A Commentary by Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper
“Regional transit service launched in Niagara.”
Niagara Regional Chair Gary Burroughs, Port Colborne Mayor Vance Badawey, Grimsy Regional Councillor Debbie Zimmerman and St. Catharines Regional Councillor Tim Ribgy, at ribbon cutting for Regional Transit service two years ago, and among the few on regional council who support a fuller regional transit system. File photo by Doug Draper
That was the headline, in big bold letters, burned across the top of the front page of a newsletter Niagara, Ontario’s regional government circulated to virtually every home and business two years ago this past September following the launch of a three-year pilot for improving inter-municipal transit services in this region
“Regional Council has embarked on a new inter-municipal transit pilot project launched this fall, bring cost-effective and convenient transit services for tourists and commuters across Niagara,” stated Niagara Regional Chair Gary Burroughs on the back page of the same newsletter. “This new service will offer new routes between municipalities, and further enhance Niagara’s public transit option.”
Those of us in Niagara, including this columnist, who has believed for at least a couple of decades now that we need public transit services that are more available to all of this region’s residents, welcomed this news. Yet this pilot stab at building, by baby steps, a true regional transit system – now into its third and final year – may lead to a ‘nay’ vote by enough regional councillors to literally throw any hope for a future for a full-blown inter-municipal transit system in Niagara under the bus.
That is where we seem to be going, and the votes against moving toward a truly regional transit service for all of Niagara’s citizens – whether they be seniors finding it hard to drive any more or younger people who don’t have cars and possibly can’t afford to own one – are coming from both the more conservative types on the council, who don’t believe more of our tax money should be shelled out for a service like this, which they consider as a frill, and councilors more to the left of center who, believe it or not, see a regional transit system as another as another grab “local” service.”
Wow! We wouldn’t want to see Niagara’s regional government take over another service like waste management, as it did in the 1990s, and see it succeed for a majority, if not all our region’s residents, now would we?
So let’s under-resource a regional transit roll-out and insist that it be controlled to no small degree by local transit systems in Welland, Niagara Falls and Fort Erie, to the degree that it fails. Then the local transit barons can go back to business as usual. Then all of the conservatives, including the Tim Hudak types, and all of the lefties in the NDP camp, can say that is recipe for failure is a failure, and why not just go back to business as usual under the local transit system.
What we have here instead, is a regional transit service that rolled out only eight buses to serve only part of the region – mostly Niagara Falls, Welland and St. Catharines – and that began by charging a one-way fare of $5, escalating to $6 one way this year.
There is no way that such a limited system, at such a fare and unable to conveniently service all Niagara residents t can hit the ball out of the park on an almost made-to-order failure like that. And it is hard to believe that those who never wanted to see the regional government have anything to do with public transit services in the first place – and there are plenty of them all over the political spectrum – will vote to invest more resources in a regional transit system. They obviously won’t, and they make up a large enough caucus on the region’s council to kill the thing.
So there appears to be no future for a regional transit system in Niagara and what is depressing about that are at least two things.
First of all, there is the narrow parochial view, apparently shared by a majority of Niagara residents that would rather have local municipalities piece-meal their services, including transit services, at the local level. On that score, there are those managing the three largest transit services in the region – in Niagara Falls, Welland and St. Catharines – who have their own turf at stake. They have shown no real interest in the past two or three years of building a truly regional transit system.
Then there is this phobia or xenophobia that if the regional government takes control of public transit service, it will bring us one step closer to amalgamating the 12 local municipalities in Niagara into one regional body.
So here we are, with a half-ass experiment, involving less than 10 regional buses, run at a few millions dollars cost, and now asking people to pay an outrageous one-war fare of $6 when there are many examples of transit systems across this North American continent that charge that or a lesser price for two-way or all-day tickets for the same price.
Like I say, this is one public transit system that is so lacking of the proper number of buses and rates that make sense for commuters, that it is almost destined to fail. And I am not so sure that many on Niagara’s regional council would be upset to see that.
We should all note that in other regions across Ontario, including Waterloo, York and Durham, the brave moves of their locally elected representatives over the past decade or so to give their regional governments responsibility for public transit there, has paid off in dividends. I could give you the statistics and will, if I have to, but moving to a more centrally controlled transit system that went all out in those regions– not just eight bloody buses like we have piloted here– increased transit ridership by as much as 100 per cent. In Waterloo region, public transit has been such a bit hit that the region and province are now working together to fund a light rail system
But back here in Niagara, where the parochialism of the 12 local municipalities too often rules over a regional vision, there will likely be no strong vote among our elected municipal officials for a truly affordable and accessible regional transit system here – even though surveys and research shows that younger people are less likely to stay and work here if we don’t have a good public transit system from Lake Erie to Lake Erie.
