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Rally Monday in support of transit terminal

By Denis Langlois, Sun Times, Owen Sound

Friday, September 27, 2013 1:06:13 EDT PM

Just hours before Owen Sound’s bus terminal is to be closed for good, people plan to gather outside of the building to call on city council to keep it open.

The United Way of Bruce Grey decided to organize a “Don’t Kill the Terminal” rally, for Monday at 1 p.m., after being asked by many individuals and community organizations “to do something” about the impending closure, said executive director Francesca Dobbyn.

“We want to draw attention to this. We don’t want the quiet silence in the community to be misunderstood as acceptance or an endorsement of what city council has decided to do with the terminal,” she said in an interview.

The city is planning to permanently close the depot at 6:30 p.m. Monday. Council made the decision as a way to reduce the cost of the transit system.

Even though the building will be closed, the terminal property will still be used as a transfer point and bus stop until the city transitions from a four-route to a new three-route system, which is expected to happen this spring.

Coun. Peter Lemon served notice at a council meeting Sept. 23 that he will seek to bring back for discussion a staff report, which outlines the cost to keep the terminal building open for another six months, in hopes that council will reconsider its decision to simply “note and file” the document.

Dobbyn said the United Way, which does advocacy work in the community, has many concerns about terminal’s closure.

Riders, including “our most vulnerable consumers,” use the building for its washroom facilities, to seek shelter from the cold and rain and to receive assistance and information about the transit system, she said.

“The proposed concept of local small business owners providing tickets and information is well meaning, but few stores will be open early enough for those using the system in the morning, to provide shelter,” she said in a news release.

Bus drivers also rely on the terminal for its washrooms. It’s also a place for drivers to gather in the event of an emergency, she said.

Dobbyn said she would like the city to keep the terminal open at least over winter to provide time for a “community conversation” about what to do after it closes.

“We feel there is an out-of-the-box solution that can be realized through community engagement and consultation. The city will still have to heat, clean, plow and maintain the property, so the operating costs are not significant in savings,” she said.

A report by operations director Brad McRoberts said it would cost about $57,600 over the six-month “transition period” from a four-route to a three-route system to have the terminal open and a staff person stationed there during regular transit operating hours. Costs to clean the building and its washrooms each day as well as for utilities and a telephone line would also be covered.

The cost to keep the terminal open, without staffing the building, would be about $27,000 for six months. The Owen Sound Police Service strongly cautioned the city to not leave the building “unstaffed,” noting past “issues with illegal activity” there, McRoberts’ report said. City staff did not recommend that option.

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Make Affordable Transit an issue in Ontario’s Next Poverty Reduction Strategy

September 2013

Affordable transit is essential to the health of people living on a low income. It enables access to employment, education, health services, food, and recreation and other city or community services such as places to go to get relief from dangerously hot or cold weather. It also plays a key role in promoting inclusive communities.  In many areas across the province, the lack of affordable transit for people living on a low income is a significant problem – as identified through previous provincial government consultations on poverty reduction and social assistance:

“In community after community, lack of access to public transportation was a significant issue we heard about from people living in poverty; people simply could not afford to take the bus. That means that they are unable to apply for jobs or access resources that are there for them and their children. ”
-Breaking the Cycle: Ontario’s Poverty Reduction Strategy, 2008

” We frequently heard about difficulties in accessing transportation. In urban areas, the concern is the affordability of public transit. In many small towns and rural communities, the concern is the lack of any kind of public transit. This is especially difficult for people with disabilities. ”
– Brighter Prospects: Transforming Social Assistance in Ontario, 2012

Many communities are recognizing that cost is a barrier to transit use and are implementing a range of affordability strategies. For example, British Columbia and Saskatchewan make transit passes available at discounted prices for low income residents. In Ontario, transportation subsidies may be available to social assistance recipients for employment-related activities and medical therapy or treatment; however 

transportation costs for other important activities are not covered – such as for grocery shopping and support for children who need to be dropped off and picked up at day care or school, and/or older children who need to travel to school by transit.

Several cities and regions in Ontario are also implementing discount transit pass programs for low income residents and enabling community agencies to purchase tickets at a reduced rate from transit authorities to provide free of charge to community members accessing their services.

Being able to travel without restrictions to work, school, recreation and other places is important to creating healthy and inclusive communities. Making transit affordable and accessible for people living on a low income in communities where there is a public transit system is the best way to ensure that day-to-day activities are possible. Where there is no public transit system, local solutions must be identified and funded. 

When you attend a consultation meeting or send in your ideas, tell the government you would like to see the following included in Ontario’s next poverty reduction strategy:

1. Provide adequate and dependable funding to public transit across urban areas throughout the province, funding that allows transit to be affordable to all people who need it.

2. Implement a provincially funded discount transit pass program for people living on a low income in communities with a public transit system.

3. Convene an advisory group to examine best practices for increasing access to transportation for people living on a low income in communities without a public transit system.

4. Ensure that social assistance covers the regional cost of transportation in addition to other basic needs.

5. Ensure that the determination of minimum wage levels addresses the cost of transportation.

6. Ensure that any new funding for transit expansion target populations/places that are currently underserved and that a portion of these funds be used to improve transit affordability for people living on a low income.

7. Advocate for both provincial and national transit strategies.

Social Planning Toronto 

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Councillor worried riders will give up on transit

An Owen Sound councillor says she is concerned about how public transit will fare after the city implements the cost-cutting measures approved by council.

“I think we’re cutting the transit system by nicks and cuts all the way through,” Coun. Colleen Purdon said during a meeting Monday.

“I’m concerned that our ridership — when we have so many cuts — there will be just a cumulative effect where people will just kind of give up on transit.”

Purdon’s comments were made just before council approved another reduction to the service.

This time, it voted to stop running buses 90 minutes earlier on Saturdays starting Oct. 1. Buses will begin their final route that day at 4 p.m. instead of 5:30 p.m. The change is expected to yield a net savings of $18,880 to $23,800 a year.

Council has already decided to close the downtown bus terminal, hike fares by 10% on Aug. 1 and again in 2014 and 2015 and add global positioning system (GPS) technology on each bus. Those measures are expected to trim about $93,000 from the $1.7 million cost to operate the system.

City council has put off a decision on whether to switch from a four-route, 30-minute-per-route system to a three-route system, which is expected to save about $190,000 a year.

The city will soon seek bids for a new contract for operating the transit service. Staff has been asked to include in the RFP a request for bidders to submit quotes for both systems. Council will then decide which one to go with.

Operations director Brad McRoberts said an average of 9,400 passengers use Owen Sound Transit between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. on Saturdays. About 1,100 ride the bus, on average, from 4 to 5:30 p.m.

It will cost about $20,000 to operate buses on a three-route network during the final 90 minutes of the Saturday schedule, he said. The cost is closer to $25,000 with the current four-route system. The city will lose about $1,200 in transit fare revenue by ending early.

“That’s a significant saving by a very small reduction and it makes sense to me,” said Coun. Peter Lemon, who moved the motion.

Owen Sound’s public transit system, which carries about 300,000 passengers each year, is expected to cost property taxpayers $1.2 million this year, about $500,000 more than the cost in 2012.

City officials say about $190,000 a year in maintenance and repair costs would be saved if three new replacement buses are purchased. The city has enough money set aside in a reserve fund for transit to afford the purchase.