Beware of the Regional Transit Referendum!

Last week Regional Council approved a motion authorizing a referendum question on creating a regional transit system. It's hard to form an opinion on regional transit with the few details that we have, but I am inclined to vote no.

For Grimsby public transit is a service we don't have but we desperately need.  It is very difficult to live here if you don't drive. As well, we have a sizeable population that commutes to other parts of the GTA to work and it would be nice to provide a way for commuters to leave their cars at home and get them to the nearest GO Station. Public Transit is a good way to help make life a little easier for house bound seniors and for commuters.

So, why am I inclined to vote no in the referendum?

The problem I see with a regional transit scheme is that Grimsby tax dollars will start paying for it and we will wind up subsidizing service in the larger centres with no guarantee of service for our town.  When transit planners look at our town  they may not see an easy win here.  We have no tradition of public transit and it will take time for our residents to feel comfortable using it. That will make it an unattractive route in a regional transit scheme. In my mind we would have no guarantee of service and yet we would still be contributing dollars to it.

The other concern I have with a regional transit scheme is that many of the people who would use public transit in Grimsby want to go from Grimsby towards Toronto for work. I would be concerned
that a regional transit system would be oriented towards the larger centres in Niagara and therefore wouldn't be as attractive for people in Grimsby to use.

I want to look at other creative solutions to our transit needs. Some ideas are partnering with the Hamilton Street Railway to start a rush hour route that can take commuters to the nearest GO Station.  It may make more sense for us to partner with Hamilton for public transit, since they already have a bus route into Winona.

I am glad that the region is starting this discussion, I believe that Grimsby does need some form of public transit, I just don't see how we would benefit from a regional system.