Even figures that show that Niagara has an aging population that surpasses the demographics around aging people in many other regions of the province, does not seem to be enough to move those elected politicians and others on the right and left who, for their own ideological reasons, do not want to see a transit system, operated by Niagara’s regional government, in this region.
So watch for the stop of any regional transit service in Niagara and welcome back to the stone age in this region. And please, if you don’t speak out for a regional transit system at this point, ask why Niagara never gets ahead around high unemployment rates, etc..
(Niagara At Large invites you to share your views on this post. A reminder that we only post comments by individuals who share their first and last name with them.)
Niagara At Large 
As a senior traveller when I spend time in Daytona Beach fla. I can ride all day long for 60 cents in the county. By the month it gets even cheaper. Whats up with our elected officials and bus transit in Niagara ?? For $6.00 a senior can ride for weeks in Volusia county Fla.
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I know for a fact for many people that I know is even if the pilot project was discontinued, they would immediately be out of a job. I suppose these same regional councillors who take their driving privilege for granted do not mind asking for more money from the public purse to support more people on social assistance. I know one of my friends had a PHd in engineering and was unable to find work and spent several years on welfare until he received enough of an inheritance to allow him to purchase his own car and within two weeks, he had a job not in Niagara, but in Hamilton. I think any regional councillor that votes against transit or against expanding transit and so forth, should consider offering up their own vehicles and time to take people from city to city, because I will make sure people will know who these councillors are and how people can get hold of them 24-7.
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Over the past few years advocating for a robust Regional Transit system I have ,learned that the political landscape in Niagara is cumbersome and uncooperative leading to unsuccessful attempts at making Niagara a place to live, work and stay. If we don’t speak up and take a stand we will continue to live in one of most depressed regions in Canada. A viable, reliable and affordable transportation system in Niagara is a necessity! If you care about our future then you need to speak up and take a stand.
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It seems that the particular councillors that are pushing against this are all drivers. I would love to be a fly on the wall if one day their doctor decides to drop a letter to the Ministry to have their licenses pulled due to some medical condition they might have, and then see how they get around.
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Some common sense out of our regional council!
I have a suggestion for those of you that think it is a tax given right, for arguments sake, to be able to live in fort erie and work in Niagara and have your travel subsidized at the expense of tax payers and other public programs.
I have an idea for all of you….. try living where you work! Try shopping where you live!
From the fee complaints I get the impression that there are some that think this service should be subsidized even further. Or that if you throw huge amounts of money at something the riders will magically appear!
This program was an example of the government, at huge expense, trying to be everything to everyone. This project had no merit and that was what this pilot/scaled down version clearly demonstrated. You had to laugh when seeing those buses driving down the road with one or two people in it if it were not at our collective expense.
Just sayin….
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Greg,
It is clear from your comments that you would rather spout your own entrenched opinion, instead of participating in the discussions about transit taking place in public forums, especially the TSSC meetings.
If you had attended these meetings you would surely have seen one of the presentations by the consultant the Region hired to explore what has made transit systems like Niagara’s new Regional Transit work in other regions. The answer is simple and proven:
1) Integrate disparate systems into one system with one fee.
2) increase service levels to attract more riders, which brings more revenue, and thereby lowers the burden of funding through tax dollars.
If you had attended the presentation by the Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce to the TSSC you would also know that the incentive for supporting Regional Transit is its contribution to economicc growth. Better Regional transit would allow more people to get the jobs they are trained for, and more employers to access qualified employees.
If you had attended any of the meetings you would know what poppycock the comments you have made here are.
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The proof is in the pudding. This turned out to be yet another underused government service. While regional transit might work between areas like Guelph and Kitchener, it aint gonna work between Port Colborne and St. Catharines for a ton of reasons most important the distances involved.
I say live where you work and shop where you live and save all of us net tax contributors a ton of money. The fact that both you and Angela would argue that living where you work is too hard or too expensive is a joke! Ask any guy that has had to go to Fort Mac or elsewhere abroad to work. They seem to be able to do it and they certainly don’t expect the taxpayer to subsidize their decisions.
Angela, by the way transportation the last time I looked is not a RIGHT!
