Niagara’s Ontario Region Moves Toward Inter-Municipal Transit With Baby Steps

A Commentary by Doug Draper

Well, it is a start.

Buses pull up to board passengers at a major transit hub in Welland. Photo by Doug Draper

For those of us who have been waiting and hoping for years that Niagara, Ontario’s regional government would finally take the wheel and launch a robust regional transit system that serves the residents of every local municipality across this region, the June 23 decision to cobble together the possible beginnings of such a system seems like a rather anemic step in that direction.

For those just pleased to see the regional government do anything to ignite a start on inter-municipal transit services in Niagara, the June 23 decision by a committee-of-the-whole meeting of the region’s council to grant the cities of St. Catharines, Niagara Falls and Welland eight new buses and a few million dollars in operating cash to make it happen may, as some declared, be a ‘historic occasion’.

There most certainly was, at the end of it all, a round of applause from members of the public and representative of local transit authorities sitting in the gallery of the regional council chambers when a majority of the councillors finally voted to start a system that grants transit authorities in the three cities the buses and funding to provide more rides between municipalities.

Debbie Zimmerman, a Grimsby regional councillor, former regional council chair and head of a committee that has been pressing for years for a regional transit system, has been a champion of more transit in Niagara for more than a decade. And she feels confident that this to hope that this June 23 mini-step will ultimately lead us down the road to a more full functioning transit system for all the region’s residents. Let’s hope she’s right because this “pilot project” – and that is what they are calling it – is so modest that one cannot help but wonder if it is doomed to failure if the riders of the few extra buses being put into service – no sooner than the last half of next year – are not going to be enough to justify, let alone sustain it.

The decision a majority of regional councillors agreed to this June 23 calls for a $3.7-million investment in buses to the three existing transit authorities in Welland, St. Catharines and Niagara Falls, and a transfer of about $2.7 million annually in operating costs to these transit authorities. This grant or subsidy to the local municipalities is intended to improve bus services between St. Catharines, Welland and Niagara Falls, and will improve transit services to a few other communities, including Fort Erie and Pelham.

The plan so far leaves communities like Lincoln, West Lincoln, Grimsby, Niagara-on-the-Lake and Wainfleet out of the loop, which may explain why some representatives from these communities voted against this limited vision. The regional government will play no role in controlling this approved inter-municipal transit proposal, which may be good news for those who feel the region is a suction cup for money when it comes to the delivery of services.

Zimmerman who, once again, deserves credit, along with the region’s current chair, Peter Partington, for at least getting some kind of inter-municipal transit system off the ground says the success of this pilot attempt to improve services between the larger municipalities will largely depend on how much it is used by the public. “Use it or lose it,” she said. Only question is will this limited increase in service be accessible and convenient enough for people to use it? In other words, will a plan, on a pilot basis, to provide a bit more inter-municipal bus service between the larger municipalities turn out to be a case of too little, too late? We shall see.

For our readers’ information, the members of regional council who voted in favour of this pilot inter-municipal transit plan included; Niagara Falls Mayor Ted Salci, Welland Mayor Damian Goulbourne, St. Catharines regional councillor Judy Casselman, St. Catharines Mayor Brian McMullan, Welland regional councillor George Marshall, St. Catharines regional councillor Tim Rigby, Welland regional councillor Cindy Forster, Thorold regional councillor Bob Gabriel, Grimsby regional councillor Debbie Zimmerman, Niagara Falls regional councillor Norm Puttick, Thorold Mayor Henry, D’Angela, Port Colborne Mayor Vance Badawey, Pelham Mayor Dave Augustyne, Pelham regional councillor Brian Baty, Port Colborne regional councillor Bob Saracino, St. Catharines regional councillor Bruce Timms and Fort Erie regional councillor Shirley Cordiner.

As for the rest, we will leave it up to you, dear readers, to confront them and ask why they voted against this most modest step to a more regional transit service or why, in a few cases, they were absent for a vote on what others on the council felt was a ‘historic’ occasion.

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