By Pepper Parr
April 27, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
Late in March, BFAST (Burlington for Accessible Sustainable Transit) held a meeting to hear what transit users thought of the service.
Mayor Goldring decided to promote his personal use of transit by releasing a “selfie” he took while riding the bus to work.
Earlier in the year BFAST put out a challenge asking members of Council to use transit one day of every week for a month. Mayor Goldring took the challenge, got himself on the front page of a newspaper and was begging to be seen as a transit advocate.
Ward 1 Councilor Marianne Meed Ward took the challenge – she didn’t get her picture in the paper but she had some very useful data – it was not good news.
As community based events go the Saturday morning session went very well. BFAST issued a Summary of their findings – the full report will come out late in May.
The March meeting broke out into workshop groups – here the seniors discuss what works and doesn’t work for them.
The Forum attracted about 90 people with much to say about their experiences using Burlington’s buses. There in the role of listeners were four of the seven members of Burlington City Council, including Mayor Rick Goldring, as well as Burlington’s MPP, Eleanor McMahon. Not present, unfortunately, was anyone responsible for designing and operating the transit system – Burlington Transit.
Positive messages from the participants can be quickly told: everyone praised the friendliness and thoughtfulness of the bus drivers, who often help passengers in unusual circumstances.
Now for the negative messages, the same problems coming up over and over again. Because of cuts to service and frequent route changes during the last three years, Burlington Transit’s system is no longer convenient, resulting in a considerable drop in ridership. And two fare increases, one in May 2013, and another to take effect in May 2015, have made it unaffordable for many potential users.
Community Development Halton Executive Director Joey Edwardh looks a little puzzled with the information Mayor Goldring has pulled up on his Smart phone
To illustrate the lack of convenience, consider the schedule on the North Service Road (Route 81.) The buses operate between 6:00 and 9:30 am and between 3:00 and 6:00 pm, on weekdays only. A person who uses this route asked, “What am I supposed to do at other times of the day? It makes it difficult if I have appointments to go to.” Or, she might have added, if you have to get back from work after 6:00 pm. Further, this route has no service on Saturdays and Sundays. This is just one example among many that show how inconvenient transit service is in Burlington.
The South Service Road is even worse: although there are many hotels and businesses, as well as McMaster’s DeGroote School of Business located along this road, there are no buses to serve them.
The most recent fare increase seems to have been designed to persuade (force?) users into acquiring Presto cards. However, for many people, getting a Presto card is not as simple as saying “Hey, presto!” For some seniors and young people and for people with limited financial resources the application process is not easy, and putting money on the card can only be done online or at the three GO stations and the Downtown Terminal. Also, the initial fee of $6.00 is enough to deter some people from applying. A young person said that Presto ought to be as convenient as cash in order for it to replace cash fares.
Signage at bus stops throughout Burlington presents a problem for many, especially occasional transit users. Ideally, every bus stop should display the route numbers of the buses stopping there and the scheduled times of arrival. The reality is rather different: bus route numbers and arrival times are nonexistent. You need a Ride Guide and the ability to decipher it. It was pointed out that signage for buses serving the GO stations is quite limited.
Ward 1 Councillor Rick Craven appears to be making a point to transit advocate James Smith about how the service works. Craven did not take the BFAST challenge.
Burlington Transit’s Handi-Vans provide an essential service for people with disabilities unable to use the regular bus service. Unfortunately, as BT’s nine Handi-Vans cannot handle the current demand, users must book at least a week in advance. To deal with requests at short notice, such as necessary medical appointments, taxis should be used to supplement the Handi-Van fleet when required, as is the case in Oakville. This provision would be a valuable service, as well as the taxi scrip program which many citizens would like reinstated. (For many seniors who are frail, the ride on Handi-Van is not possible due to a bumpy ride.) It should be added that several people questioned why those who are legally blind and those with low vision are excluded from using the Handi-Van service.
Another issue affecting many transit users concerns buses no longer going into Mapleview Mall and Burlington Mall. The walk from the closest bus stops to a mall entrance is not pedestrian friendly, and it can be dangerous in winter conditions, especially for people with limited mobility and for those who use walkers and wheelchairs.
Many people pointed out that the bus schedules are too tight, making it very difficult for the drivers to stay on schedule. When a driver attempts to catch up after falling behind schedule, there may be a loss of safety.
All the shortcomings of the Burlington transit system mentioned above result from a common cause: serious underfunding of transit by the City Council. It seems that the guiding principle when making decisions about transit is to save money, not to provide a good service.
Ward 5 Councillor Paul Sharman making a point during one of the BFAST workshops. Sharman did not take the BFAST challenge
Recommendations
Spend more money on transit!
Provide more frequent service and extend the hours of service.
Improve the route schedules to make good connections at GO stations and other transfer points.
Post schedules with route numbers and arrival times at all bus stops.
Make Presto cards easier to obtain and to load.
Supplement Handi-Vans with taxis when required and reinstate the Taxi Scrip program.
Community buses should be labeled as such, and promoted.
The Downtown Terminal should be staffed during all hours when buses are operating.
Provide more bus shelters and make sure they are accessible for motorized wheelchairs.
The community meeting was a success; a majority of the members of Council were in the room, what happens next? The budget for the next fiscal year has been cast in stone. The two members of council with the most fiscal prudence, Taylor and Dennison did not take part in the meeting – don’t expect either of them to move any money from their |”shave and pave” program into transit. Councillor |Sharman is not likely to become a transit advocate any time soon.
Burlington Transit seem to have convinced themselves that the several million they are going to spend on technology to gather data will solve all their problems.
The transit advocates have a long road to travel.
There is a proposed Transportation committee to take over some transit responsibility for the sunseted BTAC (shut down over a year ago). When will this new committee be in place to start some action??? This won’t solve the problems but anything is better than nothing. Lets get restarted.
All those responses from riders are valid complaints. Their suggestions for improvement should be listened to by those in authority.
Personally, I think Burlington Transit system needs to be overhauled. Whenever I see any Burlington Transit bus travelling along Fairview Street, or New Street, or any other street, it is usually empty of any passengers. It doesn’t really matter what the time of day it might be, they are EMPTY. There may be peek times, but I’ve never seen them. When I look at bus shelters throughout the city, most are always empty of riders. Maybe, one or even two people could be waiting for the next bus. It seems to me that the Burlington Transit drivers are just killing time driving their routes, waiting for their shift to end.
Can’t we improve this part of Burlington Transit? Here’s a suggestion. Why not have smaller buses? They could be the size of the airport vans, vehicles that hold maybe 8 riders. Wouldn’t that be more economical?
Here’s another suggestion. Every civic employee should travel to and from work on local transit. Of course, this would include our Mayor and his Councillors. If employees live out of town, then they could meet at a city limit border destination where a bus could pick them up and drive them to work, and then back again at the end of the day. Please lead by example.
Whoever claims responsibility for Burlington Transit management is not doing their job. Thinking intelligently to improve the system is non-existent.
We need to brainstorm our transit problem? Tax dollars are being totally wasted.
We pay you to solve these problems. Now get to work!
Paul Sharman REFUSED to take the transit challenge. He was the council member whose ward has seen the REMOVAL of TRANSIT – Ward 5 has suffered the transit cancellation after transit cancellation – please see compare a transit map in Ward 5 for 2015 to 2005. Mr Sharman will not take transit and the only time he has been on a bus in Burlington most likely is for a press picture. BFAST does its best and the mayor and 1 council member rode the buses.
Shame the future PC MPP candidate does not embrace or even attempt to ride transit – as someone said you can’t cook – if you only read cook books.