Howard Davy of Thornhill writes, “I am discouraged and
depressed by the huge service cuts to perpetrated across York
Region by YRT, effective May 9. I hope you could write about
what is happening to destroy transit north of Toronto.”
Compared to
the TTC, transit service in York Region has been changing so
rapidly over the last few years, I can’t keep up. Because the
area north of Steeles is growing so swiftly, roads can’t keep up
with the traffic and regional politicians are desperate to make
the bus a viable option in this car-dominant suburb. Ever since
several local transit providers were amalgamated into York
Region Transit (YRT) two years ago, transit riders in the
northern GTA have seen new buses, routes and not a little
controversy.
Last August
, YRT inherited two of GO Transit’s most profitable bus lines
when the former Conservative government at Queen’s Park ordered
GO to sell the Yonge ‘C’ and Bayview routes. The two busy lines
became part of YRT’s network -- another in a continuing series
of changes requiring new route numbers, schedules and maps. GO
has also been busy north of Steeles, strengthening its remaining
bus routes and adding new train stations to the three rail
routes that traverse York Region. But as reported in a recent In
Transit column, a GO shuttle route to the Richmond Hill train
station was recently axed with little warning to riders.
Come
Sunday, May 9, another set of changes are to ripple across the
YRT network, including in Richmond Hill and Vaughan, where
service to the Woodbridge area is especially in flux. I spoke to
several officials at YRT about the changes, and they assure me
that they appreciate Mr. Davy’s comments and have replied to him
directly.
It’s a
process that suburban GTA transit riders are familiar with, as
various bus routes are realigned, cut back or improved because
too few or too many people are riding. Most of the negatively
affected YRT lines will lose early morning and late night trips,
because they fell below a minimum number of passengers aboard.
One route will be canceled outright, which may particularly
affect Vaughan riders like Mr. Davy. Other routes will be
altered, including some of those crucial shuttles that ferry
riders to GO rail stations, but there are extensions too.
In an
email, Robert Di Profio of YRT writes that as soon as “early
2005”, bus routes through Vaughan will be restructured, to
better link to the huge new Vaughan Mills Mall, as well as York
University and Humber College. He adds “please be assured that
when deciding on each of the various service cuts, we made a
conscious effort to anticipate the number of passengers
involved, and to plan any cuts accordingly so as to minimize the
number of customers who would be adversely affected.”
It’s always
tough to cut service, but then the sight of empty buses rolling
around are not necessarily good for the image of efficient
transit. Still, transit providers must be careful how they
portray the impact of changes -- riders can lose faith if
negative changes are not portrayed in a straightforward manner.
See
www.yorkregiontransit.com for details of next week’s
changes.
But that’s
not all -- more change is imminent. Today York Region will learn
about a long-promised cash infusion for rapid bus service in
four major corridors. Senior politicians from the federal,
provincial and regional governments are expected to announce a
multi-million dollar investment in swank new buses that could
eventually run along exclusive transit routes.
York has
been hoping to raise $150 million for its “QuickStart” scheme,
which would run comfortable new buses along Yonge St. and
Highway 7, and eventually link Vaughan with York University and
Markham with Don Mills subway station. The routes will start off
modestly -- traveling in mixed traffic at first, but could
someday be converted to light rail lines. Curious? Visit
www.yorkinmotion.com
for details.
Send e-mail
to
transit@eddrass.com.
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