A Commentary by Doug Draper
There have been those from the start that have said “No” to the idea of a full-fledged regional transit system for Niagara, Ontario, and that is sad.
Niagara regional chair speaks at launch of Niagara Region Transit last September. Is it already time to pull the plug on this "pilot" transit system? Photo by Doug Draper
Why can’t a region of more than 400,000 residents, with hundreds of thousands more visiting Niagara during the height of the tourist season, have a region-wide transit system of its own, just as Erie and Niagara Counties, New York do, and just as Waterloo Region, Ontario does, and York and Durham in this province?
Those who’ve read my columns on this site and in other publications over the years going back to my days as an environment reporter at The St. Catharines Standard, may know that I have always been an energetic supporter of public transit.
More recently, in my columns for Niagara At Large and for Niagara This Week, I have argued for a regionally operated transit system for all of Niagara residents, but that is not where our regional government on the Ontario side of the border decided to go. It settled, instead, for a patchwork system of three local transit systems operating about a half a dozen extra buses between Welland, St. Catharines and Niagara Falls, along with a few outlying areas.
There was little interest in doing with what other governments have done on both sides of the Ontario/New York border and shooting for the stars with a regionally run system dedicated to serving the whole system rather than pandering to the parochial interests and concerns of more local transit authorities.
So now we’ve got these mostly empty Niagara Transit buses out there, costing people on the Ontario side of the border millions of dollars. Just this December 19 morning – during what should be the height of the Christmas shopping season – I saw a Niagara Region bus pull out of the Pen Centre shopping mall in St. Catharines with one person sitting on the back half of it. If there were one or two others sitting closer to the front, I may have missed them. But how pathetic?
After years of residents advocating for more transit in this region, this is the best we can do?!!!
Well if this is the best we can do, kill it now. I guess I can say, I still have a car I can get me and my family around in, so who gives a shit? If our regional politicians don’t care enough to do a regional transit system right, then why should we care enough to support it?
This commentary was inspired in part by my own observations of how empty the Niagara Region buses are since they were launched more than three months ago, and by numerous comments I’ve received from other Niagara residents, including the one below which I will highlight here from Matthew Jantz, who commented on an earlier post on this site wherein I reported on a move to allow Niagara College and Brock University students to use there student transit passes on Niagara Region buses, something they can’t do now. Here is Matthew Jantz’s comment.
Matthew Jantz commented on Real Regional Transit One More Reason For An Amalgamated Niagara
Doug, I’ve always appreciate your newspaper and the thoughtful articles you write, but I had a hard time agreeing with you on this one.
“It is all but a secret, except for the noble attempts of the regional government’s communication” – I’ve heard about the bus system several times on the radio, seen numerous newspaper articles about it. At work I counted 10 emails my company sent me mentioning the service. I’ve also seen these buses in real life driving on the road. How exactly is this bus service a secret? Why is the communication department “noble” – are they working as volunteers?
I think we need to take an honest look at the service being provided. I would never ask someone to spend over 2 hours a day on a bus to get to work. And for some people spending $10 dollars a day could eat up 10% of their personal income.
If there’s a problem with the New Regional Transit System running a competing service with the local transit systems, I’m not surprised. But this was the Region’s decision to do this. It would have been a lot cheaper to pay the local transits to run these extra routes for a while to grow the business first and see if people really wanted the service.
If I’m reading your article right, it looks like the Niagara Region has an embarrassing situation on it’s hands right now. Millions of dollars of taxpayer’s money was spent on this project saying. It was relentlessly advertised so its pretty high profile too. Right now the region needs a way out and they’ve settled on the mayors of Niagara Falls, Welland and St. Catharines as the culprits. This article should have been called, “Niagara’s Axis of Evil and the Bus to Nowhere”. – As always with love 🙂
(Share your views on the scrapping of Niagara Region Transit below. Remember that we only post comments by individuals willing to share their real first and last names.)
Niagara At Large 
In a region where many people do not drive, including a significant population of migrant farm workers, public transit is a social justice issue and is one of the four pillars of the regional planning vision.
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If we need a regional Transit System so badly – Why are the Buses
empty ??????????
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Just read an article in Dec. 20 Standard about Niagara College students spending 2 hours on a bus to get to Welland from Fort Erie! Perhaps the Region should have smaller buses?
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I was talking to someone who lives in Cambridge after reading your last story on the regional transit, and they told me if Cambridge and K-W had separate transit systems, Cambridge most likely wouldn’t have one at all.
