The city’s draft budget calls for cuts to transit spending
and fare increases.
Even if you never set foot in a bus, this decision should
catch your attention.
A city statistic shows more than 500,000 annual bus trips
will not be taken if the service cuts and fare hikes are approved in the final
version of the budget.
Some of those 500,000 trips will simply disappear into thin
air, Riders frustrated by longer waits, more circuitous routes and more costly
journeys will stay home.
But most of the half-million trips will still happen. Those
would be the commutes, shopping runs, doctor’s appointments and all the other
reasons for venturing out.
And if those trips aren’t being made by bus, you can be sure
most will happen by car.
Welcome to bigger traffic jams. And more wear and tear on
expensive roads. And this time of year, less open space for snow-removal
operations.
If that doesn’t register as enough bad news, consider the
measly savings we get for the added traffic. Three million dollars is less than
two-tenths of a per cent of the entire city budget.
It makes the extra traffic jams an even poorer value.
Why would a city save money by costing us all time?
The green front is worth some consideration too. Sending
more cars onto our roads means more smog.
And if a family that currently lives with one car finds the
transit cuts too much to bear, there’s a good chance some more cars will be
purchased for some commutes.
The best argument for reversing the spending cuts and fare
increases comes when the money in play is added up. We can assess the proposed
$3 million in savings in comparison with spending on roads.
The tab to widen Limebank
Road between Balmoral Road and Spratt Road is $22 million.
That’s one road.
Then widen a road in Kanata,
one in Orleans, one in Nepean, and you can see how a citywide cut of
$3 million for all transit users is short-sighted.
The draft budget makes a big mistake councillors must
address.
We should be delivering buses to people, not driving them
away.