To the editor:
I understand that the process is in place to make some changes to our transit system. However, I am not hopeful considering city management’s record on organizing change, but I would like to make a few suggestions.
Why not have crosstown buses on the various main thoroughfares (i.e. Cumberland Street, Algoma, Balmoral, Edward)?
Some of these buses would be express buses that only stop at transfer points along the way while the rest would run normally stopping at all stops.
Buses coming down from say River/Balsam, Red River, Victoria, Arthur would feed riders into the crosstown buses at those transfer points.
This would eliminate the need for a central terminal and it would give transit a chance to evaluate all the stops currently in the system to see what is actually needed.
Of course the urge to put a stop in places based solely on complaints by councillors would have to be avoided.
This is not a new idea; many years ago I was in Vancouver and transfer points were scattered to various locations.
I might also suggest that a few councillors or perhaps the mayor could climb aboard a bus somewhere in the northward (not the terminal) and try to get to Abitibi-Bowater in time for work in the morning.
If we truly want to move our transit system forward and make it a useful alternative for everyone then a complete rethink is in order.
John Brewer,
Thunder Bay
I understand that the process is in place to make some changes to our transit system. However, I am not hopeful considering city management’s record on organizing change, but I would like to make a few suggestions.
Why not have crosstown buses on the various main thoroughfares (i.e. Cumberland Street, Algoma, Balmoral, Edward)?
Some of these buses would be express buses that only stop at transfer points along the way while the rest would run normally stopping at all stops.
Buses coming down from say River/Balsam, Red River, Victoria, Arthur would feed riders into the crosstown buses at those transfer points.
This would eliminate the need for a central terminal and it would give transit a chance to evaluate all the stops currently in the system to see what is actually needed.
Of course the urge to put a stop in places based solely on complaints by councillors would have to be avoided.
This is not a new idea; many years ago I was in Vancouver and transfer points were scattered to various locations.
I might also suggest that a few councillors or perhaps the mayor could climb aboard a bus somewhere in the northward (not the terminal) and try to get to Abitibi-Bowater in time for work in the morning.
If we truly want to move our transit system forward and make it a useful alternative for everyone then a complete rethink is in order.
John Brewer,
Thunder Bay
