars like out of the bus lane by force kind of, which is, uh, nice to see they're, they're going above and beyond.
00:09:23
Speaker
I would say the downside is that some of these stops that are relied on for thousands of people to get off the bus and transfer to SkyTrain, uh, they're in the wrong place. So they make walks longer and the sidewalks are so narrow and dark and kind of gloomy. And, um, you know, we, one of our, our, uh, people are one of our colleagues. took a picture of someone boarding that at that stop using the wheelchair ramp and it blocks the entire sidewalk. So we, there's some, there's some real shortcomings to this arrangement of like our premier transit street in, in, in the city, just in terms of ridership and and volume. Um, so do both of the streets have a bus lane on the right most? Yeah. Okay. That's nice. Exactly. That's that's I'm i'm really glad to hear that. It's seems like it's kind of working and I've seen pictures online of the pedestrian street looking very vibrant and a lot of people walking up and down it. Um, so what's your plan? Sure. So after FIFA, they're gonna re transitify it or reevaluate like what they want to do.
00:10:27
Speaker
So I know long-term Vancouver would like to pedestrianize Granville street exactly like they have right now. Personally, i would love to see them just stick with what they've done for now, with, of course, the caveat that they need to improve the pedestrian facilities along Seymour and allow and along Howe, because it's just not enough for for the amount of people that are taking the buses up and down those streets.
00:10:52
Speaker
um It was very clearly not designed as such. you know the The width of the sidewalks on the Transit Mall of Granville is like two times the the width, and at least two times the width. of, uh, along Seymour and how, so that would have to be fixed for this to become a permanent solution.
00:11:09
Speaker
But even then the timeline that city of Vancouver has for their whole Granville street pedestrianization, it's like 10, 11 years when they literally just did it in like a week. So
Public Spaces and Transit Balancing
00:11:21
Speaker
I don't exactly buy into that idea of them needing that long to, to take this, what what is currently working pretty well. and like make it permanent through like built form, I think they can make it semi-permanent today if they if they really wanted to.
00:11:37
Speaker
They can. And I also just have kind of an issue like from a principal stance that, like okay, we need more public spaces in the city. We need to close streets. We need to take space away from cars.
00:11:51
Speaker
But the one street that they've decided to target is the one that we rely the most on for public transit. It's like picking on the most vulnerable. It feels like we're going to close Water Street, um which is in kind of our historic Gastown area and make it pedestrian only.
00:12:09
Speaker
And like what like there was a bit of uproar from like the old spaghetti factory, like, no, we can't close the street for cars. We, you know, whatever. um And it was game over. Like it it it ended up not being fully pedestrianized. it was, you know, closed on certain weekends or something like that. So it it just feels like there's a bit of a yeah a double standard. It's always easiest to close something that affects transit riders. I hate it when, yeah, you're like pitting transit riders against pedestrians. I kind of like bus stop islands and other things where you're like pitting cyclists and bus users against each other. And yeah, sometimes there are conflicts that you have to manage.
00:12:47
Speaker
But yeah, it's not. ideal ah I guess one last question I want to move on, but is it possible to have it be transit and pedestrian only? Because I think going to Europe, I've seen a lot of really nice like transit only, pedestrian only places, which are all still really beautiful. Transit is reliable. The pedestrian realm is still really nice. But I know in Canada would be very risk averse of the mixing of different modes and in the quote unquote dangers of them.
00:13:16
Speaker
You know, I would argue before the pedestrianization for FIFA, that that is almost how Granville Street used to work for the most part, because from what I understand, it's one of the few streets where you're legally allowed to jaywalk mid block points. when i think I think the law in Vancouver is that you can kind of cross mid block anywhere, but because of the width of it and the fact that the curbs were really low, yeah and the fact that the volumes were really low, it really felt like that was okay Yeah, so for the most part, what you're talking about is very doable because it's basically what exists there today. But with the with the caveat there that you would need to, A, extend it all the way to the foot of the bridge because it ends at Smite.
00:14:01
Speaker
ah Yeah, exactly. There's a bunch of blocks that cars can just drive on. Yeah. But more importantly, you need to make sure that you're cutting off Ubers and taxis completely. Because whereas you can rely on spacing of a a bus's schedule for the most part to kind of limit that vehicle throughput, when you can just have a taxi or an Uber pull up, pull over, what have you along the Granville Strip, it limits that pedestrianizability ah substantially in my opinion. Yeah.
00:14:27
Speaker
And I think there's there's great examples, like you were saying, like Bonhoeffstrasse in Zurich, and um there's a street in Oxford, England, and there's a street in in Sydney, George Street, where you know transit and and pedestrians mingle pretty well. like it It would be nice if there's more to do to make it a better transit street as well, like you know taking out some stops to have it a bit more like subway style stop spacing and and signal priority and stuff like You know, if we really cared about making downtown streets in Vancouver really great for buses, like there's a lot. If he wanted to, he would. Text me back. That sounds like meme. Dennis, would you, no, that's just my love life. um What, Dennis, what what news item would you like to share?
00:15:14
Speaker
I feel like we're getting extra and because you you got us to talk about our Vancouver stuff, but no. Okay. I'll make this one really short. We also had a council victory, which I'm really excited about. We have been pushing for a low income fair discount in Metro Vancouver for transit.
00:15:30
Speaker
We are one of the only cities in North America amongst like the high ridership transit agencies. We are one of the only ones that doesn't have a discount for people with low incomes. It's still kind of boggles my mind that we don't. Montreal is one of the only other major cities that doesn't. And our our friends, Trajectoire Québec, are pushing for, they call them social fairs there, where you get a discount if you can show that that you have you can't afford a full fair.