Few people take transit locally, so regional transit is what kept Cambridge’s transit alive pretty much. Cambridge is a very ‘car-driven’ city.
Government’s are always looking at ways to get people out of their cars, so dumping regional transit is a major step backwards.
This is one (of many) reasons people move to larger urban areas such as Toronto or Montreal (from Niagara). Although real estate is more expensive in those cities, you eventually make up for it with the ability to take transit, ride a bike or simply walk (or a combination of all three) to where you are going.
If amalgamating transits helps, then I’m all for it (though still against the city of Niagara).
This isn’t a regional transit issue, but a local one. Perhaps four lane roads (and former four lane roads) should allocate the right lane for non-private automobile use. So buses, taxi’s and bikes can all use them…Just a thought to speed up buses and taxis while still giving us who ride bikes a place…Unlike the current bike lanes which are usually covered in snow and ice during the winter (and forces cyclists out into the road), a shared bus/taxi/bike lane should be properly cleared at least…Just another idea.
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Very little time to go into details. The following is taken from the minutes of the Smarter Niagara Steering Committee. Further insight into this issue may be found in the presentation I gave to St. Catharines City Council on November 28 of this year, for which Council has requested a staff report, at http://for-legacies-sake.ca/download.php?Seek=address11282011.pdf
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Mr. Kumar Ranjan, Transportation Engineer presented Committee members with an abbreviated version of the presentation provided at the
September 15, 2009 Transportation Strategy Steering Committee meeting respecting Inter-Municipal Transit.
Following a lengthy discussion it was:
Moved by Mr. Barr
Seconded by Mr. Ensslen
That Mr. Ranjan’s presentation respecting Inter-Municipal Transit, be received for information;
That this Committee recommend to the Integrated Community Planning and Public Works Committee;
That staff consider a Jitney-type private/public service as a viable option in the Phase II operational details respecting Inter-Municipal Transit;
That consideration be given to issuing tenders requesting private/public quote for Jitney services; and
That a copy of this recommendation be forwarded to the October 29, 2009 Council Business Planning Session for information.
Carried.
Moved by Mr. Halverson
Seconded by Mr. Gayler
That this Committee recommends to the Integrated Community Planning and Public Works Committee;
Whereas the development of an Inter-Municipal Transit service is critical for the future economy of Niagara;
Whereas the development of an Inter-Municipal Transit service is critical to the aims and objectives of Smart Growth Principles; and
That this Committee requests that Council continue to take a strong leadership role with respect to Inter-Municipal Transit.
Carried.
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There are many, Doug, who will oppose the idea of their taxes going to pay for transit. How about those of us that don’t drive, paying for automobile infrastructure? I personally think it should be made more expensive to drive and cheaper to use transit. True, some people will always drive no matter how costly, but it will move some to transit.
As for reverting it to the less direct and roundabout routes we had for years for students, I could not use it then. It took me TWO HOURS from my home in St. Catharines and four buses to get me where I had to go in Welland and I don’t have the energy and wherewithal to do that, nor do I have the four hours return to take out of my business to make what amounts to a 30 minute appointment. That’s why I had to taxi to a place that takes no more than twenty minutes by cab to get to.
This is about equity. If the region did not put this transit in place, or decides to discontinue, I will be demanding that the region PAY my taxi fares when I need to travel inter-city. Or better yet, maybe one of those car driving politicians that don’t have a clue about what it is like to go without a car (due to disability preventing a license) to act as my volunteer chauffeur!
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A regional transit system should not be in competition with local transit. It should be designed to get you from one local transit system to another. This current model should not even be allowed to be called “regional”. It is no more regional than the “regional” hospital being constructed in St. Catharines.
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I’ve always been against regional transit, and now these empty buses have proven me correct.
If demand was there, then some enterprising entrepreneur would have started it up already… that or a car sharing program.
Of course then four layers of overseers would have crushed him or her under regulations, and stolen all profits with taxes and license fees.
Since we saw none of that, sufficient demand doesn’t exist, and we don’t need to dump more tax dollars down that particular hole.
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So, Dave, are you planning to offer your services to transport people that need to get from one city to the other?
I can never get people who are against public transit. They likely have three cars in their driveway and never had a need to use it, while not recognizing the rest of us are paying for roads, parking lots (such as the new monstrosity in St. Catharines), “free” parking at malls, etc. and getting no compensation or return on our dollar.
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