New Mobility Jamboree in Toronto Over the week of 20-24 September a number of citizens, groups and actors concerned with the mounting challenges of transport, environment and the economy in Toronto, are getting together to swap ideas and rethink how we can improve the way we get around in our city in our daily lives. Not in the very long term but in the one or two years directly ahead. Think of it as a New Mobility Jamboree, and you're invited.	Organization in brief New Mobility 2004 is an independent public enquiry coordinated by the Ontario Chapter of the Sierra Club in partnership with the New Mobility Agenda of The Commons, and with the support of a fast expanding network of concerned citizens and local, regional and national groups. The City of Toronto is hosting the opening day events at City Hall, with the Summit to continue at various other Toronto locations over the rest of the week.
Questions being addressed How un-sustainable are our transportation arrangements in Toronto in 2004? Can we live with them, or are there some pressing problems that need to be addressed? What is the level of urgency involved? Are the traditional or "Old Mobility" solutions going to do the job? Can we wait for long term forces and events to solve these problems for us? Or do we need to start to move toward a point-by-point action agenda for immediate near term improvements without delay, setting firm dates and targets out there for all to see and judge us by? These are the issues that are going to be getting attention at this first New Mobility Summit.	Week Events/The Agenda A week long series of informal public conversations about the path to sustainable mobility led by Eric Britton of The Commons, this first Summit is supported by Toronto Public Health, Works and Emergency Services, Environment Canada, Transport Canada, the Clean Air Council and other stakeholders. Bringing together some of the brightest minds from the Greater Toronto Area and beyond, the Summit is engaging and benefiting from the collaboration of representatives of health and alternative transport groups, urban planners, business groups, community activists, politicians and concerned citizens across the region..
Is it time for a New Mobility Agenda for Toronto? Well? To advance this, the core argument to be presented and discussed is the provisional recommendation that (a) real progress can be made on these matters if we decide to make it a priority; (b) that substantial advances can be made in months and not decades; (c) that the cost of such a transition is easily bearable; but (d) that the only way that this can be achieved is through a very large, broadly supported, multi-part package of measures and heavy local commitment to success.	Tell us what you think The goal of the week is to query the utility of creating a broad-based, powerful public constituency for real remedial action without delay. You are invited to participate actively in this process: by joining in the events and by providing your views and counsel via the 2004 Guestbook & Commentary which has been created to support these events and to guide the follow-up process. You can view all the responses and comments which have thus far come in, and let us know about your eventual interest in seeing a copy of our final report and recommendations.
The New Mobility Agenda Unconstrained by bureaucracy, economic interests or schedules, the Agenda was launched in 1988 as a platform in The Commons for critical discussion, exchanges of materials, and diverse forms of cross-border collaboration on the challenging, necessarily conflicted topic of "sustainable transportation and social justice". Check out the Agenda's aggressive 20/20 New Mobility Action Program.	The Commons Open Society Initiative A wide open, independent first-stop-shop on the web for concerned citizens, researchers, students, policy makers, entrepreneurs, investors or social activists interested in quickly getting a feel for world sustainability issues, views and developments from an unbiased critical perspective. We invite open discussion, information sharing, diversity, complex thinking and collaborative initiatives for action.

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