Just because you can’t afford transportation or don’t want to take the less convenient private options like (MegaBus or Coach Canada) or don’t want to move closer to work doesn’t mean that the region has to subsidize yet another form of transportation for you.
So I ask what part of “the buses were empty” don’t all of you understand. Should we continue to sink more money into this that could otherwise be used for other more IMPORTANT programs or to give taxpayers a break?
Congratulations to the region for respecting the outcome of this pilot project (although I saw it coming a mile away) and axing this underused, over subsidized waste of tax payer dollars. Finally they seem to get the fact that the taxpayer is not a bottom-less financial pit.
I am hopeful this is a sign of things to come and I bet you if you took a poll amongst tax payers you would find that I am not alone!
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In reply to Greg Middleton – I will certainly endeavour to look you up, put your name and contact information up on a website to suggest that you will be taking people city to city as needed and when needed, as long as you support thirty percent of Niagara having no way to get around under your proposal.
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It is not cheap to move. I am self-employed and I work various places in the region. The last time I moved, it cost me over $7,000 – I don’t think people have that kind of money laying around if they want to do so. People have the right to mobility and are tired of subsidizing drivers who have this “I’m all right Jack” attitude. Public transit should be supported more because it is a universal form of transportation and mobility. Sure, people don’t HAVE to use it, but everybody CAN if they wanted to. Thirty percent of people do not drive, and likely cannot access a car and/or even a driver’s license for various reasons so driving is not universal, but it is universally paid for by EVERYBODY.drivers or not.
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Doug are you now condoning this kind of nonsense/response? Aren’t you trying to encourage opinions and debate based on facts! A threat to publish contact details……. Angela go ahead and I will do the same thing the region did and shut the door on the proverbial bus.
Angela, you’ve lost the argument when you can’t argue with FACTS, REASON and LOGIC and you have most certainly shown your true colors….
THE FACTS ARE: NO ONE WAS USING IT SO THE NEED WAS NOT THERE. IT WAS LOSING MONEY SO IT WAS TAKING RESOURCES AWAY FROM OTHER MORE WORTHY PROJECTS OR TAXPAYER RELIEF. I DON’T UNDERSTAND WHAT IS SO HARD TO COMPREHEND ABOUT THAT WHICH IN ITSELF SPEAKS VOLUMES ABOUT YOU!
Your arguments and references are self-serving and fictional……makes me wonder why I am/have engaged in any dialogue with you in the first place……I am hopeful the majority of other readers out there will recognize them for what they are….. tripe! $7000 in moving expenses…. LOL!!!! Last I heard movers were $35 / hour. That works out to 100 man hours in case you were curious. Man you must have had to move out of a mansion! LOL! 30% of people don’t have a license….. maybe if you count babies and the dead! LOL! Maybe that would explain why the regional buses were empty because the dead and children rarely need to travel from city to city.
LIVE WHERE YOU WORK and SHOP WHERE YOU LIVE if you don’t have personal transportation. YOU WOULD BE DOING A LOT OF LOCAL BUSINESSES, THE ENVIRONMENT and a BUNCH OF NET CONTRIBUTOR TAX PAYERS A FAVOR…. OTHERWISE USE THE PRIVATELY OPERATED OPTIONS YOU HAVE AVAILABLE TO YOU.
I heard the MEGABUS leaves on the hour. If you hurry you can still catch it!
A Response to Angela Browne and Great Middleton from Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper –
This site is not about censoring people as both parties mentioned have suggested I should do to the other in comments previously posted on this site.
Although Angela noted that she does not wish to go on the NAL site to read opinions by those who sound like they are echoing Toronto Sun views (in this case, I take it to mean the views of Greg), NAL has always strived to feature comments from people across the spectrum – right or left, liberal, conservative, libertarian, socialist, etc. – in hope that we can bring all of our views together for a meaningful debate around addressing and finding solutions to the many challenges we face in this greater Niagara region.
What we have witnessed here between these two individuals is not an intelligent debate on where we should go with public transit services in Niagara, Ontario, but a ramping up of attacks between them over where people should live in this region if they don’t have a car, or more diabolically in Browne’s case, where the other lives and what his email is so that perhaps she can use that in some manner to strike back at him.
This site has been fairly liberal around posting comments by many people who have told me that they cannot get their comments or letters to the editor published, quite often, in the mainstream media. But this not the kind of dialogue I wish to escalate any further around this important issue or on this site. I respectfully ask both parties to move on to another topic.
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