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Posted Aug 18, 2008, 6:51 AM
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Registered User
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Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Regina
Posts: 970
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From leaderpost.com
Quote:
Taking Regina Transit where it needs to go
Kristina Jarvis , Leader-Post
Published: Saturday, August 16, 2008
REGINA -- As Barbara Clark waits for the city bus on 11th Avenue, she fumes over what she feels Regina Transit is missing.
"If our city is growing, then the buses have to grow too," Clark says as she keeps an eye out for her bus. "If (former Regina mayor) Henry Baker had the buses running from 6 to 12, (Mayor) Pat (Fiacco) can have it running from 6 to 12 and on Sunday and holidays."
Clark, a frequent Regina Transit user, says that she would like to see an extension on Sunday and evening service and new services introduced on statutory holidays. She points out that seniors and poorer families are unable to participate in city-wide holiday celebrations as a result of a shorter bus schedule.
If you want your city to grow and (prosper) put the buses out there," she says. "Less vehicles downtown so people can walk ... we don't need all the vehicles downtown."
It is issues such as old bus schedules, an overused bus fleet, badly needed system upgrades and a lack of accessibility that are now being looked at by Regina Transit. With the help of an external consultant and a major transit survey, which was launched in February, Regina Transit will develop recommendations to present to city council later this year. With the city expected to grow more in the coming years, Dave Onodera, director of transit, acknowledges that the time has come to take a hard look at where Regina Transit needs to go next.
"The city and the system probably hasn't kept pace effectively with the growth in the last few years," he says. "We're kind of in a little bit of a holding pattern."
Onodera, who came into the job earlier this year, says that many issues factor into the possible changes Regina Transit may propose, including urban planning, transit users' concerns, and the culture of Regina itself.
"Part of it is also building a culture that supports transit, because it is a very car-oriented culture so that's going to be a tough one to change," Onodera says.
Another issue for the transit system is money.
According to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs, the City of Regina received over $35 million of unconditional funds in the last year as part of a revenue sharing deal between the city and the province. Margo Jones, ministerial assistant for Municipal Affairs, says that while the money is free to be spent anywhere the city deems necessary, there are no funds currently coming from the province to the cities specifically for public transit.
The Ministry of Social Services provides an additional $15 subsidy monthly for those on social assistance who use public transit.
The city also received close to $6 million dollars in February from the federal government, which is being used to help with fleet expansion, fare collections and customer tracking services. While this money is being put to good use now, Onodera says that the city needs more to make the changes necessary to grow.
"Everybody says 'we want an express bus, or a limited-stop service, or a quicker bus to get downtown' and that's all well and good but there's going to be some compromises in those kinds of ideas," he says. "We can put all of the service they want out there, if someone is willing to pay for it."
Catherine Verrall, acting president of Transport 2000 Prairie, says that the funding problem is a result of a mistaken identity when it comes to how funders look at public transit. Transport 2000 Prairie is part of a nation-wide advocacy group that focuses on raising awareness about the positives of public transit. Verrall, a 79-year-old lifelong transit user who has never driven a car, says that many people who can help with funding public transit don't give it a high enough priority.
"Here, it's something like, we have to spend all this money on roads and then we'll subsidize the poor people who ride the bus," she says. "It's not thought of as an investment, it's thought of as a subsidy."
Verrall points out that many people choose to go car free for their health, convenience in the winter and to reduce their carbon footprint. But like Onodera, Verrall says that good urban planning is essential to creating a user friendly transit system.
"As long as they keep bending the rules and allowing developments to spread out and spread out, then it's an extreme drain on the public transit system," she says. "If the transit's going to serve those areas, they have to spread out the same amount of money to do more, or else those people don't get served."
Verrall believes transit could be more comfortable and welcoming to those who use it, but there is a fair way to go to get to that point.
Bus driver Rich Dumais is all too aware of some of the discomforts of the current system. As he drives along Regina Transit route eight in the hot July sun, he points out how he keeps the aging bus cool in the prairie heat. The bus is like many others in Regina Transit's fleet, which are anywhere from 18 to 30 years old. Old, bouncy and pouring black smoke out of their stacks, they make up the majority of the city's transit unit.
"The trick is to keep moving, just sit in one place for a minute or two and just keep windows open, vents open," he says. "Poor man's A/C."
Dumais started working for Regina Transit in 1995 and since then, he's developed a different view of public transit in the city. While he acknowledges that some changes are needed, especially in regards to the infrastructure of Regina transit, he feels that transit services are adequate for Regina's size and that a lot of the issues with schedules come from the past.
"When you look at a map and it's servicing an area but it's leaving out an area ... those are over the years when they kind of tone it down because that general area didn't want service, or a general area doesn't have enough riders," he says. "But it's a service you have to provide."
Olivier LaChance, a 16-year-old exchange student from Quebec City, says that in his hometown the buses run more frequently and later than in Regina. During his time here, he is forced to walk or uses his bike when Regina Transit isn't available.
"It is long, but you have to do it. You have no car, you have to take the bus," he says as he boards the bus outside the Cornwall Centre. "You have to be patient sometimes in life."
However, there are those who do not believe that Regina Transit needs to make many changes.
Amanda Hehn, a 24-year-old who has used transit since she was in high school, says that she finds that the current transit schedule and routes suit her needs just fine. Like LaChance if the bus isn't running at a time she needs it, she adjusts her schedule accordingly by getting someone to drive her or by staying home.
"I don't usually take the bus at night, I'm usually at home," she says. "I just usually stay home when they're not running."
This type of attitude is what makes Clark feel upset because she doesn't see why anyone should make this kind of choice.
"If they want to treat this like a fair city, like Toronto, then treat it like that," she says.
But there is one part about Regina Transit Clark does like -- the drivers.
"All the drivers are very, very nice. Very few are rude," she says as she smiles and says hello to a driver who is coming off his shift.
It's this same level of comfort and familiarity with patrons that Dumais likes about his job. He says that he once had an elderly woman on his route who would bring him a roast beef sandwich everyday because she knew it was his favourite.
"That makes it great for driving a bus," he says. "In Regina, unlike Toronto, you see the same faces all the time."
© Leader-Post 2008
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I take it you're the masculine side of the family! Remember, the wife is always correct! 
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