'This is a council that puts their money where their mouth is.'

By John MacDairmid

February 19th, 2023

BURLINGTON, ON

 

We are still here – find out why

On Tuesday, February 14th, Burlington City Council took more steps towards improving the accessibility and attractiveness of our transportation systems in three areas: cycling & walking, transit, and improved use of public space.

John MacDairmid delegating at city council

Thanks to our advocacy, council approved a $500,000 dedicated fund for active transportation. We noted in our deputation that the council-approved cycling master plan was underfunded by tens of millions of dollars. We pointed out the existence of funds that would provide a higher impact per dollar via improved cycling and pedestrian infrastructure, which council had previously identified as a priority. We would like to thank Councillor Rory Nisan for making the motion to create this fund. This investment is a good first step towards properly funding cycling and pedestrian infrastructure, and creating a healthy and safe city.

In the near future, those aged 13-19 will be able to ride on Burlington Transit for free on evenings and weekends. This improvement, brought forward by Councillor Rory Nisan, will make transit a more attractive option for youth, increase ridership, and help to create transportation habits that the younger generation can carry into the future. We as an organization will continue to push for improvements in our transit system. One of the improvements we will continue to push for is a partnership that we have proposed between council and our local school boards. This proposed partnership would educate students on how to use transit, proper transit etiquette, and the social/environmental/economic positives of using the system.

Lastly, council has approved $100k in funding for open streets initiatives. This program will help local community groups to open their streets for programs and events, making them more accessible to people. Examples include the Appleby Line

Street Festival and the pedestrianization of Brant Street during events such as The Sound of Music. This reimagining of our public spaces will encourage passive physical activity, and increase social cohesion in our communities. We would like to thank Councillors Rory Nisan and Lisa Kearns for bringing this program forward.

We thank council for its commitment to active transportation and transit, and for showing everyone that this is a council that “puts their money where their mouth is”.

John MacDairmid is a resident of ward 4

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17 comments to ‘This is a council that puts their money where their mouth is.’

  • David

    The great horse manure crisis of 1894 was resolved by the invention and mass production of the automobile (Henry Ford & ‘big’ Bill Knudsen), problem solved, a miracle of technological innovation happened just in the nick of time.
    History is a wonderful point of reference.
    Technology promises to save the day yet again with the reintroduction of the EV, curtesy of Elon Musk who seems to keep upping his game with the onward improvement of an environmentally friendly battery.
    EV technology has also transformed the motor/cycling industry, scooters, skate boards and anything else on wheels, drone technology has also been upscaled as a mode of transportation.
    I stopped walking the Spencer Smith promenade and beach walkway because the speed of all these motorized vehicles.
    I bought myself a treadmill , problem solved.

  • David

    The great horse manure crisis of 1894 (a fascinating read by the way) was resolved by the invention and mass production of the automobile (Henry Ford & big Bill Knudsen), problem solved, a miracle of technological innovation happened just in the nick of time.
    History is a wonderful point of reference.(thats why its being erased)
    Technology promises to save the day yet again with the reintroduction of the EV, curtesy of Elon Musk who seems to keep upping his game with the onward improvement of an environmentally and humanitarian friendly battery (how many African child labourers are you currently getting to the mile)
    EV technology has also transformed the motor/cycling industry, scooters, skate boards and anything else on wheels, drone technology has also been upscaled as a mode of transportation.
    I stopped walking the Spencer Smith promenade and beach walkway because the speed of all these motorized vehicles.
    I bought myself (with my own money) a treadmill , problem solved.

  • Stephen White

    Another study and another unnecessary waste of taxpayers’ money in support of special interests.

    If cyclists want to cycle, then cycle. If pedestrians want to walk, then walk. If kids want to play in a public space, then play. Do we really need to fund another study to tell us cycling is healthy? Probably not. George King’s statement should resonate with many residents tired of footing the bill for a Council whose mandate is characterized by profligate spending habits and an chronic inability to prioritize.