00:15:54
Speaker
And lo and behold, a city councilor, Sean Orr, in Vancouver, passed a motion endorsing the idea. Well, I should say he brought it to for discussion and it passed unanimously. So all ah parties, left, right, wherever, agreed that we need this. And I mean, to be fair, it's easy for them to pass that because they don't actually have to pay for it. The, the, the call was really to the province to get them to pay for it. But it, it really got us a ton of media. So this is maybe ah a message to all the other advocates on the line is like, don't underestimate the benefit of a symbolic win, because you can end up with a bunch of media, even though like
00:16:35
Speaker
like you know, we have not secured the bag, so to speak, we've still gotten a lot of exposure.
Low-Income Transit Fare Initiatives
00:16:42
Speaker
How much power does Vancouver city council have in like a motion like that have over trans link? I'm i'm assuming the low income pass would be three trans link and the mayor's council. yeah we actually It would end up being the province. The province really has to fund it. I mean, this is one of those things as one of several things like this in Metro Vancouver, where Anyone can show up with money.
00:17:05
Speaker
Like, you know, Chip Wilson could show up with the money to pay for a low income pass. All time podcast listeners can show up and fund the low income pass. Yes. If you have $70 million dollars a year to give in perpetuity and probably more each year, um please email us and we would take that money. But no, seriously, the the right level of government we think is the province because they already fund. Free transit for kids under 12. They already fund the U-pass for post-secondary students. They already fund discounts for seniors and that kind of thing. So it just makes sense that they would also cover this too.
00:17:41
Speaker
But yeah, we got the city of Vancouver to cover this, which is, you know, the largest city in our region. But we are calling out other municipalities like, hey, you can pass this motion too. And we can just keep building that momentum. We are having a rally on July 1st. Building that movement.
00:17:59
Speaker
Building that movement. Yeah, towards Lit Pass. It's lit. We can say all sorts of cringe things. We have a rally on July 1st, 12 p.m. noon on Canada Day at Metrotown. It's going to be a lot of fun. It's going to be a hot day, i hope.
00:18:15
Speaker
And we're going to have a lot of speakers. And that is the day that TransLink raises fares by 5%. So it's really going to be salient in that moment. And ah yeah.
00:18:28
Speaker
I really love that it's on. Canada Day, real Canadian patriots support a low income pass. One last thing, fare increases. My home agency where I grew up, York Region Transit, ah just increased their fares as well by 3%. But this has been like, I think they're doing this for five years, 3% year over year.
00:18:49
Speaker
And now it's at $4.24. And that's the Presto fare. That's like the cheap one. So it's like almost a dollar more. Or not the cheapest, but like the regular Presto fare, which is like, wow the cash fare is like $4.75 or something at this point. it's like But that's like one zone, right? Like if you're going all the way to Newmarket, is it more? um The whole thing, York Region Transit used to be two zones, but now they just one zone-fied the entire thing. So like, yeah, it's worth it if you're going from like Finch all the way up to Newmarket, but The average trip, but if you're going from like one city to the next city over it's still like, if it's a 15 minute trip, it's still going to cost you 420. Yeah. So just like ours is still, even after the 5% increase, it's going to be like below $3 for a one zone fair. So it's like a huge difference. And a lot of York region trips, you have to transfer into TTC and pay and another. now um no There's actually because of one fair, this has been a thing for
00:19:47
Speaker
two years now, I want to say, which was funded by the province and Metrolinx. Now it's like before that, there was free transfers, but between the nine or five agencies, but not to Toronto, because that would be the most expensive. But now like the entire region, it's like free transfer two hours. So the TTC to YRT trip is like just the TTC fair and the YRT to TTC trip is just the YRT fair.
00:20:09
Speaker
So it's it's really nice actually right now, but if you're traveling within York region, already with ah in the less frequent bus service areas, as a lot of people feel kind of like ripped off and they're like, why am I paying $4.24 to wait for a bus that comes every half an hour? But to be fair, i know when I worked there, they're very big about the like pay, ah like ability to pay kind of thing. So they do have a low income pass or a discounted pass, which is like half.
00:20:40
Speaker
ah So then that would be like $2.07, which is decently affordable. And they're pretty liberal with it. Like I know the city of Toronto has a low income pass, but it's like very limited amount of spots. So a lot of people really get it. But um yeah, actually i have I've actually gotten it and it's not, they like got kind of rid of the, I got it like as a, there's no like student or,
00:21:03
Speaker
one But like if most students would probably, um what is it called? Like qualify for it. Qualify? Yeah, I did qualify for it when I lived there. So, yeah, I guess it's always balancing about like rising costs on the agency and public funding, but then also not leaving low income people and other people behind.
00:21:22
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, exactly. And I mean, I see the the way I see it. Like we will fight for this pass. And then the moment it's implemented, we're going to keep pushing to expand the eligibility, right? Like that's kind of what Riders Alliance does in New York. They're pushing for greater eligibility and like, yeah, like there's so many different models in Los Angeles. If you make less than 55 K you qualify to get your first 20 transit trips free every month.
00:21:47
Speaker
That's how they do it. And in Calgary, they have different levels based on different incomes and the lowest level is $6 month. so Yeah, there's like kind of a million ways to do it. And if Calgary's doing it, like,
Interview with Arden English
00:21:59
Speaker
come on.
00:21:59
Speaker
Yeah, if Calgary's doing it and you're not, what are you doing?
00:22:04
Speaker
Next station, Union. Union Station. Transfer for Up Express. Go Transit. Ontario Northland. DL Rail. And intercity buses. Doors are open on the left.
