http://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2012/04/12/burlington_slow_to_climb_aboard_transit.html
Even the mayor says he's frustrated by the lack of support for buses in the affluent, car-friendly community.
DAVID COOPER
/ TORONTO STAR
Burlington transit activist Doug Brown stands in front of a
Burlington Transit bus stopped at the Appleby GO station. Like many
suburban cities, Burlington heavily subsidizes its transit system.
It’s not that he’s anti-transit, says Sharman. It’s just that he’s not persuaded the heavy public subsidy for bus service in his affluent, car-centric community of 176,000 is justified.
He reckons that only about 4,000 people ride local buses every day and only 2 per cent of Burlington commuters use transit.
“We know for sure that 85 per cent of people in Burlington always only use cars. We have these big buses driving around. The seats are empty 90 per cent of the time. We’re spending $12 million a year — that’s $3,000 per rider,” he said.
While Brampton, Mississauga, Oakville and York have been branding their buses, adding express routes and touting their convenience, Burlington councillors like Sharman aren’t persuaded.
“It’s all very well to say, ‘We can change the world,’” said Sharman. “But we don’t need buses designed around a changed world. We need to have buses for the world we live in.”
It’s a frustration for Mayor Rick Goldring, who calls transit the dividing line on the seven-member council.
A new transit master plan is being developed to focus resources on the more heavily used routes and high-demand times, and Goldring is optimistic a new official plan will incorporate transit expansion.
But for now, he says, some Councillors are stuck on the classic suburban dilemma of little-used buses meandering long routes.
“We can’t go on this way,” said Goldring. “We need to get out of this funk we’re in about transit.”
“We’ve got to have the lively discussion and the dialogue, but we’ve got to move on. We’ve got to have some sort of consolidated view of where we’re going.”
Goldring admits, though, that there was no split in a recent council decision to devote more of Burlington’s $5 million in federal gas tax funding to road repaving this year.
Usually the money is split 70-30, with 70 per cent going to roads and 30 per cent to transit. This year, council voted for an 80-20 split, taking about $500,000 from transit capital, in a move that Goldring and city staff insist has no impact on transit this year.
Transit rider, environmentalist and anti-poverty activist Doug Brown says the money could have added another bus to Burlington’s fleet of 52. There may be some empty buses, but there are also some that are standing-room-only. Burlington’s per capita transit expenditure is one-third of other Toronto region municipalities, he said.
What really galls Brown, who owns a car but prefers the bus, is that the additional road upgrades will help repave parking lots and cul-de-sacs designed to discourage traffic and cripple the efficiency of local transit.
In the 1980s, 7 per cent of Burlington commuters used transit rather than a car, compared with 2 per cent now, he said.
“When you look at who our riders are, thre are a lot of seniors, a lot of youth, low-income people who can’t afford a car. We make it very difficult for these people to get around town. I think most citizens want us to be an inclusive community,” Brown said.
Burlington is late in confronting the urbanization of the Toronto region, says its former mayor, Walter Mulkewich.
“We’ve had a council that has not been particularly receptive to transit. They are adopting an attitude that transit has to pay for itself. They haven’t got a vision yet — or put the money to it,” said Mulkewich, who admits he should have done more to support the file when he was in power in the mid-1990s.
His mayoral successor, Rob MacIsaac, went on to become head of Metrolinx, the provincial agency charged with reducing congestion in the Toronto region.
Despite the mixed support, Burlington’s bus ridership is growing — about 7 per cent in the past year — with 2.1 million paying riders, said transit director Donna Shepherd.
Although most routes run only every half hour outside the rush periods, the Burlington bus fare is the same as the TTC, $3. Unlike the TTC, which recovers about 74 cents on the dollar at the fare box, Burlington only takes in 37 cents.
Burlington by bus
Population: 176,000
Revenue transit riders: 2.1 million last year — 7.3% increase over 2010
Fare: $3
Rate of return from fare box: 37-38%, compared with about 48% in Mississauga, 40% in York Region.
Ridership: Rose 21% over past 4 years, while population increased just over 6 per cent.
Commuters who use transit: 2%
Target for commuters using transit: 12% by 2031
Routes: 14, including GO specials
Frequency: Where warranted to GO stations and other commuter destinations, buses run every 15 minutes in peak hours; 30 minutes off-peak; hourly in late evening.
Dial-a-ride: Where residents live too far from a transit route, their fare buys them a taxi ride from their home to the nearest bus stop.
Annual service hours: 146,000
Sources: Burlington transit director Donna Shepherd, Burlington manager of community services Scott Steward, Toronto Star files