    • Chris Ariens

      Many of those who want to cycle do not, they feel it is too dangerous, so they take the car.

      Many of those who want to walk, do not, the places they want to go are too far or they have to cross busy roads, so they take the car.

      Burlington has throughout its lifetime, prioritized the car. So those who want to drive their car end up having to contend with others who don’t. A transportation system based around cars doesn’t serve anyone well. Resolving that is a priority, not a special interest – especially given all the complaints our councilors hear from the public about traffic.

      If we draft a plan to address these issues, as we have done, but fail to commit funds towards it in the capital budget, the plan is worthless and we’d be better off not having one at all.

  • David

    What is it, once per year this comes up?
    Just checked the stats for Burlington, currently cyclists are 1% keeners 5% less keen 6o% might give it a go and 30% are in the ‘are you out of your mind’ category, the OPP says cycling accidents in Ontario are currently up by 300%.
    So the majority of people in Burlington value their lives more than a tiny minority that don’t, also this minority want to encourage more people to dice with death on our Cities main roads. Upping your game by tacking on public transport and open spaces is a nice touch though.

    • Eric Hoffer

      The Cyclist Lobby, ably represented by Chris Ariens, is one end of the spectrum; one of two extreme zealot fringes that should be excluded when trying to reach a reasoned public mobility position. The other, of course, is that of the ‘cars at any and all costs’. Both are “True Believers” but really only distract from achieving a workable, sane and sustainable solution.

      • Chris Ariens

        Eric…what in my post do you consider unreasonable and not worthy of being included in the discussion?

        • Eric Hoffer

          Pretty much everything; particularly the implicit ‘Burlington should be Amsterdam’ tenor of your thinking. I believe that the cyclist lobby has exercised an inordinate influence on local politics. Do we remember the Newstreet experiment? I know some of the Councillors, past and present, would like to forget it. Your vision is fundamentally unrealistic.

          • Chris Ariens

            There’s no “Burlington should be Amsterdam” tone to my thinking, you clearly didn’t read what I wrote and are just attempting to denigrate my arguments as part of a minority without even a cursory review of their substance. What specifically do you find unrealistic and what alternative would you suggest?

            Yeah, I would love that idea personally but I agree it isn’t realistic to overcome 70+ years of car culture in our city and transform it on a dime. also not realistic to ignore the potential of small, well-planned, connected investments in a cost-effective and space-efficient method of travel to build on what we already have and help people get around our city. There are so many cities where it has worked and yielded increases in people using bikes for transportation. You don’t even have to go outside of North America to see it.

            We have a $380 million capital budget for roadways. This included nothing but a footnote for the cycling portion of the roads that were designated as ‘spine routes’ . There is a project happening right now on Plains Road, which is providing the kind of infrastructure that has led to significant growth in cycling share of transport all over North America. It’s also providing improved sight lines and safety for other users of the road. And no road space is being repurposed from motor vehicles. But we can’t just orphan that investment and expect a miracle. We have to sustain and build on it.

            The New Street project was doomed to fail and it’s not worth rehashing that.

      • David

        They’ve been at this for at least the last twenty years, I would love to ditch my vehicles but it just isn’t feasible at this time, I only go out to pick stuff up and bring it back I’m not out for the fun of it , as i’m sure others aren’t either.

  • Penny Hersh

    Totally agree with the above comments.

    This council does not seem to be able to distinguish between must haves and nice to haves.

    Burlington does not even have a homeless shelter. From what I have been told Police will take the homeless that are reported on to Hamilton.

    How many cyclists do you see on the rode from December to April or May?

    Time for cyclists to start paying for the use of the bicycle lanes they so desperately need. Why should they get a free ride when those who need to use cars pay through taxes charged by the government?

    • Bob

      Road taxes are provincial. Municipal roads are paid from municipal taxes. Collected from both motorists and cyclists and anyone who pays property tax so the cyclists have just as much right as motorists in this case.