00:22:20
Speaker
Yes, this is the interview portion. New segment. Segment change now. Okay. So, hi, Arden. Hello. um It is so great to have you here on this podcast in this capacity because you and I talk kind of every day, but this is a fun little twist. um You, okay. So the things the listeners have to know, well, many things, but for starters, Arden is relatively young, but relatively experienced when it comes to like communicating transportation and planning issues.
00:22:54
Speaker
How on earth did you get started down this path? Ooh, that's a, that's a loaded question. um so I first started getting into the whole urbanism sphere sphere back in my senior year of high school, which would have been 2022, 2023. am That's insane. represent. But um it was ah technically, you could say it started before that, because I've been watching like local creators like Downey Live and about here back since like 2019, 2020.
00:23:29
Speaker
twenty nineteen twenty twenty If anyone remembers this here Vancouver, that's arguably what what started it all for me, kind of getting into the the transit sphere again. And in into my senior year of high school, it kind of dawned on me that like Urban planning is a career that I could go into. I was i was expecting, you know everyone I talked to was like, oh, you know civil engineering kind of sounds like the thing that you'd be into.
00:23:55
Speaker
And so I was doing all these you know ah science courses and and all of my maths and stuff like that, getting real smart and stuff. um And then it dawned on me, wait, urban planning is a thing and it's not engineering.
00:24:06
Speaker
And so I can do basically all the fun stuff without a lot of the really tedious and annoying calculations to make sure it's it's all you know physically feasible and such. So when i went to apply for post-secondary institutions, I realized that SFU had a dedicated undergrad accredited urban planning program called the Resource and Environmental Management Planning Program.
00:24:30
Speaker
And so that's where I applied. That's what I got into. And so now I'm i'm right now in my undergrad at SFU, just wrapping up my third year now going into my fourth and hopefully final year where after that I will be able to to get my official planning certification and and such without actually going through, you know, like a master's. Yeah. Undergrads in planning represent.
00:24:51
Speaker
Yeah. So that's kind of cool. And then now the other side that you kind of mentioned is, you know the communication side. And so, uh, for those who are not familiar, i run a YouTube channel called the greater discussions. I make urban planning videos about, Metro Vancouver, uh, and transportation, uh, around Metro Vancouver and and the province of BC.
00:25:12
Speaker
And, uh, that was started right as I was finishing up high school. So it kind of marked the transition for me going from, from high school to, to university. And so we hired you because of that. Well, I mean, I guess we knew you, you were active in our discord and you've been active with movement, but like, like we knew that you could make a coherent and like a really excellent explainer video on YouTube. And we wanted that for movement. So we've had you on for like co-op terms, but you started doing this right out of high school. And it really feels like you've really honed your craft. Like you're like, what video would you say you're most proud of?
00:25:54
Speaker
it's It's always the one I've done most recently. okay. Basically. You're just always getting i feel like I'm improving a little bit with every upload. And that's kind of just because my equipment got better over time.
00:26:07
Speaker
Like my first upload, I kind of hate because it was just a school project that I decided to throw on onto YouTube. But the latest video on my main channel is about the province of BC's efforts to you know supercharge housing development in BC. They're transit-oriented development bills and there's small-scale multi-unit housing bills that came about a couple of years ago. And so that has been my big latest video, but that was like eight months ago. I'm working on other stuff. i just you know I've been doing all these videos for movement as well in the meantime. so
00:26:43
Speaker
But no, there is there is some some newer videos coming out as well. But technically technically, the latest video I've made for YouTube was actually for CBC. I'm very fortunate to get a contract with CBC to make a short explainer video about right turn on red ah policy, specifically from the context of Metro Vancouver. Yeah, we actually in Waterloo region, there's actually just been, there's going to be emotion about that soon in piloting in the downtown areas. And at least from what I've seen on social media, there's a lot of people are not happy about it, um to no one's surprise. So I'm very happy that TriTag is there to kind of offer a voice at council and online to be like, there's someone we support this. There already have been fatalities this year, like one death is too many deaths on our streets and
00:27:34
Speaker
Yeah, but I should actually surprisingly haven't watched it. Maybe I should watch it and and and share it around Waterloo. i was just about to say, it sounds like, well, you and the the rest of Waterloo region have to take a look at that video. It's it's ah it's really short. It's like five minutes long um on CBC British Columbia.
00:27:52
Speaker
But no, it was really cool. Arden is a consummate salesman. um I think ah most of the people that are listening to this podcast are probably familiar with Urbanist YouTube.
00:28:04
Speaker
I feel like that Venn diagram is ah is a circle, but I just have to like highlight the fact that like there are so many people in this community of people who care about cities came to it through YouTube in one way or another, whether it was the algorithm or whether someone recommended to them a video and they just ended up down this rabbit hole of,
00:28:24
Speaker
watching videos, kind of breaking down the day-to-day infrastructure and stuff that we take for granted and breaking down why, like, it was created by someone. They made decisions. We might not agree with those decisions. And, like, we can get involved to change those. um Yeah, Urbanist YouTube has has been, like, an informal education for so many people. But Arden, you know, attending an urban planning course in, you know, the year 2026,
00:28:51
Speaker
like You were telling us earlier today that actually like urbanist YouTube has now like filtered into the classroom, right? Yes. Yes, that is right. And it's been a couple of courses now that I've had assigned readings that are actually just YouTube videos that I've already seen, ah by creators like about here and, uh, not just bikes, as well. And, uh, like city beautiful, all like really high effort, high quality videos that are really well researched and.
00:29:18
Speaker
Um, ah it's, it's really cool to see that, like it's being recognized from an institutional standpoint as well. And, uh, who knows, maybe one day I'll, I'll get a video on somebody's required reading list. I have no doubt that you are already out there somewhere like university of South Florida or something. No. Yeah. We've heard about, a post posting the policy pipeline, but now I guess we have posting to education, um, pipeline. No. Yeah. The, my, um, spacing.
