Root of all Evil

The Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunication Commission (CRTC) was formed in 1967 to regulate and supervise the broadcast system in Canada. In later years, its role extended to include the telecommunication and cable company industries. Among one of its mandates was to protect Canadian culture from the bombardment of American programming.

The CRTC is supposed to be an independent public organization. Far from it. Even though Federal government cabinet appoints members of the commission, it is filled with former broadcasting and telecommunication executives. In essence, it is a publicly funded lobby group for the broadcast, cable, and telecommunication industries. Rarely does the CRTC mandate regulations that serve the public good. The $25 skinny package deal is one of those publicly served illusions.

Within days of the $25 skinny package being enforced, the CRTC received over 600 complaints from cable and telecom subscribers. Most of the complaints were about not getting enough information about the new package or that the new package would cost much more than their current package. The response from CRTC was basically a shrug stating that it will take a “wait and see” approach. How did we get into this mess?

The Age of Consolidation

It might be a surprise that 74% of Canada’s Top Media, Internet and Telecom companies are owned by five companies. According to Canadian Media Consolidation Research Project – Quebecor, Shaw, Telus, Rogers and BCE (Bell) are the major players. See graphic above. You’ll have to download the PDF and zoom in to find out which companies own which TV channels. Except for Telus and now Shaw – which recently sold Global Television Network and their other content assets – the three remaining companies not only control the content but also the delivery system. The same could be said for the US, although only two companies control the delivery systems – Comcast and TimeWarner Cable.

Powerful industry lobby groups with lots of money influenced governments into easing anti-competition laws allowing media, broadcasters and Internet providers to merge. In the US, the media conglomerates are opposed to Net Neutrality and trying to change recent regulations put into place to prevent restricted or filtered Internet content. In Canada, Net Neutrality is a bit half-baked. Bell and Rogers are not only wireless and Internet providers, but they are also the content producers and distributors. Both companies give unlimited free access of their content over their wireless networks to their own TV subscribers. Some may argue this is a cool thing to do, but it doesn’t provide open access to all Internet content.

Last year, the CRTC put out a report claiming that more Canadians watch less TV through their TV subscriptions. Instead, they are using Netflix or online web content to view their favourite TV and movies. However, the CRTC isn’t doing much to foster the future of television or a change in people’s viewing habits. To their credit, they have asked the public for their input on the Let’s Talk TV website. Again, this is just an illusion in order for the CRTC to give the perception that they have the public interest in mind. They are still protecting the out-dated business model of TV and Internet providers like Bell and Rogers.

Canadians are paying some of the highest rates for useless TV content. Sure there are over 200 channels but most of the content are repetitive. The specialty channels are on an 8-hour rotation 3 times a day. Popular Canadian TV series like Holmes on Holmes are constantly repeated over different channels owned by the same company. This is done to meet CanCon (Canadian Content) rules that the CRTC has in place without investing money in or purchasing new Canadian productions then they need to. It is not surprising that Canadians are turning to on-demand programming like Netflix or other online sources for their TV shows

Government Needs to Push for Change

As we progress through the 21st century, changes need to be made. First, I am in favour of nationalizing high-speed broadband like Australia did. Australia like Canada has a sparse population over a vast country. The Australian government took over the infrastructure and maintain it to provide Internet access to 95% of the Australians. Like Canada, rural communities were under-serviced because it would be costly to private companies to provide reliable high-speed access in those communities. The Internet Service Providers (ISP) compete for the last mile to the end consumer.

Canada might move in this direction. A ruling by the CRTC in July of 2015, extended rules to provide “open access” for other ISPs to Bell’s fibre high-speed infrastructure. Mayors from Calgary, Toronto and Ottawa weighed in on the ruling. Calgary’s mayor, Naheed Nemshi; summarized the city’s 28-page document submitted to the CRTC by stating

without some form of network access for competitors, there would invariably be challenges to grant all providers the necessary municipal infrastructure to construct their networks. Given limited capacity of municipal right of ways, the market might be limited to a few large competitors.

The second thing the CRTC and the Trudeau government should do is break up the media companies. Customers have no real choices when companies own the content and are also the gatekeepers of that content. It amazes me how this could happen. Governments and companies like Bell and Rogers have to face reality as Generation Xers and Millenials get their entertainment and news from online sources. Due to the consolidation I mentioned earlier, media companies with news outlets whether TV, radio or newspaper have laid off many reporters. Now the news mostly comes from a central source. The erosion of local news is one of the main tragedies of media consolidation.

Third, CRTC will have to revisit the CanCon rules and ease the restrictions or eliminate them completely. As more content is available online, it is impossible to preserve Canadian culture these CanCon rules are supposed to address. More attention should be spent in promoting Canadian productions and culture to the rest of the world.

Finally, the Government should appoint consumers or advocates like Michael Geist so that the CRTC can have an equal mix on the commission. It would give a better representation of what the public wants and the industries it regulates.

Time to Cut the Cord

I talked about how we got here and what changes need to be made. Let’s get back to the $25 Skinny package. I think a lot of complaints stem from the misconception of what the skinny package is supposed to do. Michael Geist wrote a good article about the merits of the new TV package. I agree with Michael that the package is meant for consumers who just the want basic channels, because they can access specific programming via Netflix or other streaming sites online. Although, Cord-Cutters may find some roadblocks as Global, CBS and some other networks require a valid TV provider/cable subscription to access full episodes of their favourite TV shows.

Some people have resorted to accessing American streaming services like Hulu Plus. It is only available in the US thanks to exclusive Canadian re-broadcasting rights made by Bell, Rogers and Shaw (Global TV). Canadians can only watch Hulu via IP spoofing services like UnoTelly and UnBlock-US. These services trick Hulu and other major US TV networks into thinking you are accessing the service from the US.

Hulu is a joint partnership between Disney (ABC), Fox, and NBC Universal. They run current episodes from these networks the day after they air. They also have 500 other content providers. Hulu has two plans – limited commercials for $8 US and $12 US for commercial-free.

The yearly cost of cutting the cord is approximately $252 US – $4.95 US (UnoTelly)+$7.99 US (Hulu)+$7.99 CDN (Netflix) over 12 months. Far cry from spending $1,080 a year for typical TV services with Rogers and Bell.

The other option is to purchase an Android TV box, There are many websites and independent computer stores that carry them. They range in price from $90 to $260. They pre-loaded with software that scans various websites and streaming services so you can watch your favourite TV shows and movies for free. AndroidTVBoxesCanada has seen a 20-30 times increase in sales this year alone. It seems Canadians have had enough with high-priced TV subscription with little value.

Television Providers Need to Change Their Business Model

TV networks and providers are not eager to change with the times because their current business model is highly profitable. According to a Huffington Post article, they should not only be concerned about the increase in “Cord Cutters” year after year but another set of the population. Millennials will make up the bulk of “Cut-Nevers” that will never sign up for cable. Unlike Generation Xers who grew up with television, Millennials grew up with the Internet. Most of their entertainment and news, along with their social activities comes from the Internet.

Despite Netflix being forced to block Canadians from accessing their broader US Content, their goal is to have a worldwide broadcasting license. This would enable Netflix to serve the same content in every country.

