Last night was the first two of four information sessions put on by Milton Transit at the Seniors Activity and Milton’s Sports Centre. According to Transit Coordinator Tony D’Alessandro the first session was well attended with over 25 people showing up. Last nights session at the Sports Centre had roughly 10-15 people attend to find out about the newly designed routes through town (the files are about 3MB so if you have a slower internet connection be warned) and the plans for the future. Jan Mowbray, one of our current town councillors who is an advocate of transit in Milton, was also in attendance last night
There are two more sessions tonight (Thursday August 19th) and they will be held at the Milton Public Library (Beaty Branch on 4th line) from 2-4pm and Town Hall will host the final one from 7pm to 9pm. If you have time, make sure you come out. There will be lots of people from Milton Transit, the transit advisory committee and the company who runs the buses and they’ll love to answer any questions you may have.
As I brought up before here on the blog, I told Tony some of my concerns about each of the routes. The routes that run through Hawthorne Village, while they cover the area very well, all revolve around the GO Station as the main hub. For instance if someone from Ward 6 wanted to go downtown Milton to shop or eat would have to take the bus to the GO Station, transfer there (waiting approximately 10-15 minutes) and then take the bus to downtown. Going through the schedule that trip would take roughly 30-35 minutes if everything is running on time.
The alternative is someone from Ward 6 getting into their car and driving downtown Milton which at non rush hour times takes roughly 10-15 minutes. Where is the incentive from a time and convenience aspect for someone to say “I’ll take the bus instead of my car.” Nothings perfect of course and the transit system is still in its infancy but these are concerns that are brought up at the door when speaking with voters.
These routes are constantly being reviewed and alternatives can be considered depending on usage. Tony mentioned that ridership is up 15% since the new routes were put in place which sounds encouraging but I’d like to look at the numbers from a paid ridership point of view.
As our town continues to grow over the next several years, the need for a vibrant and efficient transit system is a must. If we get the Wilfrid Laurier campus on the west end of town and as the Derry Green Corporate Business Park is developed there will be added pressure to ensure the transit system works, is efficient and able to meet the needs of the public.
I won’t be at the Transit meetings tonight as there is another public meeting at the Sports Centre about Milton Hydro’s proposal to install 2 vertical wind turbines in front of that same sports centre. I was the first to bring up the meeting back in July and while I have been out at the doors the last few weeks, this issue has been on the mind of many voters. They have concerns about how they will look, possible sound pollution and what benefit the Town of Milton will get from such a proposal.
There will be a presentation made followed up by a question and answer session where members of the public will have an opportunity to get answers. Following this public meeting a report will be sent to council for review and approval. I don’t know about the timing of the report and when the decision will be made, so it might be this council that makes that decision or it could be the next after Oct 25th.
I hope to see some of you out at tonight’s meeting and at the transit meetings later today. This is an opportunity to have your say…so get out and speak.
Until then, I’ll see you at the doors.