00:29:48
Speaker
uh, on online blog article about church street needs to be pedestrianized, uh, before it got, uh, passed a council. Um, uh, sent me like on Instagram DMs like, Hey, like my reading for class is literally the article you wrote. And I was like, Oh, that's great. Um, it was like one of the past profs I had who has been, um, following some of my work in like on LinkedIn, like, liked it and everything. So, um, yeah, I'm really happy to see people getting recognition and such.
00:30:16
Speaker
Speaking of of of YouTube, Arden, are there any people that inspired you or you that you kind of looked up to or draw inspiration for your videos and your own personal advocacy?
00:30:28
Speaker
woof Well, I've mentioned him a couple of times so far, but About Here has always been and one of my greatest inspirations, Utah League. I'm fortunate to say he's a good friend of mine now um and a really big supporter of a lot of the stuff that I've been doing, which is just a really cool feeling to have like a really respected creator in the in this and the space kind of have in my back.
00:30:52
Speaker
But like really, my launching point for my channel came from me attending the About Here 100,000 subscriber celebration event in like like Southwest Falls Creek.
00:31:06
Speaker
because it was held in a park that I had just filmed my school project video in, the one that I kind of hate now. But I was i went up to Ute, was like, hi, nice to meet you.
00:31:18
Speaker
It's so funny that we're doing this in this park because I just filmed a project here and I showed him the clip and he was like, yo, that looks kind of cool. You should send that to me on Instagram. And so I did. and That's when he was like, you know, you should, you should put that on YouTube and just, just for fun, just throw it up there. I was like, you know, I've been mulling about that in my mind. And so that evening i went home, came up with some random YouTube channel name, like the greater discussions or something like that. Uh, actually the original name I came up with was the greater conversations. And that sounds so weird to say now that I'm used to saying the greater discussions, but no, yeah, that's, that's literally how the channel came to be was, was because, uh, you take basically was like, Hey,
00:32:00
Speaker
Throw that, throw that up there. And, and lo and behold, I did. I love that. And, uh, oh, sorry. What? No, no, you finish, finish what you were gonna say. Oh yeah. No, um, just, I threw it up there and I was fortunate enough that my third main upload was the one that kind of took off. And it was a video about the Burnaby mountain gondola project and lack of progress. There is still a lack of progress, but I won't get into that. Yeah. Thank you.
00:32:23
Speaker
but yeah. And, and from there I've, I've just kind of kept, kept going on every few months trying to release something. One of a key takeaway from that anecdote is in-person meetings and events are so much more valuable than they seem. Like incredible things happen when people just connect and like people are really starved for like those kinds of social interactions, I think. Cause at that very event is when I basically met Michelle. like that's That's where I met Abby as well. Oh my gosh. And Bowie and yeah, no, so many people that are now close friends of mine. was just at this random YouTuber, 100,000 subscriber celebration event. yeah
00:33:01
Speaker
So cool. Really nice I was going to say that, yeah, it's great to see when stars align like that, but that sounds like very, like, not cosmopolitan, astronomical. Anyways, but no, it was like intentional, like creating these spaces to meet up is is is it's something we have to, it doesn't just happen organically. You have to organize it and and plan for it.
00:33:23
Speaker
Yeah, I think at Tritag, we've also been meaning to have more in-person events. It doesn't even have to be like a social. it can just like get together. We can like get some work done together. Yeah. and And I think another lesson from that anecdote is that, yeah, like I think trying to be more free and open to post whatever you have on the internet, like it can be a small project, a
Arden's Via Rail Experience
00:33:45
Speaker
big project. It doesn't have to be perfect.
00:33:47
Speaker
And I feel like that's, I've i've heard that story a lot of times of people saying like, oh, I just posted this one video. um And now I hate it It's like so badly edited and I hate this one thing about it. But like, yeah, of course it's not going to be, it's like your first video. And I know I'll keep it on because it's like, yeah, it's kind of their start and you can kind of see your improvement over time. And I think that's really inspiring for me because like, I've always wanted to make certain kinds of content, but I'm like, oh, like I need it to be perfect or else I'm not going to post it. And yeah, it's better to post something than nothing at all. So I feel like that's the motto of this podcast.
00:34:21
Speaker
Let it rip. Good good enough. Glowing review. You know, just to very briefly bookend this, The Greater Discussions is actually my third YouTube channel. Whoa. i I've been doing YouTube, like posting videos that I've made since I was 10 years old.
00:34:40
Speaker
So half of my life now, I've been making goofy videos for YouTube. It started off me making Nerf War sketches. Oh my God. Because I was a Nerf kid.
00:34:51
Speaker
the era of youtube not only the era of nerf but like kids posting like nerf yeah yeah so like oh god if anyone can find that that scares me there's some relics back there and probably my home address challenge whoever can find arden's nerf nerf video gets gets a shout out next episode i don't know Yeah. Yeah. That's all we have to give.
00:35:13
Speaker
Yeah. Like that was back in elementary school. In high school, I had a comedy pod, uh, not podcast, uh, uh, YouTube channel with my other friend. Like standup? Not standup. No, just, just comedy sketches. Oh my God.
00:35:25
Speaker
And it's, it's honestly that YouTube channel is what I've taken for a lot of the inspiration for what I've been doing with movement. Amazing. A lot of the these more joke oriented sketches. like the Hudson Williams one was basically my first time doing a proper like comedy centric sketch or since that YouTube channel.
