Public Transportation, Do we need to Improve ?
With this term of office nearly over , serveral issues have not been given sufficient consideration. One of them is our Public Transportation ,or as many people would suggest, the lack thereof.
An advisory committee appointed by council ,(Linda Hamilton, Glen Witherspoon, Gord McBride and Mayor Dan Onichuk) will begin meeting on Oct. 12 (noon) at the Civic Centre to assess what the Town currenty provides (Handi Transit, Dial-a-Ride) and if there is a need to operate transit buses similar to years ago.
With our population aging, fuel prices, and more businesses locating in the west end ,many residents are seeing a growing need to bring back the Town Buses. Students can only rely on parents to drive them to work, shopping or recreation whether thats downtown, in the west, east or north ends of Town. I’m also very aware that not all households have access to, or own a vehicle. Many people rely on friends and other family for transportation.
Currently there are annual grants provided by senior levels of Government for Transit systems. One Grant provides money based on the number of riders…therfore the more people who use the Tansit system the larger the Grant.
Following this next meeting a survey or public meeting should be held for greater public input.
I think public transportation is a fantastic idea, even if it just runs literally from one side of fort to the other (down front street, down scott, down kings to wal-mart and back up).
The only issue I can really think of is when one might schedule it. Is the population of fort big enough to sustain a bus service on the hour/half hour every day all day? I doubt it… I suspect that you’d really have to do a large feasibility study and find out exactly when people require a bus the most.
Over all though, I think it’s a great idea, and another reason for me to return to Fort Frances once I have finished school to open a business.
Public transportation is needed badly, people that work on one end of town but live on the complete opposite have to pay way too much for cabs. Dial-A-Ride is good, but there should be more then one person doing it during the day, and you can only get rides between 8am-6pm, before or after those times people are out of luck.
There needs be something, if not run during all hours ( since more then likely that would be a waste of money with how few people there might be very late at night taking buses ) there should transportation available during longer hours.
@JohnE & Jen K: You’re correct, we need to determine the need by way of a study or survey,..what I do know, is that alot of young people and even more seniors keep telling me we need a Town Bus service.