Steve Jobs stated “he cracked TV” before he died. We later found out from Apple’s CEO Tim Cook that it meant Apps were going to the crack the vise that TV providers had on us. Media companies are reluctant to work with Apple, fearing that Apple would have a foothold like they do with Music and iTunes. This is despite Apple saving the Music industry by making it affordable to buy music instead of stealing it. Apple has been trying to do the same thing with TV and movies. It will be interesting to see how HBO’s $30/mth subscription via an App will play out. The monthly fee is high, $10 would be more reasonable.

We will come to a full circle with our TV viewing. I remember the days when TV was free and we had to watch commercials. You couldn’t skip through commercials as there were no PVRs. I think the Hulu subscription service is the best way to make everyone happy. I don’t mind paying $8 a month and sit through commercials. It is far better than paying $100 a month for a whack of channels that still plays commercials. People want on-demand programming and may pay a reasonable price for it. I think they are sick of paying a high price for TV that they are not even watching.

The future of television is on-demand programming and the current way of broadcasting will be a thing of the past. Governments should break up the media/distributors companies like Rogers, Bell, Comcast, and Time Warner. I would even suggest governments take over the backbone broadband infrastructure to preserve Net Neutrality. This will make sure all citizens have access to an affordable and non-bias Internet.

Feature Image: Photo by Flash Pro courtesy of Flickr CC 2.0 https://flic.kr/p/7kikbm. Check out my Pinterest board “Future of TV” for articles I used for this post, along with other articles related to this topic.

When the Ontario Liberal Government tabled its 2016 Budget, there was a paragraph referring to evaluation of a Basic Income pilot program:

One area of research that will inform the path to comprehensive reform will be the evaluation of a Basic Income pilot. The pilot project will test a growing view at home and abroad that a basic income could build on the success of minimum wage policies and increases in child benefits by providing more consistent and predictable support in the context of today’s dynamic labour market. The pilot would also test whether a basic income would provide a more efficient way of delivering income support, strengthen the attachment to the labour force, and achieve savings in other areas, such as health care and housing supports. The government will work with communities, researchers and other stakeholders in 2016 to determine how best to design and implement a Basic Income pilot.

Now the Ontario government is in the consultation phase of Basic Income Guarantee, otherwise known as BIG. Some call it Universal Basic Income (UBI). What is BIG or UBI and how will it impact Ontarians; or for that matter, the rest of Canada?

BIG or UBI has been gaining momentum lately. Finland is waiting for an approval this year on a project that would start at 800 Euros monthly for each citizen. Switzerland is considering holding a referendum in June to consider shelling out C$3,200 per month to each of their citizens. Former Toronto Mayor Art Eggleton tabled a bill in the senate to look at introducing a Negative Tax Rate. A non-profit group called Basic Income Canada Network as seen a spike in supporters.

So what is Basic Income Guarantee anyway?

The Huffington Post has a great primer on this that includes the pros and cons of basic income. To summarize, every citizen would be paid or, with a Negative Tax Rate – be refunded; a minimum income to supplement the basic standard of living. This would include the cost of necessities such as food, housing, transportation, and utilities. It would be paid regardless of your income level. Of course, some tax reforms would have to be in a place like a flat tax and eliminating common tax deductions. This would result in everyone having more money in their pockets. There have been a few obstacles regarding Basic Income Guarantee. How do you pay for it and doesn’t it disincentive people from working?

Cutting Red Tape?

Funding for something like this would require co-operation from all levels of governments. Billions are already spent supporting welfare or social security, (Un)employment Insurance, various tax credits and pensions. By eliminating all these social and tax programs along with recouping the costs of government bureaucracy to manage all those programs, would pay most of the Basic Income Guarantee program. I was skeptical about this but US economist Ed Dolan has done a detailed analysis of the affordability in implementing such a plan. It is also possible that more funding can be freed up because of the premise from this type of program, to reduce or end poverty entirely.

Photo via Flickr by Maureen Barlin

You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to know that poverty also puts a drain on healthcare costs and increases criminal activities taxing police resources. By eliminating poverty, budgets for healthcare and police services can be reduced thus freeing up additional funding for this type of program. Ending poverty also enables low-income workers to better themselves by pursuing further education or retraining. This lessens the stress of working 2 or 3 jobs just to pay for the necessities is taken care of. This would result in better-paying jobs and equally important, more tax revenue for governments. “Yeah but, tons of people will quit their jobs and why should I pay for losers who don’t want to work” is yet another criticism about implementing such a program.

Take my job and shove it!

There have been many such pilot programs in the last couple of decades. Some, if not all; have had superb success rates. Places like India, Uganda, and even in Canada in a town called Dauphin in Manitoba resulted in various successful common factors. Increased entrepreneurship in starting successful businesses. Reduced healthcare as low-income families are eating more nutritionally. Better jobs and wages for those who pursued a better education.

There were even experiments in the US. Most were unsuccessful because they were based on a “means test” that all income supplements currently use. Some critics point to those US studies and not UBI studies I mention earlier. Again, I point you to US economist Ed Dolan who wrote another post with an analysis of why the US studies failed and that any basic income program that uses any kind of means test will always disincentive people from working.

In case you are unfamiliar with the term “means test”, it determines your eligibility for government assistance. For example in Canada, you receive Employment Insurance in which case 60% what you previously made while employed. If you find part-time work, the money earned from the hours you worked are deducted from the already reduced assistance you receive.  The same is true for welfare.

With a universal basic income program, there is no means test and people that have lost their job can freely pursue part time work or retraining until they find the job they really want. They are not being penalized for what little income they have, had they been reduced.

I can see why people fall into the welfare or unemployment trap of not working. Not to mention the lost revenue in the underground cash economy and the spiral effect of alcohol and drug abuse because people at below poverty have given up.

On the flip side, there is tons of bureaucracy implementing these means test type social assistance programs. They result in big governments employing thousands of public civil servants and public money being wasted on these inefficient programs. A Universal Basic Income program would displace a lot public civil servants because there no set criteria. Very Canadian or American would get a monthly set amount making this more efficient. It’s not only the civil servants that will be losing their jobs, there are potentially hundreds of thousands or even millions of job losses in other sectors.

The Age of Skynet

In my post about the possible end of globalization, I briefly talked about manufacturing jobs being lost to robotics and automation. It isn’t manufacturing that is going to be affected but other sectors as well, particularly low-wage jobs such as drivers. Amazon is experimenting with drones to deliver their packages and Alphabet (“Google”) got the green light from the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration that computers qualify as drivers. Other low-wage jobs such as warehouse workers or even fast food employees will be replaced with the next generation “Atlas” from Alphabet’s subsidiary Boston Dynamics

It is only a matter of time before Atlas serves your Tim Horton’s coffee at your local drive-thru. It will be enviable that a lot of jobs are  replaced with technology. We are in the transition from the Industrial Age to a Creative/Technological Age. Paul Vallée, founder and CEO of Pythian which is an IT management firm based in Ottawa; was quoted in a CBC article regarding Basic Income:

Anybody who’s involved in computer science or information technology at all is essentially in the business of replacing people with software

I worked for a GPS company that manufactured hardware and software that enabled farm tractors to drive themselves. Or large ships to maneuver into ports without the aid of a pilot boat. Both using GPS technology. Working as a Systems Administrator for the last 15 years, that type of position is becoming more scarce. More businesses are moving to the Cloud or other Cloud services – such as Software or Infrastructure as a Service. My consulting practice is focused on moving businesses in that direction.