    • Chris Ariens

      Penny…as a ‘cyclist’ I’ll gladly swap with you. I’ll pay every penny from your taxes that goes towards cycling infrastructure. You can pay just one-tenth of the money from my taxes that goes towards car infrastructure because as a ‘cyclist’ I’m using it less. Deal?

      That’s the beauty of living in a city…we can tackle more than one problem at a time. While the resources alotted are insufficient to solve all of them completely, we can still make progress, whether it be the situation for the homeless, or improving our transportation network. Affordability is a big, tough problem. Not having options and being forced to use a car to get around only makes it worse.

      This isn’t the 50’s any more. We simply don’t have the space to enable everyone to get to where they want to go by car all the time, even if we want to. A growing city means we need to accomodate moving more people without necessarily needing to move more cars. Cycling is ideal as a mode of transport when it’s safe, meaning roads are clear and separated from high-speed traffic. It’s healthy, and gives young people independence which is a critical part of their development. And it is many times more cost-efficient for the city to build and maintain. We’re spending $2.5 million to repave just a single intersection near my house. Add all the maintenance burden associated with all the roads in the city and you see why many on Council are saying that this year’s increase is not enough, and we need to tack on another 3% every year forever just to catch up with the backlog of maintenance. It never ends when you’re a sprawling community dependent on cars. Either we’re going to let maintenance suffer and roads fall apart, or we will burden ourselves with unsustainable taxes forever to keep up with it. The ‘Growth Ponzi Scheme’ in Burlington is winding down.

      Transit is great, except it cannot possibly be all things to all people, especially those taking short local trips. In the 30 minutes I have to wait for a bus, I can bike to the store and back 5 times. For many people, that ability to come and go on your own schedule can be very important.

      Add to that the health benefits and the environmental benefits associated with more residents able to use bikes, and the payback becomes enormous. Even if you never get on a bike yourself, you still benefit from every one less car on the road. We do not need everyone in the city to ride a bike. Even small numbers help! Based on the average cost of car operation, if just 5% of Burlington’s households are able to ditch their second car, it will save those families $38 million a year. Not to mention all the savings on roadway wear and tear and reduced gridlock for the city. Or the health care benefits that we all pay for at the provincial and federal level. The payback on cycling infrastructure is enormous – all the studies I’ve seen have estimated between 5x and 30x the amount invested. That’s why cities like K-W, Hamilton & Whitby are accelerating their investments in active transportation. We need to as well if we’re going to compete for young residents to build lives here.

      $500K is a downpayment which is needed, not simply nice to have. It’s far from sufficient though if we hope to make any headway. The Cycling Master Plan approved in 2021 had provided details of key routes that needed to be built in the short-term, which was the first 6 years of the plan, 2 years have already passed. At that funding rate, it will take closer to 60 years to build out those short-term routes.

      BTW I was out on my bike twice today – once to get some groceries and once for a recreational ride in the country. Saw quite a few others on bikes taking advantage of the dry roads and warm temperatures we’ve had for at least the last two weeks as of February 19.

  • Clive Thomas

    Where is the affordable housing?? How does someone making minimum wage afford a one bedroom apartment here?? Well they can if they walk to work, wat KD 6 days a week and has no other luxuries in life. A slate serfdom we’ve created.
    Meanwhile 20% of the monster homes across Burlington are vacant 5 months of the year.

  • Graham

    I would love to see some data on the utilization of our buses.I rarely see more than one or two passengers except maybe a bunch of kids from High Schools once a day.Might make more sense to give out free passes on Uber!

  • The problem is that it is not “their” money – it is taxpayer money which they expect council to spend wisely and to realize these are tough times as well.

    • There are always two sides to a story George and you are rightly promoting the need for our council to recognize how tough these times are for the majority of its residents. Residents who have entrusted them with spending our money wisely and in a manner that sees the public fully informed on how they are spending it, so we have an opportunity to comment on whether we support that particular decision or not. Many agree that is not the case with this council.