Moving forward on public transit

Opinion Point of View. By Paul Berton.

London Freee Press Jun 13 2008

In terms of long-term transportation planning, London isn't exactly on the cutting edge. We lag Kitchener-Waterloo, to name just one nearby example, in presenting a comprehensive transportation master plan that targets public transit and is aggressive enough to attract federal and provincial money -- money that is readily available. Some cities are already well on their way to building inner-city light rail systems. It will be some time yet before London has a plan for a bus system that addresses the realities of the 21st century. But with the cost of gas, automobiles, repairs, parking, land, road building and time spent in congestion all skyrocketing, there's no time to lose in catching up and offering Londoners better and more convenient alternatives to the automobile. London's transportation master plan, completed in 2004, was really a plan for roads. The London Transit Commission did a master plan in 2006, but the two need to be integrated. That was the purpose of the long-term growth working committee, which looked at the big picture and reported to council recently. Now London needs a new transportation master plan that could dedicate some of the money previously aimed at road widening to beef up public transit. "The London Transit Commission has gone as far as they can with the budget we've given them," says Coun. Nancy Branscombe, who headed up the committee. "We need to get the public engaged, we need a cultural change." A cultural change indeed. There will be those who say the system isn't good enough, so they're not going to use it; and others who say we must use the system first if we are ever to improve it. Light rail systems are prohibitively expensive. That's fine if they're being used well, like, say, GO Transit in Toronto, because of the money they save on other infrastructure. But we may have to take baby steps here first with buses and graduate to something more efficient. We may need bigger buses, express buses and dedicated lanes, and they are no doubt coming along with other improvements already announced by LTC . But what we need more than anything, as Branscombe says, is a cultural change, a new way of thinking, an acceptance that public transit is not as cumbersome as too many of us believe.