Governments are still ill-prepared to handle this transition. Many traditional jobs are being replaced with technology in some form or another. Heck governments are ill-prepared for the influx of Baby Boomers retiring. Most haven’t saved enough money for retirement and are saddled with debt.

I was skeptical at first, but after doing some deeper research; I believe Universal Basic Income would be beneficial not only for no or low-income individuals and families but for the economy as well. People with little or low incomes will have a little cushion to spend a little more because they are not penalized for earning more income. This is the case with the means test programs in place today. Middle-income earners will have the same cushion. People will be able to pursue their dream job or passion more easily. As other similar programs can attest to, an increase in entrepreneurship and quite possibly more unique innovations might be sparked. This would all result in increase tax revenue as wages rise and more taxpayers move into higher tax brackets.

It would also benefit social welfare or in layman’s terms – well-being and happiness. Parents can spend more time with their young children when it is critical to their children’s early development. Non-Profit and charities would see an increase in volunteering.

It is time to move forward and plan correctly on implementing Basic Income program. It will need a different mindset from individuals, businesses, unions and government. There a few options on how to implement this type of plan. There is the Negative Tax Rate tabled by Art Eggleton that would be paid out based on your income after submitting your yearly tax return. What happens if you suddenly become unemployed mid-year or after filing your taxes? Remember there would be no Employment Insurance or any other type of assistance as Basic Income would replace all assistance programs. Would we have to change to quarterly tax filings?

The other option is a Universal Basic Income that is paid out monthly and would be less bureaucrat and more be efficient. But how would you calculate what the monthly amount would be? Would you divide it to what the national average yearly poverty line is? What about factors such as living in large urban centres like Toronto and Vancouver, where there are sky-rocketing housing prices, rentals and fuel costs?

We need a Universal Basic Income plan and I am glad there is a renewed interest. Canada is in for some harsh times as our commodity-based economy is seeing record lows that will take a long time to recover. Along with stock market uncertainty, technology increasingly replacing traditional jobs and an ever growing aging population, it won’t be as easy. It will take a lot of political willpower, leadership and common sense to get us out of it and living in the 21st century.

Feature Image: Photo via Flickr by Moni Cah  Check out my Pinterest board “Universal Basic Income” for articles I used for this post, along with other articles related to this topic.

Who benefits from Globalization?

I believe only multi-national companies were the main benefactors of globalization. Trade agreements like NAFTA and Chinese currency manipulation, shifted manufacturing jobs where it was cheap – to Asian countries and Mexico. The IT service sector and software companies used skilled and educated workers from India. Some Canadian IT workers worked in the US under NAFTA because of a low Canadian dollar. Alberta and Ontario hired Mexicans to fill low-wage fast food jobs that Canadians didn’t want. With lax foreign investment rules, China and other countries invested tens of billions of dollars in Canadian resources like the oilsands. Tax havens like Ireland saw major corporations set up international headquarters there, with little benefit to the Irish citizens. If you were a multi-national corporation, the bottom line was very profitable at the expense of countries affected by globalization and many trade agreements.

Welcome to the 21st Century

Now that commodities are at its lowest level, multi-national corporations are shifting their focus to the 21st century. Intellectual Property is the major and high valued commodity now. 12 countries around the Pacific Rim, including Canada and the US, signed the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Better known as TPP, it is a trade agreement representing 40% of global trade. The agreement created by corporations -oops I meant member countries – with a stated goal.

to promote economic growth; support the creation and retention of jobs; enhance innovation, productivity and competitiveness; raise living standards; reduce poverty in our countries; and promote transparency, good governance, and enhanced labor and environmental protections.

The agreement is littered with provisions that help corporations extend Intellectual Property (IP) and patent terms that will increase the cost of medicine and stifle other innovations. Media Companies will have greater enforcement of copyright works. Corporations may sue governments that stifle their profitability i.e. enforcing environmental regulations. It also includes a provision that weakens privacy laws.

There is no benefit for Canada. Canada was late coming into the partnership and only did so after the US bullied them into changing some of our existing laws. Canada sat on the sidelines as other countries negotiated side deals and any opposition that Canada had fallen on deaf ears.

The IP chapter, which was one of the most secretive and exposed by Wikileaks, is the most controversial. Micheal Geist, a law professor at the University of Ottawa specializing in technology law; has posted a great series on the Trouble with TPP on his blog.

No Free in Free Trade

As I mentioned earlier, two of the frontrunners Bernie Sanders for the Democrats and Donald Trump from the Republicans are opposed to TPP and other free trade agreements. They feel these agreements eroded manufacturing jobs in America. A recent case in point is Carrier Air Conditioner (owned by United Technologies) moving its manufacturing plant in Indianapolis to Mexico. Check the video below on the reaction when an executive announces to the 1,400 employees of the move.

Cent Yygur, host of The Young Turks breaks down the video and discusses what’s behind the decision.

I agree with Cent. I would also add that out of the total GDP that America produces, just 3% is producing tangible goods. The majority is financial services which have no value except for the 1% of the elitist.

As for Canada, we should be the wealthiest nation in the world. We have an abundance of natural resources. Not only does Canada have one the largest audited oil resources in the world, but also natural gas, potash, gold, uranium, and forestry just to name a few. We got swindled like every third world country that has natural resources into giving them up for next to nothing.

Let’s take oil for example. We get some of the lowest royalty rates for our oil, particularly in Alberta. Some argued that increasing royalty rates would put Alberta in the same path as Venezuela back in the 1990s. They increased royalties to fund social programs and as a result, all the oil production pulled out. This is all fear mongering. What is happening in Alberta with its economy is a correction in an overheated oil boom. Current projects at near or that fully developed are still running. Oil companies and countries like China invested tens of billions of dollars. They are not going to just stop and leave. It would cost more to halt production then it would decrease production at a loss until oil prices recover again according to Martin King of FirstEnergy Capital.

Just a side note on what it is happening to the economies of Canada’s three major oil producing provinces – Alberta, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland. The Governments of these provinces continues to make the same mistake by tying in revenue from oil royalties into their budget, instead of socking away the revenues into a Sovereign Wealth Fund. Norway is a great example of this and their fund is almost a trillion dollars. The Norwegian fund allows 4% of the funds to be pulled out each year which is almost equal of Alberta annual combined revenue. It is ironic since the Norwegian fund as based on Alberta Heritage Fund. I wouldn’t blame the devastation happening in Alberta on cheap oil prices, the Saudis or the Alberta NDP government. The Alberta’s Progressive Conservatives’ bad policies and reckless spending for the last couple of decades are to blame.

Rebirth of Protectionism

As I mention earlier, China is focusing inward on their economy and the leading frontrunners in the US presidential nominate races want to nullifying any existing trade agreement. The EU is crumbling as countries wanting to pull out the union, and want to bring back protectionism and focusing on their own country.

