Morning Brew: April 3rd, 2008

Photo: untitled by blogTO Flickr pooler pcrocks.

Your morning news roundup for Thursday, April 3rd, 2008:

In a slight change of pace, let's start with some good news: it turns out that fewer Torontonians are using their cars to get to work and are instead using alternative modes of transportation like biking and public transit. A particularly relevant fact with Metronauts Transit Camp coming up this weekend.

Sadly, not all of the people still driving are stopping at red lights: city council is proposing to install more red light cameras in the city and to raise the fines for those caught jumping into intersections when they shouldn't be.

--

In yet more transportation related news, gas prices are going up. Again. If you haven't topped up your tank recently, expect prices of up to $1.12/litre when you get to the gas station today.

Shifting gears from transportation to youth, a new survey by the Public Health Agency of Canada shows that cigarette smoking and reports of bullying among young people are on the downturn, but levels of physical inactivity are on the rise.

The inactivity could be related to the amount of homework kids currently get from school, but that could all change if the school board adopts a new "family-friendly" homework policy that aims to reduce schoolwork done at home, particularly during holidays.

And to cap off today's Brew, the Stats Canada census is now telling us what we all see on the streets every day: more than almost half of our city's population are visible minorities, and out diversity is on the rise.