NAL transit jenn,

One Of Niagara At Large’s Great Friends Is Urging You To Meet The Commuter Challenge

A Short Foreword by Niagara At Large Publisher Doug Draper

Let me just say this before I leave it to a young and enthusiastic fellow Niagara resident and public transit supporter Jennifer Sinclair to say the rest.

Click on this image to draw it up to full screen for your view.

The following is about all of us getting out of our cars, if we can, and find some other way of getting back and forth to work, and so on. If we can’t do that, then  maybe we ought to examine why. Do we live in a sprawled out, low-density neighbourhood away from the cores of our towns or cities, or what?

Those of us who do live in those lower density, way-out-of-the core subdivisions may not regret the decision to live there. But at the same time, we have no real right to complain about the higher costs of gasoline and car/truck insurance.  If that’s our lifestyle, then we have little or no right to complain.

On the other hand, there is public transit. That is where I get back to Jennifer and the important information she has to share with t all of us about choosing public transit, or at least fighting  for more transit in this region.

Now I will leave the last words to Jennifer. Here they go.

“June 3rd to 9th is Commuter Challenge week, a national event that promotes friendly competition among organisations and cities to see who can get the highest percentage of people out of their single occupancy cars and into healthier, more sustainable modes of transportation, like transit, walking, cycling and car pooling. 

Local not-for-profit organizations and groups, including Meetings on the Bus, Niagara Prosperity Community Committee, Bridges Community Health Centre, Port Cares and Niagara Falls Community Health Centre have come together to promote the commuter challenge in Niagara. 

The challenge encourages people to carpool, walk or cycle, but local promoters have another agenda: they are making an extra push for people to ride Regional Transit the week of June 4th.

Meeting organizer Jennifer Sinclair and this past February’s key speaker Wesley Prankard. Photo by Doug Draper
Jennifer with a young pal of hers named Wesley Prankard, a young activist and advocate for Native peoples’ quality of life, who led a “meeting on the bus” this past winter with Jennifer. He can be reached at http://northernstarfish.org/tag/wesley-prankard/ . File photo by Doug Draper.

 Niagara Regional Transit system was launched last fall. Buses can now be seen moving people along the QEW and Hwy 406 connecting some of Niagara’s municipalities for 6.00 a fare for adults and 5.00 for seniors and students. Ten ride cards are $45 for adults and $40 for seniors and students. Adults can also purchase monthly bus passes for $160 and seniors and students pay $130.”

Niagara At Large would only argue that the rates should be lower than that, given the construction and maintenance of highways and roads for ever more car and truck traffic.

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