Photo by Phil Roeder

According to Gerald Friedman, an economics professor at the University of Massachusetts;  Bernie Sanders platform would bring back a productive economy back to America by making a huge investment in infrastructure, increase stagnate income levels, free college education and introducing single pay healthcare like Canada. You can find summary analysis of this here and here or download the full analysis here. There has been a lot of counter arguments regarding Friedman’s analysis in the press. Most of it political rhetoric with no through analysis of their own.

The only caveat I see is that bring back manufacturing jobs will not be the same as it used to be. We are in the digital age and most manufacturing jobs can be done with robotics or other advanced automation technology. Even Chinese workers are being replaced by robotics. Foxconn expects robots to take over 70% of the factory work in the next few years. Even Kia is building fully automated factories for some of their vehicles. Traditional manufacturing jobs are a thing of the past. Where the real jobs are and there is a the shortage of; is workers to build robotics and automated systems and programming coders to write the software to power them.

In Canada, corporations will continue to pillage our resources and at a faster rate as the Canadian dollar is at its lowest level in over a decade or two. Exports from our manufacturing parts sector are seeing a boom because of the low dollar, but at what cost? The cost of food and other things we depend on is going higher and higher. If Donald Trump or Bernie Sanders are elected President, how will their protectionism agenda effect Canada?

Time to Make Canada Great Again

If Hilary Clinton becomes President everything remains status quo and the political establishment stays the same. The current Trudeau federal government can continue focusing on immigration, carbon taxing and making the economy worse. Free Trade including TPP will live on and wage disparity will continue to widen. We will continue doing what we have been doing by allowing corporations to become richer and richer at the lower expense of our resources.

I can’t believe that we export our costly oil and buy it back at a premium. To add insult to injury, the BC and Quebec governments, including the new Trudeau federal government; derailed any attempts to have pipelines constructed. China would have been the biggest importer of our oil and gas is now making deals with Saudi Arabia and Iran. Ironically, Christy Clark, the premier of British Columbia and the Trudeau government are in favour of approving TPP, the worst trade deal in Canadian history. From the East, a few Quebec mayors raised opposition to a pipeline being built across their province. They sighted that rail is safer despite the tragedy in a town of Lac-Mégantic and the derailment in West Virginia. CN and CP Rail has been adding more containers to a single run beyond the safety levels to reduce costs and keep up with the demand.

Photo by Kurt Bauschardt

Now if we had smart politicians in the last 40 years, we would have built more Oil Refineries in Canada and have exported value-added oil, fuel, and gas. It still amazes me that Western Canada buys gasoline refined in Texas from Alberta Oilsands, only to be shipped back as gasoline at a much higher price than it would if we refined it ourselves. Gas would be cheaper resulting in reduced fuel cost to move consumable items. It is a win-win situation. We need some kind of National Energy program that all provinces can benefit – especially Alberta, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland, unlike the late Trudeau’s NEP. The Notley Government should form an Energy Crown Corporation and take over the lands from oil companies that have laid off and have closed their operations. Yes, they would have to borrow money, but oil prices will rebound when a worldwide correction takes place. At least, the province would enjoy the profits and keep people working. The Federal Government would oversee completion of pipelines across Canada.

As I mentioned before, Canada is largely a resource based country and we depend on revenues from those resources. In the next six months, as commodity prices continue its downward spiral, Canada’s economy will be the worst it has ever been. The current Trudeau government doesn’t have the bold leadership to get us out of the economic mess we will face and I didn’t think they ever will. History shows with Obama, just because you have a pretty face and want to be sensible doesn’t mean you are a good President or Prime Minister in get things done. We need a leader like Ralph Klein, Mike Harris or FDR and JFK. These politicians got things done whether their policies were popular or not. We need a leader with a passionate tone of Donald Trump, not his rhetoric; with the sensibility of Bernie Sanders.

America is starving for a revolution as globalization hasn’t worked out what it was touted to be. They want jobs, higher income, affordable healthcare, political reform, fair taxation and social equity. They also want a political leader that will stand up to multi-national corporations. Although political influence by corporations is not as bad in Canada as it is the US, it still exists in all levels of Canadian governments. The CRTC is a primary example as the committee comprises former cable and telco executives. I think Canadians want drastic changes and a revolution. The evidence can be seen with the NDP majority win in Alberta and Trudeau’s Liberal majority win in last year’s federal election. Will the new governments make things better? Maybe or maybe not. Both governments are inexperienced. Inexperience is not necessarily a bad thing. As long as you learn from past mistakes and the desired passion in taking chances that benefits people not just a few as the established political parties have done in the last 40 years.

Globalization benefits no one. Supporting local businesses results in more jobs and higher wages. By spending money in local small businesses will thrive by providing more employment and better wages and benefits. We also need to revert to short patent terms that would spur more competition and innovation. Canada should also institute value added components or services such as refined oil so that manufacturing goods and resources are exported at a higher price and Canadians can be proud that our products and services are Made in Canada.

Last month, the Royal Bank of Scotland warned that investors would face a “cataclysmic year” and advised its clients to Sell Everything except high quality bonds. Now I wouldn’t advise to selling everything, your investment advisor would be the best person to direct you on how to weather the upcoming storm.

Trouble in China

Pressure on the Asian markets before Fed meeting, Nikkei down by 150 points. By Udit Khatri https://flic.kr/p/BfbshQ

In the month of January, the Chinese stock market crashed several times. Hints at lower then expected exports and their raising debt has made a lot of investors edgy. Is China in trouble? Far from it. According to insiders, China’s domestic economy is booming as the Chinese embrace Western consumerism. So the Chinese government is starting to focus inward instead of being the dominant exporter they use to be. With all the panic of investors believing there is trouble in China, stock markets around the world have been driven down to some of the lowest levels since 2007-2008.

Shipments Are On the Decline

Cargo Ship by Steve Grundy https://flic.kr/p/6jXk54

Two key indicators that have been it the news lately are declining cargo shipments and declining US Rail Traffic. Gillian Tett from the Financial Times points out that the Baltic Dry Index which measures shipment costs of raw materials and is one of the key indicators of economic growth has declined 75% in the past six months. Despite the US reporting that its economy is strong and growing, The Bank of America says the US Rail Traffic has been steadily declining and dipped to its lowest level since 2009. Even though coal (which is the bulk of rail shipments) has been steadily declining as more environment friendly energy incentives come online, there are indications of reduced shipments of other materials due to the decline in manufacturing in America.

Cheap Oil

Epic oil crash. Courtesy of CNN.

With oil prices continuing to its free-fall to maybe as low as $16 a barrel,  Canada and many emerging markets are struggling because they are dependent on revenue from heavy resources such as oil. Alberta’s economy has tanked as oil sand production has reduced or halted creating a negative domino effect for the rest of Canada.

The oversupply of oil can attributed to an increase of production in US shale deposits from North Dakota. Even they are suffering the ill effects of low oil prices and the boom in North Dakota ended in 2014.  Recently to compound the oil price crisis, Iran’s trade sanctions have been lifted and it is projected to export a million barrels a day. Saudi Arabia has indicted that they will not reduce production of their cheap oil as it fears that they will lose market share and to force US shale oil producers into bankruptcy with the low oil prices as they are heavily in debt.

