Transport Action Atlantic’s Annual General Meeting will be held in Moncton, New Brunswick, this coming Saturday. All are welcome to attend!
Saturday, May 5 at 2:00 p.m
CN Pensioners Centre
1 Curry Street
(off Donald Avenue)
Moncton NB
This year’s feature will be an engaging presentation – Why Canada Needs Passenger Trains – A serious message, with a touch of humour, from our keynote speaker Marshall Button.
Marshall Button – Actor, Host, Playwright, Director, artist-in-residence at the Capitol Theatre. Creator of Lucien, NB’s Blue-Collar Philosopher–and full of opinions! (as described in his Twitter bio)
Further, in addition to the usual business agenda and opportunity to discuss ongoing transportation issues in the region, we will also be presenting the John Pearce Award to its second recipient, an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to public transportation advocacy in Atlantic Canada.
We hope to see you there, and look forward to hearing your thoughts! As always, our AGM is open to the general public and the media.
TAA Treasurer Don MacLeod presents the inaugural John Pearce Award to John Pearce (seated). Looking on, from left to right, are TAA board member Michael Perry, President Ted Bartlett, and Membership Secretary Christine Mills Garnet. (Photo – Tim Hayman)
How does an organization appropriately acknowledge more than four decades of dedicated service to its cause? When president emeritus John Pearce advised his TAA colleagues last summer in a brief e-mail that his health no longer would permit him to maintain an active role, that question immediately arose. The answer came from vice-president Ashley Morton: establish an annual award in John’s name to recognize outstanding public transportation advocacy. And, let’s further honour John by naming him as the first recipient.
So it was that following the TAA fall board meeting on November 18, a delegation visited the Dartmouth seniors complex where John and his wife Karen now reside to personally present the annual award plaque and the recipient’s “keeper” trophy. It was obvious during the brief ceremony that, although age and health issues have forced him to the sidelines, they have not diminished his commitment and enthusiasm for the cause.
John joined Transport 2000 Atlantic in the mid 1970s, served for many years as its president, and remained an active volunteer and board member as the organization rebranded itself as Transport Action Atlantic. His primary focus was always passenger rail, and until less than a year ago he could be frequently found in the Halifax VIA station, promoting the cause and chatting with passers-by and railway employees.
The John Pearce Award will be given annually to a group or individual demonstrating outstanding effort in the field of public transportation advocacy. A selection committee will be established to invite nominations and choose the winner each year.
The physical award. The names of each year’s recipients will be added to the main plaque, and each individual will also receive a smaller trophy to keep.
A new feature of the Bridgewater streetscape – bus stop signs! (Photo – Tim Hayman)
On October 21st, Transport Action Atlantic hosted its second Nova Scotia Members Event. A group of 10 TAA members made their way to Bridgewater NS on what turned out to be a gorgeous fall day, to explore the newest addition to the public transit world in the Maritimes. The Town of Bridgewater recently launched a transit system as a pilot project, with funding support from the Province and a pair of buses generously donated by the city of Halifax.
For most of the attendees, the day began at the VIA Rail station in Halifax – a convenient meeting location, though sadly the last train for Bridgewater departed many, many years ago. The trip to Bridgewater helped to highlight one of the major remaining gaps in the public transportation system in Nova Scotia, as the only option for getting there was by car. Most of the group met up here to carpool, while a few others from the area would arrive in Bridgewater on their own.
Arriving in town, the group made its way to Lanna Thai restaurant on King St., just a few blocks from the bus stop where the main highlight of the trip would begin. Lunch wrapped up with a little while to spare before the hourly bus would arrive, so the group explored the public parks along the waterfront.
The group poses by the waterfront in a park that was formerly a parking lot – an excellent re-use of that space! (Photo by TAA VP Ashley Morton)
