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Majority support pedestrian tunnel to island airport: survey
56 per cent support it this year, as opposed to 62 per cent in 2009
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...nnel-to-island-airport-survey/article1635408/
Despite a slight decline in support, the majority of Torontonians are still in favour of building a pedestrian tunnel to the island airport, a new survey suggests.
Of the 700 people surveyed by Ipsos Reid in a report released Friday, 56 per cent said that they support building a foot tunnel. The survey was conducted for the Toronto Port Authority, which operates the Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport and has long pushed for a tunnel.
“This survey confirms that the TPA is on the right track,†Mark McQueen, chairman of the TPA’s board of directors, said in a statement Friday.
Despite his optimism, this year’s results in fact indicate a slight drop in support from last year, where a similar poll found that 62 per cent of Torontonians at the time supported a tunnel, and only 31 per cent were opposed to it. This year, 42 per cent of respondents are opposed to it.
Ipsos explained the drop by saying that a number of the questions were asked differently this year – this year the survey indicated that the $45-million tunnel would be paid for by user fees (as an airport improvement fee), rather than by the federal government.
The survey sample this year also included 300 people who live south of Queen Street in downtown Toronto, and therefore closer to the airport.
But at least a couple waterfront residents have their doubts about the survey.
Bill Kime, who lives on Ward’s Island, said that some respondents may not have been aware of the background or history of the issue.
“I think if it was put to them that a tunnel was going to cost X amount of money in light of the fact that X amount has already been spent buying new ferries, they would say ‘how could you possibly need the tunnel?’†he said.
Brian Iler, chair of CommunityAIR, a group opposed to expansion of the island airport, echoed this, saying that the survey results should “be taken with a huge grain of salt.â€
“The tunnel will certainly make it easier to maintain the airport and make it more attractive to people,†he said. “But it’s still just a huge waste of money when you’re talking about spending scarce funds, and public funds.â€
The survey is considered accurate within 3.7 percentage points 19 times out of 10.
More...http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/July2010/09/c3402.html
56 per cent support it this year, as opposed to 62 per cent in 2009
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...nnel-to-island-airport-survey/article1635408/
Despite a slight decline in support, the majority of Torontonians are still in favour of building a pedestrian tunnel to the island airport, a new survey suggests.
Of the 700 people surveyed by Ipsos Reid in a report released Friday, 56 per cent said that they support building a foot tunnel. The survey was conducted for the Toronto Port Authority, which operates the Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport and has long pushed for a tunnel.
“This survey confirms that the TPA is on the right track,†Mark McQueen, chairman of the TPA’s board of directors, said in a statement Friday.
Despite his optimism, this year’s results in fact indicate a slight drop in support from last year, where a similar poll found that 62 per cent of Torontonians at the time supported a tunnel, and only 31 per cent were opposed to it. This year, 42 per cent of respondents are opposed to it.
Ipsos explained the drop by saying that a number of the questions were asked differently this year – this year the survey indicated that the $45-million tunnel would be paid for by user fees (as an airport improvement fee), rather than by the federal government.
The survey sample this year also included 300 people who live south of Queen Street in downtown Toronto, and therefore closer to the airport.
But at least a couple waterfront residents have their doubts about the survey.
Bill Kime, who lives on Ward’s Island, said that some respondents may not have been aware of the background or history of the issue.
“I think if it was put to them that a tunnel was going to cost X amount of money in light of the fact that X amount has already been spent buying new ferries, they would say ‘how could you possibly need the tunnel?’†he said.
Brian Iler, chair of CommunityAIR, a group opposed to expansion of the island airport, echoed this, saying that the survey results should “be taken with a huge grain of salt.â€
“The tunnel will certainly make it easier to maintain the airport and make it more attractive to people,†he said. “But it’s still just a huge waste of money when you’re talking about spending scarce funds, and public funds.â€
The survey is considered accurate within 3.7 percentage points 19 times out of 10.
More...http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/July2010/09/c3402.html
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