UPDATE: After this writing, Saudi Arabia did agree, along with Russia to cut production only if other OPEC and Non-OPEC nations agreed to the same. There is a very slim chance of this happening.

Political Uncertainty

There are signs that some countries that form the European Unit (EU) are wanting to break away from it. Britain is showing its intent. Other countries are growing weary bailing out Greece and other weak countries and the whole refugee crisis in Europe has everyone up in arms regarding who is going to pay for all of it.

Bernie Sanders Courtesy of Phil Roeder https://flic.kr/p/CDeYM4 Donald Trump Courtesy of Gage Skidmore https://flic.kr/p/e41HXa

Later this year, the US will be electing a new President. The top leading candidate for the Republicans is Donald Trump and for the Democrats, it is Bernie Sanders. Both are populists and are against the existing political establishments that have ruled for several decades. Both candidates want to nullify all existing trade deals including the recently signed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and are willing to enforce US protectionism. They claim that this is how to get America back by producing and manufacturing and putting people back to work.

Could we see the end of globalization as a global recession starts to take hold and countries start to fend for themselves? Are we seeing that globalization was not what it was cracked up to be? Find out in my next post.

Me, Not So lucky

My car after another driver enters intersection 10 secs after light turns red.

Mark who was shaken, had to pull over. He was lucky. I wasn’t. I arrived back in Toronto a year and half ago and within a month – POW – I was hit by a driver who ran through the intersection 10 seconds after the light turned red. The 85-year-ago lady was charged and eventually pleaded guilty after finding out I was living in Toronto.

I will admit am a bit of an aggressive driver. But I do use common sense and stop at a red light when I can safety stop in time. I sometimes worry about the driver behind me. When I moved to Alberta, it was quite the adjustment. In Edmonton, drivers stop when the light turns yellow. Almost had some rear-enders there.  In Calgary, there are so many Red Light Cameras, you would be silly to do what Torontonians do. Toronto does have red lights cameras including the intersection where I was hit. But it doesn’t seem to discourage a lot of drivers running through red lights. This part of the reason why Ontarians pay the highest insurance premiums in Canada.

In Russia, having a dashboard cameras is a must because of all the aggressive driving there. You can pickup one for about $130 up to high end ones that have 2 channels that record front and back for about $450. Most include a GPS to record your speed and location in case do get into an accident. I think it is a must have for any Toronto driver.

Sexual assaults happens far more often than most would suspect. What irked me about that day was that other sexual assault cases may get a 15 or 30 sec sound bite. Instead of the media highlighting and informing the public that sexual assault of any kind is wrong, the media has turned this trial into entertainment.

I discovered a show on Hulu yesterday called Breaking The Set with Abby Martin. It was her pilot show and she was doing a piece about media’s behaviour and coverage of various school mass shootings. The show was aired a few days after the Sandy Brook Shooting. There was a line she said that sums up my feeling that Monday afternoon

The media has latched on to the story like the parasitic vultures they are… The way the corporate press covers these types of tragedies is like “shock and awe porn”

Perfectly said Abby.

The Art of Picking The Right Theme For Your Website

I use WordPress as the backend. I tried a couple of themes and end up using Sixteen Nine Pro from Studiopress. Try as I might, I edited the code to force anyone using Internet Explorer to use Compatibility Mode. The result was still lacklustre. So I searched for another theme and came across Prolog from Themeum. After some tweaking and re-editing previous posts. I was amazed how fast the website loads without any caching plugins.

It is a shame that Microsoft likes to do there own thing and not follow industry standards. It just creates more work for web designers. I would like to note that Microsoft Edge browser in Windows 10 provides a much better web experience. For those unfamiliar with the Edge browser, it is a stripped down web browser that doesn’t allow plugins and extension.

Finally with the end of Adobe Flash, and just recently Oracle ending development of Java; maybe surfing the web can be a safer experience. As an IT professional it is hard to keep up with the dates to fix all security vulnerabilities that Flash and Java introduces.

I hope you like the new design of my blog site. I think it looks clean, easier to read and navigate in all browsers. I would love to hear your feedback.

I remember the day when had to present a video project in my Grade 11 Urban Studies class at Central High School of Commerce. Unfortunately, the video is on a Beta tape and my Sony Beta machine just chews up tapes. The video opened up with recordings of Daryl Dahmer and other traffic reports. Then onto a musical montage of Gino Vanelli’s Black Cars, Sniff n The Tears’ Driver Seat overlayed on top of video images that three of my classmates and myself shot running around Toronto for the day. In between the songs I made commentaries about the pending SkyDome construction and the traffic issues it would cause. There was an off-camera interview with a Police Sargent with Toronto Police Traffic division, and talking about TTC overcrowding. This is back in the late 80’s and nothing as really changed since then. I did get an A+ with my limited editing skills and Commodore 64 generated graphics.

In Part 3 of my Toronto – The Gridlock City, I only touched on some of the most prominent solutions. There are more solutions to write about. I hope you have some time to visit my new blog Better Urban Planning and also click on Like on the website Facebook Page or follow updates to the website via Twitter.

Traffic congestion and gridlock are issues every densely populated city faces, not just Toronto. I talked about how taking my car was a better alternative than taking public transit in my Toronto – The Gridlock City Part 1 post.

In Part 2, I talked about how poor urban planning, lack of government funding and special interests contribute to the $200 billion that Toronto and other municipalities need to repair and upgrade their existing road and public transit infrastructures. In this post I’ll talk about some possible solutions to ease congestion and gridlock in Toronto.

Toronto has been classified as a world-class city, but it hasn’t kept up with the aging infrastructure to sustain its exceptional growth. Urban regions around Toronto known as the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) – which is currently expanded to include Hamilton (GTHA) – are struggling to maintain their own infrastructure. This is due to the influx of people buying homes outside Toronto, as the average home price in Toronto has reached $1.017 million. Compound that with people driving to work in polycentric business centres along the fringes of Toronto and cities like Brampton and Mississauga. These centres are underserved by public transit. Add in an aging TTC and GO Transit public transit system that is underfunded, and you have total gridlock, not to mention the degradation of social welfare. In other words, less quality of life and spending more time on family and social recreational activities.

But what are the solutions to fixing gridlock and easing congestion?

There is no way to completely eliminate gridlock. Many people believe building more roads is a possible solution, but induced demand would lead expanded roadways back to their original congested levels.

Build it and they will come

A model showing how induced demand works. Typically, traffic volume levels off and reaches an equilibrium over time, but when new capacity gets added, the volume increases to fill it, before reaching a new equilibrium. (Victoria Transport Policy Institute)

This is because extra lanes can attract new drivers who would not have otherwise driven. A few examples of induced demand are the $2.8 billion project to widen Houston’s Katy Freeway to 26 lanes, making it the widest freeway in the world. The other example is the $1 billion widening of I-405 in Los Angeles. The commuting times on the Katy Freeway increased 51% after its 2012 opening, while L.A’s I-405 congestion was back it’s original level within 5 months.

