By Pepper Parr
December 21st, 2017
BURLINGTON, ON
Every media document the city sends out and many of the reports that come out of city hall have the tag line:
Burlington is one of Canada’s best and most livable cities,
a place where people, nature and business thrive.
It’s the kind of thing George Orwell wrote about in “1984” – the rule seems to be that if you say it often enough it becomes true. Did the person at city hall who wrote the line believe it? It was probably done by a committee with the final version being signed off on by the city manager.
For those who rely on public transit there must be a very cruel irony –there will be no transit service on either Christmas Day or New Year’s Day.
The holiday transit schedule is set out below.
Salt with Pepper are the opinions of the Publisher of the Burlington Gazette.
Transit is a huge deal to me. It’s not a matter of economics but a matter of environmental concerns, traffic levels and making our city livable — clearly things that mean little to our local and regional politicians.
We should all be able to hop on a bus and zip across town to work, shop and visit city amenities.
I am disgusted at how our city politicians treat their constituents — as though we’re stupid enough to believe that they care about our quality of life.
I drive every day. I’d much rather take the bus!
York Region has built a fantastic local and commuter transit system. It’s reliable, clean and efficient. Taking the bus in York Region does not carry the “working class” connotation that many in Halton seem to paint transit-riders with. It’s simply an efficient way to get where you’re going without fighting traffic and wreaking havoc on the environment.
Agree with Penny. All cities should provide extended bus service on these days and the prior nights to do their part to reduce drunk driving. It is both a service and a safety measure. I’m surprised the Police Service is not raising this point.
Council should be ashamed of themselves. Perhaps we need to get MADD involved. At News Years eve and day there should be FREE bus transportation to encourage people who decide to party to leave their cars at home. Other communities offer this why not Burlington?
As a gesture of good will perhaps Taxi companies should be offering very reduced taxi fares to allow those who have no way of getting to their families at Christmas to connect with them, seeing that Council doesn’t think it is necessary for them to be with family or friends.
One should not be surprised, this Council does not seem to think that public transit is an important enough issue to increase the budget to allow for more drivers or schedules.
Perhaps some of the companies that supply beer, alcohol, etc. should be approached to see if they would fund service on Christmas and New Years?
In today’s Burlington Post on the City Update page, there is a big ad with a picture of Burlington Council saying “Thank you for making Burlington one of Canada’s best cities”. On the same page there is a list of the transit service cuts during the holiday period. No transit on Christmas and New Years Day in Burlington, yet all other area transit systems are providing service on Christmas and New Year’s Day (GO, Hamilton, Oakville, Mississauga, Brampton, TTC, York Region and Durham Region.)
So if you don’t have a car forget about visiting family and friends on those special days.
But this is nothing new for “one of Canada’s best cities”. Burlington has never provided transit service on these holidays.
Also, if you plan to use BT’s extended service on New Year’s Eve, be prepared to wait a long time for a bus. The routes 1, 50, 51, and 52 will be hourly service. Contrast this to the free frequent service being offered in Toronto and Brampton.
Shameful
Agreed – it is shameful. People in this city who can’t afford a car or taxis are the ones most likely to be hurt by this.
What twisted rationale could support this decision? Was Council consulted?
Editor’s note: This has been policy for a number of years. Transit would have had to have taken it to council where it would have been approved.
With a trend for years now of cutting the budget for public transit while spreading the service that is left even more thinly to the newer neighbourhoods in Burlington this is par for the course.
They have already reduced frequency on New Street and recently eliminated extra rush hour service on the 2/3 route, the very same route that services the ever growing downtown and connects to the much vaunted mobility hub at Burlington Go Station.
Add in the non-existent buses on holidays and city council pretending that public transit is a viable option becomes more of a joke every year. They claim it is a priority while constantly making decisions that make the system worse every year. Fast forward to a mobility hub or meeting on public transit and they simply declare it a success, the hypocrisy is stunning.
Someone should tell MoneySense magazine 🙂