00:35:42
Speaker
Uh, and now I'm trying to kind of mix more comedic elements into my, uh, greater discussions videos as well, because that it's, it's a part of my personality. Yeah, absolutely. Let it out. I mean, and you should definitely check out movements channel for some excellent art and content as well. Um, the, the stuff around Hudson Williams and the 49 bus route really funny. And, um,
00:36:02
Speaker
our latest low-income transit pass campaign that I was talking about, Arden did a really incredible and funny explainer video that really struck that balance between like comedy and information, i think in a perfect way. It was like two minutes long. Two minutes long. Yeah. Yeah. Perfect. And there's a 40 second update one going up.
00:36:19
Speaker
Like either it just went up, but yeah, like mentioning that motion that was just passed. Yeah. Yeah. That's great. wow Arden's had more careers has had three plus careers even before he's 20 but I think that goes to show i think we kind of talked about this with Reese about how we kind of need everybody with any kind of skills like comedy is important like video editing and people who show up in person and people who are handy like for my like pedestrianization project not to stereotype but I'm allowed to say this um we had a bunch of gays show up and we're like does anyone know how to use a hammer and it's like
00:36:56
Speaker
I don't know, like where are the, where are the Home Depot lesbians? We need the Home Depot lesbians. Yeah. Let's build the patios and the picnic benches. Um, yeah. So if you're a Home home Depot lesbian and and in Toronto, please, please come help us.
00:37:08
Speaker
Um, yeah. What other, um, questions or things? Okay. Well, I have a, I have a lob here for you to, to move us onto the next topic. The real reason for the timing of this whole thing, which is that, uh, Arden has had his second CBC contract, I believe. That's right.
00:37:26
Speaker
And it's an odyssey, an epic odyssey. Tell us about that. I shall, I shall. So I wanted to take the Canadian via rail, cross country, Vancouver to Toronto, which is the right way to do it.
00:37:41
Speaker
Don't do it the other way. rod Rodney's just threw his head back. My ears are open. Tell me why. Why is that the right way to do it? All right. but here i'll i'll get to that I'll get to that in a moment. one But to introduce this project,
00:37:56
Speaker
I have wanted to make a video covering Via Rail for a long time because the fact that we're running 70 year old trains on what is our flagship service blew me away.
00:38:11
Speaker
And like, it's also just a really unique experience as well. I remember watching the video that Downey Live did back. I think it was 2023 where he took the Canadian that same way. Vancouver to Toronto in April. And i thought that looks incredible. And so I wanted to do that. But whenever I'm going on a trip, there's always a voice in my mind that's like, I can make a video about this. i can if i'm If I'm spending this money to go ah this distance, let's let's make a video about it. So i I came up with this pitch basically talking about how, you know, VIA has this kind of crisis with these old trains and they've been ringing the emergency bell about it.
00:38:55
Speaker
in their annual reports for at least 20 years now. Those are just the ones that they've published on their website. I'm sure there's older ones that probably mentioned it too, because, oh, well, 50 year old trains, that's fine then it's not. So I went back to my CBC producer from my first my first video, The Right Turn of Death.
00:39:16
Speaker
And I pitched this idea because we were looking for another video for me to do because they really liked how how The Right Turn of Death came out. And I'm very fortunate that they bid on this one. And it became this whole ah idea where I'm going to now take the train myself from Vancouver to Toronto and film this explainer video on the train, like completely authentically. So I had all my equipment with me filming this video.
00:39:44
Speaker
YouTube video. Like it's not a vlog. I need to specify this is not a vlog. This, this is a video that happens to be taking place on a train talking about much more than just this specific train, but that's like, a I can't say a brief synopsis. That wasn't too brief, but that is a bit of an idea of of what I was doing back this, this past April here ah where, yeah, I got to take the train across the country talking about via rail and their, their crises of, needing to find a new long distance in regional and regional fleet.
00:40:18
Speaker
Was it what you expected? Did it live up to your expectations? The train trip? Yeah. 100%. Yeah. This is a trip that like everyone's got to try to find a way to at least do a bit of it. Okay. You don't need to do the whole thing.
00:40:32
Speaker
What if you only do one station to the next? Is that okay? Does that count? It really depends on where you're doing it. What if you do Jasper to Vancouver? Jasper to Vancouver and Abbotsford to Vancouver. ah Well, I think I know somebody who's done Abbotsford to Vancouver with a certain miles in transit last summer. that looked like a really fun time. Kilometers in transit. Tempted.
00:40:55
Speaker
ah But I did meet people who did do the, well, it was Vancouver to Jasper for them, but ah people who would get on at Winnipeg just to go to Toronto. And...
00:41:08
Speaker
and boring. Like I think there's Northern Ontario is cute, but i know I said Winnipeg to Toronto sounds like the land scenery would be boring, but I guess Northern Ontario is kind of pretty.
00:41:19
Speaker
It was really nice. It was arguably one of the nicest parts of, of the trip, but there isn't really a dull moment for the whole trip. A lot of people will think, you know, ah, the prairies are, eh, you know, but the train is ripping it through the prairies. I'm looking out the back window of this train and I'm like how is this high speed rail? We did it guys.
00:41:42
Speaker
We had high speed rail on the prairies before Windsor to Quebec. I know. project It's going like 150 or something like that. I can't remember exactly how fast it was going. ah And yes, it shakes like it's going 150.
00:41:58
Speaker
Cause Canadian national does not upkeep their tracks, but no, uh, Everyone's got to try to find a way to do at least some section of it. It's kind of been broken into you know Vancouver to the Rockies, and then Prairies, and then you know the Southern Ontario, sorry, Northern Ontario section.
00:42:17
Speaker
And all of them are very unique in their own ways. Did you get in on time? ah No, it was not as bad as it could have been, though. It was weird because pulling into Edmonton, we were an hour and a half early. Okay. That was weird. Because, well, they put in so much padding now is the thing. It takes longer now than it used to years ago, not because it's any slower, but because the risk of delay is so great that they've added in all this schedule padding.