One recent solution was to introduce congestion pricing through a High-Occupancy Toll (HOT) lane, Stockholm’s city zone toll, or full highway tolls like the 407. Now, many people argue that it penalizes the poor or that they already pay enough in fuel and property taxes. I support paying a reasonable toll fee. As long as it means a stress-free drive, shorter commute times, and revenue is strictly recycled back into maintaining the roads, with the rest funding public transit. I am sure many others would agree. You can look at the recommendations that Canada’s Ecofiscal Commission in their summary report (you can view/download the full PDF report here).

Time to Pay the Piper

HOT lanes can replace High-Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes without building an extra lane and keep costs minimal. HOV lanes are often underutilized and actually wreak havoc, causing more gridlock because they are placed in the far left lane. Most drivers don’t plan ahead by changing lanes progressively 3 or 4 km before their exit. If you have ever driven on the QEW between Oakville and Burlington, you will know what I am talking about. During rush hour, traffic comes to a dead stop on all lanes – including the HOV lane – before each exit because someone needs to cross 4 lanes 200 metres before their exit. I am not a civil engineer, but HOV lanes should be in the right lane to improve traffic flow.

Jonathan Hall from the University of Toronto provides a very technical explanation on how introducing time-varying toll lanes to half the lanes could gain $1,700 per road user per year in social welfare benefits without hurting any road user. If you include all the US highways, that would translate to $30 billion per year. In a nutshell, it basically explains how everyone benefits from reduced commute times. If drivers are willing to pay for an express ride during peak rush hours, it frees up capacity on non-toll lanes for those less fortunate and with inflexible work schedules. It benefits those who can’t afford the toll lanes by not having to leave earlier before peak rush hour. And those who have flexible work schedules have the option to use the toll lanes or free lanes as volume is decreased during non-peak rush hours…which brings me to my next solution.

Times are Changing

We are in a transition period from the Industrial Age to the Creative Age, according to Richard Florida in his book “The Rise of the Creative Class.” Many manufacturing jobs are now outsourced to China and other countries outside North America. Jobs are concentrated in the Professional, Financial, and Creative (Communication, Marketing, and Information Technology) fields. These types of jobs are not your typical 9-to-5 or 8-to-4 jobs. But companies are still structured around those hours. More importantly, most of these jobs can be done remotely, or what is known as telecommuting.

Governments should provide tax credits to encourage employers to offer more telecommuting incentives. This would get more cars off the road and reduce transit overcapacity, particularly in Toronto. The shift to non-traditional work structures is becoming more evident as more millennials enter the workforce. They prefer non-micromanaged work environments, and as a bonus, they are not really interested in purchasing cars or SUVs. They prefer taking bikes and living very close to work. Widening roads may not be necessary in most urban centres, as traffic volumes should decrease over time with the workforce's generational shift. Unfortunately, this does not account for a barrage of new immigrants settling in urban centres, especially in the GTHA.

Meanwhile, some companies such as Manulife, Royal Bank, TD Canada Trust, and Telus are reducing their office space to cut real estate costs and increase mobility for their workforce. There has also been an upsurge in Shared or Coworking Spaces that provide workspaces at a fraction of the cost of a downtown office. Technology is also advancing, and many IT functions have moved to the cloud. There is absolutely no need for employees to work in an office.

Needing a Government Hand

Municipalities in smaller communities should offer incentives for employers to move offices to their town or city instead of the concentrated area of Toronto's downtown core or the industrial pockets of Mississauga and Brampton. This would boost the local economy and provide more social welfare benefits.

Provincial and Federal Governments should provide more funding for mass transit to connect major urban centres and many communities. Richard Florida posted an interesting article in The Atlantic back in 2009 about Mega-Regions and High-Speed Rail. He identified major urban corridors and calculated travel times between them by car and by high-speed rail at 155 mph. Interestingly, during my research for this post, China proposed building and paying for a high-speed rail line from Beijing to Vancouver and even offered to extend it across Canada. With almost 20,000 km of track laid since it first started offering high-speed service, I am left scratching my head about why Canada and the US don't have any high-speed trains in major urban corridors. Some would say it’s the tight reins that the oil and automotive industries have on governments. I would be one of them.

At the time of this post, the China stock market has been a rough ride. Some talk suggests globalization is imploding because of it, as China turns its attention to its domestic economy and lowers exports. As currencies around the world plummet, now would be a good time for Canada to focus inward and develop a cohesive plan to build local economies within our own borders.

All levels of government need to commit and lock in funding for road infrastructure and public transit. Interest rates are at the lowest level in over the last century. Borrow money and lots of it! The return on investment is regaining lost productivity and moving goods and services, thereby employing hundreds of thousands of people on mega projects with enormous spin-offs.

To summarize, Governments will need to make a tough choice in introducing toll lanes, and commuters will have to pay for value-added commuting. Businesses will need to embrace changing times and change their mindset in how we work. Most importantly, we need firm funding commitments and careful planning from all levels of government. With all these things in place, we can all improve our quality of life, which benefits everyone, instead of sitting in traffic or feeling like sardines.

I mainly talked about my various commuting times using different modes of transportation. Whether it be a car, GO Transit or TTC, the car seem to be the most efficient mode of travel, and the TTC is “The Worst Way”. Even Jack Layton’s little experiment got the same result.

I also touch on the costs of lost productivity from the congestion in the GTA that range from 2-20 billion dollars annually.

It amazes me the amount of money being lost in not dealing with this huge issue of congestion and gridlock. This prevents people, goods and services from getting around. I believe the root of this is a combination of the following:

1. Poor urban planning, particularly around the GTA.

2. Lack of Government funding or forethought.

3. The incredible leverage developers and influential contractors have over city councils.

The Ideal Urban Plan

Countless studies have explored the ideal urban plan. Downtown Toronto along Bloor/Danforth, Dundas, Queen and King Streets are great examples of good urban planning. What they have in common is a great mixture of commercial and residential zoning. Shopping, entertainment and going to and from work are all within walking distance. Rapid transit is a short walk away. Other major cities envy the vibrancy of Toronto and its core.

I grew up in Bloor West Village, and it had all the amenities everyone needed. There was an IGA grocery store, two theatres, bakeries, a stationery store, fruit and vegetable markets and restaurants. If you needed to go downtown, the TTC subway was a 5-10 min walk away. You didn't need a car. The area has a great mixture of single-family homes, multi-unit apartments, retail and professional businesses. Since people can walk to shop, you end up running into your neighbours. This strengthens the social fabric of a local, friendly community. This is how cities and towns should be planned and built, but instead the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) has become a sprawling mess that has reared its ugly head.

Suburban Paradise?

Over the last several decades, urban planning has gone by the wayside. Housing booms lured potential homeowners into buying cheaper homes with bigger lots, creating ad hoc residential developments that had no cohesion. You needed a car to drive 5 to 10 kms to get basic necessities. With no transit infrastructure in place, let alone building commercial and professional areas to create a local workforce, residents have to drive to major urban centres to work, causing gridlock.

Promises of schools to be built in new communities don’t materialize because school boards can’t afford to build them. Parents have to shuttle their kids early enough to arrive on time from the long commute to work. Now people are shifting back into the city, realizing the hidden costs of living in suburban towns and driving up housing prices, particularly in Toronto. The only problem with suburbanites migrating back to the city, along with the increase of new immigrants, is that it has put a strain on Toronto roads and transit.

