Jane Bird, former chief executive of Vancouver's Canada Line Rapid Transit Inc., is in town March 26 to talk about the role the private sector can play in mass transit.
With Toronto's Mayor Rob Ford apparently at his Waterloo on the subject, the timing couldn't be better.
Currently the president and CEO of Columbia Power Corp., Bird was instrumental in developing the $2-billion, 19km
Canada Line. An elevated train that connects the Vancouver airport to Richmond and the downtown core, it's widely considered a model of its kind.
Bird will discuss the pros and cons of getting private funding involved in what is usually referred to as public transportation, making the case that private participation can inspire the usually purely bureaucratic process to new levels of innovation without losing sight of public service.
The
talk will be held from 4pm to 6pm at the Munk School of Global Affairs at
1 Devonshire Place.
Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Andrea Ellison
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