00:42:50
Speaker
Yeah, you used to be able to do the Canadian in three days. Now it's four nights. So there you go. But ah so throughout the prayers, we're still making a perfectly good time. We're still early. and I'm like, oh, man, i don't get my extra free time on the train if we get in early. But no, then we pull into Manitoba and we end up sitting in a siding for like two hours. who So there goes all of that. We into Winnipeg like two hours late.
00:43:18
Speaker
It was like midnight. So, oh, and I should add, at a lot of these major stops, you can get off the train, kind of roam around for either 30 minutes to an hour, and then get back on the train. It's a nice time to catch a bit of breath air ah breath of fresh air. And ah anyways, that final bit in Northern Ontario was brutal.
00:43:40
Speaker
We, on day four, sat in a siding for like an hour 20, no service, so nobody knows what's going on.
00:43:51
Speaker
And what we found out was there was a stalled freight train in front of us. It is also worth mentioning that the Canadian trip directly before mine, so mine left on a Monday, the one that left on the Friday,
00:44:05
Speaker
got canceled in going into Ontario because of a derailment. Oh, wow. And they had to like fly slash bus people, the rest of the, it was a disaster. oh wow So there was always the possibility that something like that could happen to our trip as well.
00:44:21
Speaker
Thankfully, this stalled train did not derail our trip. Um, but it did make us five hours delayed going the rest of the way.
00:44:34
Speaker
oh Like it was ah kind of kind of crazy the maneuvers that we were doing with all these other freight trains. We had to like rescue a a crew, i think, from that train because they were probably working a hell of overtime.
00:44:50
Speaker
So ah it was weird. But, you know, of all the places to be stuck for an extended period of time, it was pretty beautiful. You know, it kind of still snowy up there. Yeah. Yeah. but And then pulling into into Toronto, I think we were about an hour late. and that was more so because of Go getting in the way, because we ended up pulling in around rush hour. so it turns out they share the platforms with Go. So yeah, that that delayed us by another like 30 minutes. So I think it was like an hour and a half. We ended up being late.
00:45:19
Speaker
That's fascinating. Wait, when was this? You said there was snow? Okay, so this is why I was saying, You have to do this in April.
00:45:30
Speaker
Okay. Because you can kind of experience all four seasons throughout the course of your trip, leaving Vancouver. it was rainy. Who could have guessed? Um, but pulling into the Rockies, you get Snow. So you wake up after your first evening and all of a sudden snow everywhere.
00:45:48
Speaker
it It's so cool. you're It's like you're waking up but in a completely different world. Vancouver 8C snow for the first time. Okay. Well, all right. All righty. I see how it is.
00:46:00
Speaker
um But no, it is really cool. i mean, it was it was cloudy, unfortunately, during the rocky section, but still... Very nice. You then get into the prairies and snow gets away a little bit, uh, ended up being our first bit of sun, uh, going into Saskatchewan there, uh, and then playing Winnipeg.
00:46:18
Speaker
It was still kind of cool, chilly, but not super cold. So we could still walk around the the downtown there for the hour that we had to to chill out. But then going into Northern Ontario, it was completely s snowy again. The looks, the lakes were frozen.
00:46:34
Speaker
so And then you, you saw, you, you saw yourself coming into Toronto by the snow starting to melt the ice going away. It looked a little bit like fall.
00:46:46
Speaker
And then eventually we pulled into Toronto and it was like 20 degrees on a beautiful sunny day. So it's like, we we left Vancouver in spring, went backwards into winter and then fall and then arrived in summer in Toronto.
Challenges in Canadian Rail System
00:47:03
Speaker
it was learning cool so much about the Canadian it's speed rail it's a time machine yeah so so why why Vancouver to Toronto is better than Toronto to Vancouver because you miss the Vancouver section if you go the other way you don't get to experience the Cascade Mountains because it's all at night yeah which is that's a huge part of the trip at least to me because like that's where all the tunnels are and the tunnels are fun
00:47:35
Speaker
it also means that that evening you're going in through the interior the mountains are all very you know kind of dusty sandy and just the look from the back of the train watching this thing snake through the river valley with just this huge headlight kind of reflecting up the sides of the mountains you going in and out of tunnels what's the coolest thing i've ever seen wow No camera could have done it justice, wow which made it that much more special in the moment because like it's just in my memories now. And it was the same thing in Northern Ontario as well, where you know we we had clear skies, billions of stars from the dome car, seeing the light of the train reflecting off the trees that were passing. and Every signal you pass will start with it being green. that By the time you reach the end of the train where we were, the light would turn red. Yeah. It's just cool seeing, seeing everything work like that while still being in the middle of nowhere.
00:48:32
Speaker
Well, at risk of this being an infomercial to, for Viorail and to try and make this more a sponsor us. ah yeah Well, we'll see how they feel after I say what I'm about to say, but, um, I mean,
00:48:46
Speaker
I think anyone who's paying attention to transportation in Canada can see that we're missing like a like a network approach to public transportation. like you know We have this rail operator, which is federally run, and they filled in the gap when all of the private railways were like saying we can't run passenger service profitably anymore. So they they just took that over and they kind of cut a bunch of routes, but they still run it but you know, mostly intact.
00:49:12
Speaker
And then we've, we had buses, which is a totally separate network, like intercity buses, like Greyhound and all that, but they've largely disappeared because they've fallen into the same thing. It's not profitable to run these intercity routes. So most of them are gone.
