Canada and tourism — страница 2

Canada's main competition --Canadian Pacific Airlines --began operation in 1942. By 1969, the new airline had links to the far East, Australia, and South America. In 1968, Canadian Pacific Airlines became CP Air. In total, Canada has 515 airports with paved runways, 878 with unpaved runways and 17 heliports. Ontario alone has more than 60 airports with scheduled flights and 20 that service jet aircraft. Ontario handles 40% of Canada's national passenger traffic through the Lester B. Pearson Airport in Toronto. This airport serves 45 different countries around the world. It is also ranked fourth in North America in terms of the number of international passengers using the airport. The heliports are used primarily by Helicopter Transport Services which opened in Timmins, Ontario in

1974, and now operate throughout Canada and the United States. The helicopters are used for news broadcasts, air ambulance services, executive transport, aerial construction, police aviation and sightseeing. However, they are used most extensively in the resource sector, serving the forestry and mining companies. While airplanes are very attractive for longer journeys, most people prefer the automobile for shorter distances. Road transportation is most competitive over small distances and offers the most spatially unrestricted form of transport in Canada. Following World War II, large sums of money were poured into the construction of a road network in Canada. In 1962, the TransCanada Highway was officially opened. At 7 821 kilometers, the TransCansda Highway is the longest

national highway in the world stretching from St. John's, Newfoundland to Vancouver Island in British Columbia. The highway varies from a two-lane road to a limited access divided highway, which breaks into two different routes in northern Ontario and out west. The main southern route stays within one hour of the Canada-US border and runs along the northern shores of the Great, while the more scenic route runs farther north along wild rivers, untouched lakes, many small towns and various kinds of wildlife. At Portage- la- Prairie just west of Winnipeg, the highway breaks into two routes again with the main route crossing the southern edge of three prairie provinces and the northern route running up through Yorkton and Saskatoon, Saskatchewan where it becomes the Yellowhead

Highway. Throughout its entirety, the TransCanada Highway is marked by highway signs bearing a green and white maple leaf. Mile zero is marked by a monument in Victoria on Vancouver Island. Starting here and traveling east, the highway passes through the Kicking Horse Pass in the Rocky Mountains, Kamloops and the prairies, the forests of the Canadian Shield and the Atlantic provinces. The only province that does not have a portion of the highway is Prince Edward Island. Along with the TransCanada Highway, Canada has numerous smaller provincial highways and roads. In 1995 there was an estimated 1 million kilometers of highways in the country -- 358 371 kilometers paved and 662 629 kilometers unpaved. In Ontario, there are 72 000 kilometers of paved roads and highways, putting 40%

of the total population of North America within a 24 hour drive of the province. Highway 401 is Ontario's main highway, allowing people to travel from Windsor, Ontario to Montreal, Quebec. It has a minimum of four lanes but reaches 14 lanes in Metropolitan Toronto. Secondary highways (502 - 673) exist only in northern Ontario, and are often not paved and are used to connect remote areas to major provincial roads. Tertiary highways are also exclusive to northern Ontario, are mostly gravel and connect all the remote areas that secondary highways do not reach. Territory highways have a tendency to end suddenly at a river, lake or other feature. Before highway travel and automobiles became the main ways of traveling, the train was widely used as a means of getting goods and people

from one place to another. The first railway began operation in 1854 and was the primary method of moving unprocessed resources from remote areas to industrial centers. In 1881, Canada's first transcontinental railway -- the Canadian Pacific Railroad -- was established by a Calgary-based company. This railroad covers 25, 000 square kilometers and connects the Atlantic and Pacific coasts with the interior of North America. It links major Canadian cities and 16 Midwest and northeastern US states. Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) is a freight railway that transports food (sugar, canned goods, molasses, fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables etc.), consumer manufactured products (firebrick, concrete, girders, household appliances, rubber, cotton etc.), and also handles larger volumes