There was Hope

I was in shock and awe while researching for this post. Back in 2007, then-Mayor David Miller proposed a transit plan called Transit City, and later the Government of Ontario proposed MoveOntario 2020, which incorporated Transit City. Those were ambitious plans; they would have relieved many of the headaches commuters face today. The current transit plan is The Big Move under Metrolinx, which will take decades to complete.

When it comes to governments—bureaucratic red tape, petty political agendas, and a lack of funding commitments—results in these great urban plans never get off the ground. The whole thing reminds me of the Nation Building Authority, portrayed in the Australian political-satire TV series Utopia (Dreamland in the US/Canada). You can watch it on Netflix.

What we lacked in the past couple of decades is the kind of leadership we had in the 1950s. During that time, the building of Interstate Highways in the U.S. and Toronto’s first subway was underway. In our current lagging economic environment, high unemployment and near-zero interest rates, it is imperative that we start moving dirt. Enough studies and environmental assessments have been done; now it is time to act. Money was wasted on auto industry bailouts and pet projects under Harper’s Economic Action Plan, not to mention allocating the Gas Tax Fund to anything other than roads, bridges and transit. This is part of the reason why $200 billion is needed today to repair and upgrade existing infrastructure, according to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.

There shouldn’t be a funding shortage. We pay some of the highest gasoline prices, considering that oil prices have fallen back to the point when gas was 50 cents a litre. There certainly is a lot of taxes being collected. These taxes should be used strictly to fund road infrastructure and public transit, not the general coffers.

Short-term Profits

Powerful developers and contractors have a major influence on Mayors, City Councillors, and provincial MPPs. There has been a huge explosion in tall condo buildings being built everywhere in Toronto. Parking lots are being converted to condos, making parking your car very difficult, not to mention very costly. It is unfortunate that most of these newly built condos remain vacant, as many foreign investors gobble up every unit that becomes available and then rent them at unreasonable rates. That discussion is for another post, but this forces many workers to live in underserved transit deserts and dread a one- or two-hour commute.

No one has taken real leadership to create a more affordable housing plan that would help not only low-income families but also middle-class families. The middle class is being forced to move farther to afford housing. Realistically, affordable homes are beyond the GTA. The north end of Barrie and St. Catharines seem to be places that haven’t been hit by over-inflated house prices. Middle- and upper-middle-class families resort to buying houses they can’t afford, resulting in Canadians having the highest debt ratio. For every dollar Canadians earn, they owe $1.64, according to the latest reports.

Developers outside the City of Toronto have been building subdivisions wherever land was cheap, with no real plan for the suburbs to grow organically. Instead, we have pockets of subdivisions with no schools or shopping malls. Eventually, these get built a few years after new homeowners move in. New homeowners end up driving their kids to school and using their vehicles for short errands, such as shopping for groceries. This causes unnecessary gridlock and frustration in their very own community.

Several solutions can alleviate gridlock and congestion, while also building more sustainable, community-friendly places with real environmental benefits. In my next post, I'll present solutions ranging from long-term changes to things we can do today to ease gridlock and congestion.

I totally understand that Toronto’s population is growing and condos are being built on every available square foot to accommodate this. In my opinion, the only problem with this, is there seems to be no planning on the surrounding infrastructure for people to get around.

Numbers speak for itself

Now being the analytical person I am, I use Toggl to track my time for various activities, including tracking my commute time. I work downtown and I have taken my car and I have used transit GO Transit or Toronto Transit Commission (TTC). After about a year, I can see why there a lot of cars on the roads. When I was taking the GO Train, it was no faster than taking my car and sitting on the Gardiner for 10 mins. Most times, the train was usually late getting into Union Station or some other delay on the Lakeshore West line. At the beginning of the summer, I moved to Humbertown in the Royal York and Dundas area. Taking the TTC was not any better.

Here is a sample of my commute and transit times.

Car (walk): AM 45 mins (30/15), PM 60 mins (15/45). Combined: 1 hr 45 mins

GO Train (car/train/walk): AM 50 mins (10/20/20), PM 50 mins (20/20/10). Combined: 1 hr 40 mins

TTC (car/walk/TTC/walk): AM 55 mins (8/5/35/7), PM 53 mins (7/35/5/8). Combined: 1 hr 48 mins

TTC (bus/train/walk): AM 56 mins (14/35/7), PM 53 mins (7/35/5/8). Combined: 1 hr 48 mins

Car after Nov 2015 (walk): AM 38 mins (23/15), PM 35 mins (15/20). Combined: 1 hr 13 mins

If you look at my travel times, you would think taking the GO Train would be the best option. I thought so too. Before June, I lived in the QEW/427 area, and hopping on the GO train at Long Branch for the 20 min. ride was very appealing. Who wants to sit on the Gardiner during rush hour while construction is going on? Just recently, after the Gardiner construction shifted to another location, driving to downtown is even faster. Governments and environmentalists always tout taking transit as the better way. Come to think of it, TTC’s slogan was “The Better Way”. And taking transit would be cheaper too, right?

Daily Costs between Transit and Car

Car: $10.00 parking + $4.50 gas = $14.50 a day

GO Transit: $4.50 parking + $10.10 fare = $14.60 a day

TTC: $6.00 parking + $0.00 = $6.00 a day

Based on the time and cost figures, the difference is minimal except for the TTC. But as anyone who travels on the TTC knows, I hate being poked and prodded like a sardine or cattle to save half the travel costs and add more travel time. I’d rather deal with road rage. I have lost count of how many times I have seen people trip and fall while being pushed out of the train. When I do take the TTC, I am thankful that I get on before Dundas West. By the time the train reaches that station, the whole train is packed, and anyone east of Dundas West has to wait for a few trains before they can get on. I can imagine it is the same from the east on the Danforth line. The Number 1 line (University and Yonge) is even worse. It can’t handle the capacity of the growth from the north and the influx of passengers travelling from the east and west.

Regardless of how I travel, it is 2 hours of lost productivity per day. Various reports peg the cost of lost productivity from congestion and gridlock in Toronto at over 2 – 20 Billion dollars annually. If business had to pay for employees commute time, it would be cheaper for them to pay the extra corporate taxes then trying to avoid paying. My 2 hours of daily commute time pales in comparison to TTC riders who endure much longer travel times, especially riders who takes buses and live in Transit Deserts.

I remember when I was a teenager that congestion was concentrated with commuters heading into downtown Toronto. If you worked anywhere else, like Mississauga or Brampton, the drive was free-flowing and stress-free. It is a stark contrast to what it is today. Now you can’t get anywhere, whether travelling downtown, north, east, or west. What compounded all of this?

1. Poor urban planning, particularly in the GTA.

2. Lack of Government funding or forethought.

3. The incredible leverage developers and big contractors have over city councils.

In my next post, I will write how we got here and some of the solutions that should be in place.

I have tried various apps in the last several years. There was Tapster (acquired by Nokia which stopped development after 2014 ), Beat the Traffic, Google Maps, Apple Maps. Of course, there are other tools you can use to get traffic information. You can get traffic updates from the radio. But it only gives highlights of major highway conditions or major accidents in 1 or 2 minute soundbites. And built-in car navigation systems are useless in a avoiding traffic congestions unless you subscribe to SirusXM traffic, if it is available in your car. And even if you do, it will most likely display major highways.

