Carbon R Us

Happy Earth Day from Calgary.

Or more specifically, from Shawnessy C-Train station in the south of the city.

It's ironic that this morning, thanks to the introduction of a $3 a day fee to park in the Park'n'Ride lots, a car park that is usually full from 6:30am, was still half empty at 7:45am.

So where are all the cars? Driving into town.

At a time when cities all over the world are trying to coax us onto public transport, Calgary City Council have taken the decision to deter car owners from using the C-Train by charging them $3 a day to park. This has been done "to pay for cleaning up the stations and improving security" but really, it's a swipe at all the C-Train passengers who live outside Calgary. If you are a Calgarian, you can use the public bus system to get to your nearest train station. If you're outside the city, your only option is to park at a station or drive downtown.

So, really, they want to deter outsiders from using the Train which, after all, is subsidised by Calgary tax payers. Much better for those interlopers who used to use the train to drive their 5 litre trucks all the way into town.

Actually, council should go the whole nine yards and build a moat of flaming gasoline around the city, just incase their message isn't getting through to everyone. And then they can be parochial and anti-environment at the same time.