March 3rd, 2008
Cross-posted from Eye Weekly.
This morning city council unanimously passed its Green Fleet Plan [PDF], which will accelerate the greening of city-owned vehicles by reducing fuel consumption and overall emissions. Through a series of moves — such as greater use of alternatives fuels, a 10-second limit on idling for city staff, the pilot testing of new green truck technology and a bike share program for city employees — the plan should not only result in a reduction of 15,000 tonnes of CO2, but also a projected net savings of $4.032 million. Mayor David Miller described the stragety as “a win-win-win-win-win-win-win,†hailing it for its ability to help save the environment and money.
That the plan was passed unanimously doesn’t mean it didn’t generate a multitude of questions from councillors. A big concern centered around recent reports that the production of ethanol (a bio-fuel made from plants like corn) is taking over farmland and, as a result, leading to higher food prices. As part of the Green Fleet Plan, staff aim to continue to examine the pros and cons of this alternative as well as look into others, such as the possibility of generating fuel from cooking-oil waste. Just to be certain, Councillor Susan Hall added in a motion to emphasize the importance of ensuring that the city continue to follow research in this area.
Councillor Mike Del Grande raised concern about low speed electric vehicles that currently aren’t allowed to be driven in Ontario, though they’re manufactured right here in the GTA (and sold in the United States). Del Grande got council to approve a motion to advocate that the province make them legal, but was hoping for more enthusiastic support from the mayor who didn’t seem as familiar with the issue.
May 9th, 2007
Another week spent in mostly sunny and hot Dublin. St. Stephen’s Green was again full of people laying about on the perfect grass. It was observed that people in Toronto don’t sit on …
January 4th, 2007
From today’s Toronto Star:
Dutch police banned Segways from all public roads, bike paths and walkways as of New Year’s Day, surprising the nation’s official importer of the two-wheeled, self-balancing scooters.
Segway Nederland director Piet Kruijt said …
July 14th, 2006
I’m at the stage in my life where the possibility of having kids is quite real. It takes a lot of planning for me to get into “big projects” and kids are the biggest project of all. …
January 12th, 2006
The Segway issue came back again to the City of Toronto’s Works Committee this morning, in a lively and sometimes surreal debate. The good news is, these machines have finally been put in their place — for the moment….
November 5th, 2005
Spacing Wire reader Simon Bryan recently emailed us and said he enjoyed our links and commentary on the possibility of the Segway hitting Toronto sidewalks (you can read our posts by clicking here).
Bryan said the …
November 1st, 2005
Since this spring, the local Segway company has been trying to get its motorized electric scooters allowed on Toronto’s sidewalks. It has managed to persuade Councillor Bill Saundercook to be its spokesman on the Toronto …
October 13th, 2005
The City of Toronto did the smart thing yesterday by rejecting the idea of a pilot project that would allow Segways on to our sidewalks. Robyn Reisler, president of Segway Ontario, said in an interview …
September 24th, 2005
Following a resolution by the Toronto Pedestrian Committee in April against allowing Segway scooters on sidewalks, the local distributor started a publicity campaign to persuade the City allow these contraptions on the sidewalks (including for …