00:49:25
Speaker
And the two networks were never integrated. They certainly aren't integrated with the air network or the public transit network. And it, it when i when I see other countries, like whether it be Europe, of course, Asia, of course, or even the United States where Amtrak runs buses that connect and that provide that integral network, um it gets me really frustrated that we you know we're not living up to that potential. I think international tourists come here and they expect that level of service and they they don't have it.
00:49:55
Speaker
So anyway, all of that to say that in Here in British Columbia, we've been trying to pressure the province to at least try and fill that role, to have like ah to think about a network, an integrated network.
00:50:07
Speaker
And there's a group called the Public Transit Alliance of BC that Abby, our my colleague Abby, has been kind of movements rep on that. And really trying to put forth, like the the province actually promised that. the The leading party in the last provincial election said, we will introduce this network. And so it's another one of those things where we need to like push, push, push and, and get that network going.
00:50:30
Speaker
I know. I think what I was hearing is via rail needs to run 70 year old buses across the country. Now, can you imagine 70 year old bus? No AC, you know, you're just, oh, they can take the buses from Edmonton, that Emily was talking about.
00:50:50
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. The agent buses. Oh man. Yeah. Yeah, I know ah even ah in Ontario, a lot of people are like, okay, yeah, like Go does run pretty decent, like commuter rail, approaching regional express rail and a pretty decent bus network. Like they should cover, try to cover, even though their mandate is just like the great in Boulder Horseshoe, like if they were expanded as an agency to like connect to London and Windsor and Chatham-Kent and even more Northern Ontario and the Northlander is opening. So there's there's a lot more space to create that kind of
00:51:24
Speaker
connected network they were kind of talking about um but i mean it's a really interesting the northlander is interesting because like it's provincially run it started off as a railway but it has those bus links as well like ontario northland does rail and bus in an integrated way but only for a region of ontario yeah for again for historical reasons the same with via like we had this before and so we're going to keep doing it without thinking about like what about all these other places that don't have access to this? We have something similar in BC called BC bus North. It's like, it's kind of a lot of what I'm trying to describe, but it doesn't go to the provinces, like top 10 biggest cities. like
00:52:04
Speaker
Like, why? what are we anyway Yeah. It feels like we're kind of living in the past. Like, like, yeah, like you kind of talked about, it's just a historical thing that we're keeping, but it's like, what about the people living today?
00:52:16
Speaker
Back to via rail. i'm I'm sure you'll, you'll get, you'll get to this in the video. And as as a sneak peek, I guess I'll ask, didn't the federal government just commit to like funding or buying new cars for the, for the Canadian?
00:52:30
Speaker
They did. That is one of the main reasons the CBC bit on this pitch is the fact that there is supposed to be progress in the near future.
00:52:42
Speaker
Now also even more recently. Via has announced that they are once again, retrofitting their sleeper cars for another 10 years, because it's going to take, it sounds like over the next decade, they're hoping to actually replace the fleet, but that's like, I'm not going to spoil the whole video of course, but, uh, you know, when that does come out sometime in July, hopefully on CBC's national channels, we'll see. But I do get into a bit of how, you know, they just replaced the corridor fleet.
00:53:13
Speaker
Which had even older trains than think they were running from trains from like the thirties and forties still left like, oh my God. But they just did that. People for the most part are really pleased with the nicer, newer trains. I've ridden it. They're nice.
00:53:30
Speaker
They look nice too, which I feel like plays a big part that isn't talked about is the appeal of pulling into Toronto and seeing the sleek new European looking train.
00:53:42
Speaker
Um, but. I mean, and the same thing happens with buses, right? Like people associate Greyhound in their mind with a clunky old bus that rattles and, you know, diesel and horrible. And it doesn't have to be that way. Like the state of Colorado runs their own agency called Bustang. It's like Mustang, but with a B. And if you go to... the thing If you go to their website, the buses look beautiful and they all have wifi and they're sleek and it's frequent and it's like kinetic and it just feels, uh, like something that would meet your needs as opposed to something old, like an ancient via train or an old ground that is just like there, that's all it is.
00:54:22
Speaker
That was an interesting part of my trip that I got to kind of experience when I was talking with the other people riding the train is like, what was the appeal to these people to ride this train? Because I'm explaining to them, like, yeah, I don't want these trains to be here anymore. I want them to be newer. And they're like, well, it's kind of cool that they're old, though. I'm like, yeah, but it's not functional.
00:54:42
Speaker
And it's getting really freaking expensive for VIA to keep running them because they have to keep prolonging their life. And like, the Bud Car Company doesn't exist anymore. So when parts break and they don't have replacements, they got to figure stuff out.
00:54:55
Speaker
Anyways. One of the big points of the video, though, is the idea that these oldest trains are running the most sparsely populated routes of Via Rail. Like it made a lot of sense for them to replace the corridor first because 95% of Via's ridership is along the corridor.
00:55:14
Speaker
But the most expensive parts of Via Rail to run are these rural... routes, and not necessarily the Canadian even, although it does, once you get into Ontario, serve some really weirdly sparsely populated areas and stops that are impossible to serve by a bus, which is an important point to mention because yes, a lot of the time these services can be enhanced like a hundredfold by bus service, but there are communities in Canada that have no ah reliable year-round transportation. And that's at least how via words it in their mandate is that these services are meant to connect people reliably with air quotes year round.
00:56:02
Speaker
It's like also, it's both like a joy ride for tourists, but it's also kind of an essential link for many people. Um, but one thing that I find is kind of crazy is both how expensive it is while still receiving like a very large subsidy per passenger.
00:56:17
Speaker
On this route and I get that it's like, right, the parts and the maintenance, but like, I just, I don't understand how it can be so expensive. like How hard could it be to run a train across Canada now? Well, I'll tell you on CBC, I'm not going to be advocating for cutting staff or anything like that, but it is true that for a lot of the part, Via is very inefficient in their operations.
