Public transit on town’s radar

Public transit on town’s radar

News

By: Sandra Bolan

A public transit system in Bradford West Gwillimbury was not feasible 10 years ago, as the municipality lacked activity centres or destination points and had very few through roads.

That is changing, as there are activity centres downtown, in the west end, in the Hwy. 400 employment corridor and in Bond Head.

Town council held a special meeting to discuss its public transportation options.    

“Our road network, as planned, is also planned to accommodate bus routes,” Geoff McKnight, Bradford West Gwillimbury’s director of planning and development services, said. “As far as accommodating a system, we are well on our way.”
“Right now, the GO bus system doesn’t meet the needs of our residents,” Mayor Doug White said.

A $25,000 feasibility study is being proposed for the 2009 budget.

“I would support the study...but I’m interested in the interim measures we can take,” Mr. White said.

He was not alone in wanting an interim solution.

“Our residents can’t afford to wait,” Ward 2 Councillor James Leduc said. “If we establish some kind of route now, we can at least get people to work.”

However, Mr. White remained cautious about moving ahead too quickly.

“The fact is, no one takes public transit unless it takes less time than driving,” he said. “My greatest fear is it would fail so badly, it would delay a public transit system when we’re ready for it and I think that’s around (a population of) 50,000.”

Bradford West Gwillimbury is expected to hit that milestone in 2031.

If the municipality were to move ahead with an interim solution, its options include partnering with the new Holland Street West retail corridor, which includes Home Depot, the LCBO and in 2009, Wal-Mart.

Another option is to partner with York Region Transit, which currently goes into Holland Landing.

“Bringing Simcoe County into Viva — it’s one of the issues we identified for the future,” Paul May, director of planning and development services for York Region Transit, said. “If we did move into Bradford, it would need to be some sort of cost-sharing arrangement.”

Whether the municipality contracts out the service to another provider, or owns its own system, it won’t come cheap.

“There are very few systems in the world that collect all their needed revenue by the fare box,” Mr. McKnight said. “It is currently largely on the backs of local government.”

According to Mr. McKnight, a high performing system aspires to get 50 per cent of its revenue from the fare box. However, most systems, particularly those in smaller municipalities, like Bradford West Gwillimbury, receive only about 20 per cent of their operating costs from the fare box.

Two municipalities similar to Bradford West Gwillimbury that are a mix of rural and urban and currently operate a public transit system are Welland and Belleville.

Both municipalities operate eight routes, with Welland providing service Monday to Saturday and Belleville providing service seven days a week.

Welland has an adult fare of $2.50, while Belleville charges $2.10.

Both municipalities’ transit systems have annual operating budgets of more than $3 million and revenues of more than $1 million, leaving the municipalities with shortfalls that have to be funded in various ways, including through local tax dollars.

Help from the provincial government should not be counted on, council heard.

“There’s no sustained program right now,” Mr. McKnight said. “Many other systems across the globe are heavily funded at the state or federal level so they pay less attention to farebox receipts. We aren’t quite as enlightened here.”

The cost of buses also needs to be taken into account. One full-sized, fully loaded public transit bus costs between $500,000 and $700,000, according to Mr. McKnight.

The most expensive buses are diesel hybrid, but they have issues, Mr. McKnight said.

“The TTC just cancelled a standing order for them,” he said.

The next step in deciding upon the feasibility of a public transit system in Bradford West Gwillimbury is the $25,000, 2009 budget submission for a municipal transit feasibility study.

If it’s approved, the study will determine which options are available to Bradford West Gwillimbury, examine the financial implications of the various options and their relative levels of service and recommend an implementation strategy for the short, mid and long-term. An interim solution will also be explored.

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