Thunder Bay’s current transit system isn’t working.
That was the message director of transit solutions for Genivar Inc. Dennis Fletcher told city council Monday night. Fletcher presented a report that showed the city’s transit system needed to change in order to improve ridership.
The changes laid out were part of the city’s transit master plan. The master plan was presented to council in March in order to give council time to read over the report. The report, which was approved by council in principle, gives administration a framework on how to proceed with the master plan.
Fletcher said if council did nothing then nothing would change.
“Without the changes proposed in this plan, I am confident that the future of Thunder Bay transit is not sustainable,” Fletcher said. “The recommendations of this plan is meant to make the system more effective, more efficient and serving the needs of Thunder Bay residents.”
The report stressed six key weaknesses in the current system:
• Poor service frequency
• Lack of direct routes
• Unreliable and unpredictable route schedules
• Inadequate and uneven distribution of service
• Trips requiring many transfers with little time allotted
• Lack of two-directional service and a route system that doesn’t accommodate growth
Fletcher said residents having access to transportation options is a quality of life issue and an issue of health and wellbeing.
Fletcher said he was pleased that Thunder Bay adopted the transit Vision 2040 plan. Of the six themes of that plan, transit at the centre of the community, revolutionizing services and focusing on customers should be the city’s top three, he said.
“The assessment of existing services indicates major activity patterns between the north and south are poorly accommodating in the current system,” he said. “The new transit plan ensures routes are direct as possible, ensuring faster travel times while reducing vehicle speed to support the schedule of reliability. This will provide better north-south connections.”
He said there is a real need to identify the preferred route network before identifying the preferred terminal locations. He said they have identified a terminal in the intercity area but didn’t show where that location was.
Northwood Coun. Mark Bentz voiced some concerns about the master plan specifically around the how much it would increase the city’s budget.
“This is a substantial increase in the current budget in the order of 20 per cent plus upwards of $10 million in capital,” Bentz said. “This is a significant investment. I agree we need a good transit system. But when I’m asked to agree to this in principle something tells me I’m agreeing to an $8 million terminal.”
Current River Coun. Andrew Foulds said they have squeezed out as much as they could out of the current system and it was no longer meeting the public’s needs.
