I found this interesting article on the internet at
http://www.gordhunter.ca/content.php?doc=23
I think the guy brings up good points.
I know the LRT has been killed. But I wonder if Ottawa ever though about the issue of increasing people's travel times to work, just to put LRT in, and if it could have actually lowered ridership.
Anyway the article.
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Express Bus Service to End?
Do you ride a bus to work? Is your bus on one of the many
express bus routes that pick residents up in their neighbourhood and deliver them to downtown via the transitway virtually free of stops along the way? If so, you are among the thousands of riders who have helped make
OC Transpo the busiest transit service per capita in North America.
However, after 25 years of successful service, your chosen way of transit may be in danger of disappearing. Two recent announcements by Deputy City Manager of Planning and Growth Management, Ned Lathrop, clearly indicate that the
express bus service will have to be curtailed to accommodate the proposed north-south light rail system in our downtown.
The first was that the chosen route for light rail is going to be Slater and Albert Streets, the same streets that accommodate bus transitway service now. When questions were raised about how that would be done when the streets are so busy with buses now, a second announcement was made. The City will have to eliminate many express bus routes, Mr. Lathrop said. Residents will have to take a bus from their neighbourhood to the transitway and then transfer to a transitway bus, he added.
It surprised me that statement caused such a little ripple in the public’s attention. It seemed as if no one cared. But express riders should be concerned. Don’t think that your express bus route is so busy that OC Transpo would never think of eliminating it.
If the rail system goes on Slater and Albert they may have no choice but to axe the express bus service. Currently, during the evening rush hour, those two streets and the Mackenzie King Bridge are packed with buses picking up customers for the ride home. Most of those buses are express buses. Having both the express bus and light rail system operating in tandem along those routes would be an operating nightmare, so the express bus would have to go.
Express riders of central and south Nepean, your ‘Cadillac service’ may be ending. Get used to transferring to the ‘95’ at its nearest stop.
To me, none of this makes any sense. Why would the city end a proven service that delivers thousands of riders from their neighbourhoods to downtown at a premium price and spend over $700 Million in construction costs and $14 to $18 Million in annual operating costs to add a service of questionable value?
Light rail advocates say a survey, which has not been publicly released, has revealed the new
rail line will eventually add about 12,000 new riders to the transit system. But have the planners asked how many riders the transit system may lose if the express bus system is eliminated? I suspect not. Or if they have, they have chosen not to disclose the information. What if it adds up to more than the 12,000 new riders they claim the light rail system will eventually pick up? Would that change their thinking about spending $700 million to $1 billion on a light rail line?
I am as sceptical about light rail as the mayor and most of my colleagues are euphoric about it. There are a great number of questions I feel have yet to be properly addressed.
The fact the City may altogether drop a proven bus service in favour of such a costly alternative is also very disturbing.
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