I would like to review two apps I use daily. These apps can help navigate around traffic congestion frustration and get to your destination a little faster.

Inrix XD Traffic

Inrix claims to provide detailed traffic speeds every 250 meters across 4.5 million miles of road in 40 countries. Their main business is data mining and sophisticated analysis of traffic data from local and provincial/state governments, private partners and connected cars and devices.

Inrix is usually the source for Google and other navigation developers to power the traffic data used for their web and mobile apps.

When you first open the app, it opens the Traffic News view. Above the map is the current state of the traffic conditions in the city you are in. Free-Flow (green), Mild (grey), Moderate (orange) and Heavy (red). The map gives you an overview of the major highways in and around the city. Below the map are current snapshots of traffic cameras that are in your area. If you scroll down further, it will list incidents on your route or around your city. When you setup your Work or Home places, it automatically display the commute time to Work then you are at Home or vice versa; when you open the app.

The app has some other cool features, you can set up departure alert times for your favourite places. Turn on Traffic alerts for police, hazards, accidents and congestion. The app also gives you the ability to forecast when the best time to leave. You can also email or text your arrival time.

If you want to set up more Places that you frequently travel to, you can do an in-app purchase to upgrade to their premium lifetime subscription for $9.99 ($11.99 CDN)

Inrix is technically more a traffic app than a navigation app. The app will plot your two different routes showing a black border along your primary route and a gray border along your secondary route. The app will automatically re-route if you go off course. There are icons on the map indicating congestion, closures and construction zones.

I have used this app since 2009 when I lived around Calgary and now in Toronto. The arrival times are pretty accurate barring any sudden accidents that occur along your route.

Inrix is available for iOS, Android and Windows Phone

The only thing missing is turn by turn voice guidance or popups when you need to turn. This is why I use another app in the background to give me audio turn by turn directions.

Waze

The Waze app (which was acquired by Google) takes a different approach in getting you around the city. It relies on crowdsourcing to plan the best route to your destination. The app is used by over 50 million users and is loaded with features such as:

• real-time traffic and road info updates from app users from their reported alerts including accidents, hazards, police traps, red light cameras, road closures

• automatic rerouting as conditions change on the road

• learns your frequent destinations, commuting hours, and preferred routes

• find the cheapest gas on your route

• audio and visual alerts on the estimated time in a traffic jam

• hands free alerting of traffic conditions

• send your ETA and real-time drive to update who you’re meeting

• sync with your Facebook and calendar events

The setup is fairly simple. You register via an SMS, Facebook or create an account via email. Next steps are to go to your settings and change a few of them.

Under the Sound Settings, you have a choice of different voices that provides you guidance via phone speaker or Bluetooth audio. The default Jane voice includes street names. On my Kia Optima paired with my iPhone, I can listen to the radio and the Waze app will interrupt the radio with any voice navigation and traffic alerts.

Under the Navigation setting, enable Avoid Toll roads unless you prefer to drive on highways like the 407. You can also select your routing style, either fastest or shortest.

Lastly, you can set up how the app listens to your voice commands to alert other Waze users to traffic conditions. You can tap the screen with 3 fingers or wave your hand once or twice to activate. You can say “Report Traffic – Moderate, Heavy or Standstill” This by far the safest way to report a traffic condition. Manually reporting makes you tap different items and is very distracting while driving.

The main screen auto zooms in when you are idling to give detailed traffic information  It shows the current speed of the traffic flow of the road you are on and surrounding roads. One of the added features I like is that the app alerts you the estimated time in traffic jams. First a voice alert and then an indicator on the main screen. When stopped at a light, various popups will appeared to alert you on traffic and road alert coming up on your route. It will also display a popup alert telling you there is a Tim Horton’s close by. Clicking on the ad re-routes you there if you need java boost.

One of the other cool feature is ability to send an ETA via SMS or email to the person you are meeting, just like Inrix. But Waze goes a step further. If the recipient clicks on the provided link, they can watch in real-time your driving process to destination with up-to-date ETA times.

Waze is available for iOS, Android and Windows Phone

To prevent taking my eyes off the road, I use a car mount to hold my iPhone that is in plain view. It is a combination of ProClip for the base to securely attached to the dashboard and RAM’s X-Grip universal holder to hold my phone. Waze is running the background and I have Inrix on the screen so I can quickly glance at the road conditions in the area with its tri-colour indicators.

With all the distracted driving laws enforced around North America, Waze is the safer app to use. With a wave of your hand and speaking about road conditions and incidents along with audio notifications, keeps your eyes focused on the road and not on the device.

My goal with this post is to bring awareness to those two valuable apps. The more people using these apps, the better our daily commute will be.

To give you a brief history, a (Polish) military group descended on the small village, inhabited mainly by Ukrainians; and annihilated 366 people. According to historian Peter Potichnyj,

Of the 366 victims, 189 were men and 177 were women. There were 153 victims aged 45 years or older (among them 86 people over 60). 65 people were between the ages of 35 and 44. 39 were between 25-34; and 49 were between 15 and 24. 52 were between 5 and 14, and 7 were younger then 4 years of age

Upon the survivors was my mom – Olga,14 years old at the time – was the oldest to escape the massacre and ended up taking care of the remaining children. To this day, she relives the events as if it was yesterday.

It took almost 61 years for this event to come to light when in May 13, 2006, the Polish and Ukrainian governments opened a monument and held a memorial honouring those who perished. Unfortunately, there is a lot of controversy what lead to the massacre included the actual truth of what actually happened. My mother’s eyewitness accounts are a little different then what has been reported or what the governments will admit to. Regardless, the monument is a positive step to recognizing one of the many horrors of war that has been overshadowed by the Holocaust.

This post is in honour of my mom (the strongest woman I have ever known), my cousin(aunt) – Darka, 8 years old at the time – along with few other survivors and of course the 366 people who perished those fateful 3 days in March of 1945.

You can check out my sister’s blog, Myrka Thoughts, for some of her insights on Pavlokroma, and here is an article on the memorial held on May 13, 2006.

Hello, my name is George Dus and welcome to my personal blog.

I always have an opinion on almost everything. I always pride myself that I usually think outside the box. Sometimes it’s follows common sense or it can be pretty much weird or crazy. Whether it’s on technology, social issues or politics, I always like to make people aware of things that might not be portrayed properly in the news, media or on the web. We get so bombarded with short sound bites all the time, that sometimes things and ideas can get lost in translation or getting behind the real story.

I am already going against the grain by not have this blog focus on specific topic or theme that branding and web experts always suggest to do. Yup, I might be all over the place in terms of various topics, just like I do in person. To me, my main goal with this blog is making a positive impact or just helping someone find an answer to a pressing question. I might not answer “What is the meaning of life?” but maybe I can point you in the right direction.

Feel free add your comments to any of my blog posts. I am forgoing using WordPress’ comments and instead using Facebook’s Social Plug-in, so you will have to have a Facebook account to add your comments. It is less maintenance and avoid spammers.

Hope you enjoy my blog. Until next time.

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