Maybe THE STAR Could Do Their Part......

......by using a less polluting way of getting their newspapers to street corner boxes and to drivers delivering to homes. How many trailers leave their plant each morning driving to various mall parking lots to be met be a multitude of vans and cars, which by the way tend to have their vehicles running in the winter so they can keep warm, or will THE STAR be buying Dion's carbon credits.

Give streetcars a break TheStar.com - comment - Give streetcars a break

June 11, 2008

Some motorists are fuming over a rule that would forbid them from making left turns on downtown streetcar routes. But the ban reflects the pre-eminence of public transit and should be carried out.

Streetcars packed with riders find themselves, all too frequently, stuck behind vehicles attempting a tricky left turn at busy Toronto intersections. Scores of TTC commuters can experience needless delay due to one turning car carrying a single occupant.

A ban on these left turns has already been approved in principle at city hall. But opposition is growing as it is about to be implemented.

There is concern that drivers, forbidden from turning left, would have no alternative but to go the opposite way and manoeuvre through quiet neighbourhood streets.

Perhaps. But this seems a small price to pay for a significant improvement in the flow of public transit.

The ban could become more palatable with more frequent and efficient streetcar service. Indeed, that might convince some drivers to make the best turn of all and leave their cars at home.