00:56:42
Speaker
That's not something I really get into in the video. Got to kind of stay on a bit of a clear aspect. But i mean, that's the perfect kind of thing for either radio interviews I do with CBC after the video goes up or here or other podcasts to kind of get into because there are ways for via to save money.
00:57:01
Speaker
But even then focusing too much on that can lead to the issue of these 70 year old trains being run, being pushed farther down the line. Because the idea is that if they ran newer trains, the subsidy would go down, right? Like that they would be able to serve more passengers for less money. Their 2035 strategic plan, I think it was, mentions that if they can pull off this full fleet replacement, that they can also expand into new communities that don't have train service. Either that means that they used to have train service or these are new neighborhoods that they want to serve.
00:57:42
Speaker
Which is arguably pretty huge. Even if it's not the fastest way to get somewhere to to have a transportation option that is as reliable in inclement weather as a train can be a game changer to a lot of these rural communities.
00:57:58
Speaker
Yeah, for real. Yeah, it's um because I believe it's $1,000 per passenger, the subsidy for the Canadian. Um, and something like that yeah, i'm pretty close to it. It's like 937 or something like that, right which is almost, I think it's like 45% of what my ticket cost.
Future of Via Rail and Listener Engagement
00:58:15
Speaker
So I make a joke in the video about how, if there wasn't a government funding for the Canadian, my train would only make it to like the middle of Manitoba and I'd be stranded before, like with a long way to go to a Winnipeg. So yeah it's like, you put it that way anyways.
00:58:35
Speaker
Yeah, I'm checking the 2024 report in Toronto to Vancouver is $971.83. dollars and eighty three cents But the the worst offending one is Montreal to Jean-Claire, which is $1,035. And I know Paige Saunders gets into that but about in his video about how you could like run like stretched limo limos for each passenger and still save money.
00:59:00
Speaker
Yeah, and I think in that one, like the even the road was even faster, but I guess, um, climate weather and connectivity are important. Yeah, that's the that's the challenge that via faces is that like, when you get into the severe winters, it's just impossible to serve some of the stops.
00:59:21
Speaker
And the way that people use the train almost just as public transportation, despite the cost of it, like, it's a trade-off that they kind of have to consider when they're, when they're looking into like, like they don't want to cut these roots, but it's getting so expensive to keep running them.
00:59:40
Speaker
I don't want to end with via rails dire a situation, but yeah, there's, there's hope with those replacements coming and no, that's really, yeah I think that the 2035 thing you said about like the, even just the possibility of expanding services is so exciting to me.
00:59:59
Speaker
Like, I think the thing I'll mention is that this was funded. The announcement for new regional and rural fleets was a part of the 2024 federal budget, which is huge, that there is money there.
01:00:17
Speaker
So the possibility for this to get messed up somehow is a little bit lower. Can't say that about a lot of things, but that's a little more of an optimistic outlook on it.
01:00:31
Speaker
Ultimately, a lot of it's ah a lot of I'll believe it when I see it. But hey, it sounds like they're working on it. And that is the least I can ask for right now.
01:00:42
Speaker
Yeah, I'm okay with with with leaving things on a not a perfect note on this, because honestly, passenger rail in Canada needs to be so much better. Obviously, Alto is in the works in Ontario and Quebec, ah you know,
01:00:56
Speaker
like there are a few other provinces in confederation that would maybe love some ah consideration. And you know what, maybe that's the note I'll leave it on. Like, let's talk about passenger rail and the eight provinces. think with Alto, I think, I don't know talked about before, but seeing the, I don't know you've like the Go Alto organization who's like started to try to rally more support around it to kind of counteract the no voices. And I think a good place to end, I know we kind talked before this episode, Yeah, we want to hear from your listeners about is there a lack of low income transit pass in your community or is there pedestrianization or a bus lane or something you want to do or a campaign that's already running? We'd love to hear about it.
01:01:40
Speaker
Yeah. So do we have a, I always keep on forgetting, like, do we have an email or how do how how can people reach us? Yeah, we totally have an email. It's in the show notes. Okay, perfect. Yeah.
01:01:52
Speaker
yeah Thanks, Kariad, our incredible producer, for putting it in the show notes. Okay. Thank you, everybody, for listening to our podcast, Dwell Time, and thank you so much, Arden, for coming on. Even I have learned so much.
01:02:08
Speaker
Can I do a shameless plug? Yeah, of course. Let's go. ah Yeah. Well, for one, just thanks for having me on. This has been a lot of fun. But yeah, to everyone listening,
01:02:19
Speaker
you're not familiar with my channel through greater discussions, please go take a, take a look on YouTube. I promise I've got videos coming. I swear. I just, I've been working on three different long form videos at the same time.
01:02:32
Speaker
Not a good call, but so like, and subscribe and you'll see. So yeah, it comes out. Like and subscribe. You'll see those ones when they come out and I will be linking to the CBC video.
01:02:43
Speaker
when that comes out and it'll be on my channel, hopefully cross-posted in some capacity, we're we're looking for a way to pull that off. That'd be awesome. We'll definitely have Arden's channel in the show notes as well.
01:02:55
Speaker
Thank you. All right. Thanks for listening to All Time. Bye everyone.
01:03:13
Speaker
You've been listening to Dwell Time. This show is hosted by Rodney Chan and Dennis Hagar. Producer and editor is Cariad Heather Keir. Thank you for listening. Details about our social media and content mentioned are in the show notes.
01:03:28
Speaker
We would like to recognize that this show is written, recorded, and edited on the ancestral lands of First Nations peoples across Canada.
01:03:48
Speaker
Bye.