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Have you taken Milton Transit?

Mike Cluett
 
Aug 20, 2008

I moved to Milton a day before the new transit system was introduced in 2004.

For the first two years I used it sporadically to take a quick ride downtown or to the mall, as the 30-minute wait has never been something easy to plan around when you have children in tow.

For the last two-and-a-half years I have depended exclusively on public transit to commute to and from work each day.

Like most of the other regular users, I have had complaints about the wait times and connection choices to GO trains during rush hour. There are six trains leaving Milton every morning, but the buses only meet three of them, and the same thing happens in the afternoon.

But since the introduction of the new buses the service has declined drastically. The new buses break down constantly. We can never count on the buses because, just like it happened August 11 with the scheduled 7:06 bus (Route 2: Holly and Laurier stop), it may never come.

As a clarification, Route 2 got as affected by the previous weeks’ problems as any other route, contrary to what was published in the paper.

We hear everywhere that we should leave our cars in the garage and adopt public transit to help reduce the carbon emissions. This can’t be achieved in Milton solely because our public transit isn’t reliable.

For some, the problem is even worse due to the fact that they don’t have a car to drive to the station if the bus doesn’t show up.

We have been dealing with the whole ‘chicken and egg’ excuse from the people in charge. They would like to have a bigger ridership before they can implement upgrades to transit.

At the same time riders would like to have consistent, reliable and improved transit before they can jump on the bandwagon for good.

There’s a saying, “If you build it, they will come.” The Town should take that to heart and improve the transit system so we can finally be able to depend on it without fear of being stranded at the bus stop for 40 to 60 minutes waiting for the bus.

I don’t need the Town giving us free transit to apologize for not having buses when we need them. We need the buses to run on time, consistently and at a better frequency at rush-hour.

That would be the key to improving ridership.

FLAVIA TARZWELL, HOLLY AVENUE

Did the Town of Milton suffer from the “chicken and the egg” syndrome?  Did they spend millions of dollars unnecessarily to get brand new buses that could fit more people BEFORE the people actually take the bus?

It looks like this writer / rider agrees.  As I’ve stated in the past, I do beleive Milton needs a transit system for its increasing population.  There has to be a way for someone to get downtown Milton from lets say Hawthorne Village for the Farmers Market on Saturday instead of getting in the car, trying in vain to get up Thompson Road, turn left at Main and head on down.  We all know the downtown area isnt meant for lots of vehicle traffic and the bus would be the preferred way.

Only problem is that no one is taking advantage of it.  Recent Milton Transit reports show that the only time ridership on the buses increases is when there are FREE TRANSIT days, sponsored usually by corporate citizens like Mattamy Homes, Fieldgate etc. and go back down to almost non existant levels when Miltonians have to pay.  While we will need a transit system in town, it has to be economically viable.  We cant just keep throwing money at the issue and hope someone will take the bus.  We cant have a program if no one is using it.  The town can throw money around and try to educate people that taking the bus is the better way.

Right now, it takes me less than 10 minutes to go downtown Milton to Troy’s Diner but if I took the bus Im looking closer to 3/4 hour or more.  Ten minutes vs. forty five minutes.  That can be the big deciding factor and needs to be taken into consideration and even if its free, its not that much more of an incentive for me to chose transit.

With Thompson Road STILL under construction and Derry Road east here in town about to be Halton’s newest parking lot TIME has to be the biggest consideration.  Why bother sitting on a bus in slow traffic on Thompson when I can be in my car listening to Sirius Radio in more comfort.

Someone seems to like what Milton has been doing.  Heres a press release on the award the Town of Milton received for its FREE FARE Transit program.

Town of Milton’s innovative transit program honoured with prestigious awardMilton, August 20, 2008 – The Town of Milton was presented with an award from the Association of Municipal Managers, Clerks and Treasurers of Ontario (AMCTO) for its Fare-Free Transit Pilot Program at Monday evening’s Council meeting. 

 The Town was a recipient of an E.A. Danby Award in the Municipal Finance Category for municipalities with a population of 20,000 or more. The award recognizes municipalities that have demonstrated outstanding achievement through innovation with respect to municipal management activities or practices implemented for the purpose of delivering improved municipal programs and services.

“On behalf of Milton Council, staff and the Milton community, we are honoured to be recognized with such a prestigious award,” said Town of Milton Mayor Gord Krantz.“I would also like to thank Milton residents who, by participating in our transit system, are helping to grow this important aspect of a healthy community. A special thank you also goes out to our sponsors who made the fare-free program possible.”

“The Town of Milton is a worthy recipient of the 2008 E.A. Danby Award,” said AMCTO President, Raymond D. Callery. “We hope that our recognition of the Fare-Free Transit initiative will inspire other municipalities to develop equally innovative models for improved service delivery.”

Sponsored by Mattamy Homes Limited Halton Division and Fieldgate Developments, the Fare-Free Transit Pilot Program provided free transit from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily between June 2007 and January 2008, as well as for special events in 2007. The program was initiated to increase transit ridership during off-peak travel hours, and targeted Milton residents who could most benefit from a fare-free service, including seniors, students and families with infants/young children.

A staff report presented to Milton Council earlier this year shows that ridership during the Fare-Free Transit program increased by 63 per cent compared to 2006 levels, and that an average of 3,800 additional rides per month can be attributed to this program.

Milton was the first community in Canada to provide system-wide free transit for an extended period of time.

 


For more information :
Jennifer Reynolds
Director, Community Services
905-878-7252, ext. 2180  

When the fare free program is on, ridership goes up.  When the program is over, the levels return to normal.  Does this mean the Town of Milton will want to pass on the cost of free public transit to the taxpayers? 

There needs to be a basic system in place to form the skelaton of the system and then when ridership numbers go up, we put on the meat.  Problem is we have these wonderful new buses with Milton’s logo on them, acquired at a significant cost to taxpayers, running on their routes less than half empty.  I see a few buses in and around Hawthorne Village and its rare I see more than 3 to 5 people riding them.

I think when town council made the decision to buy these buses they felt that people would flock to them, ditch their family mini van or suv, pack up the kids and walk to the nearest bus stop and wait….and wait.

With another future tax increase on the way, Milton council needs to know that every penny is being watched and any further expenditures to the Milton transit system without SIGNIFICANT increases to ridership will be scruitinized.

Time to expand Greenbelt?

Mike Cluett

This from todays Globe and Mail.  With the changes that are being made and expanding the provinces green belt (ie cant build here legislation) it could definately throw a monkey wrench in municipalities plans for further growth.  Just a couple of years ago, Dalton McQuinty made changes to the “Places to Grow” quotas for population growth and places like Georgetown, Oakville and Milton among others made changes to their development plans.

Now it seems the province wants to change the rules again without making amendments to the other legislation.  This esssentially means that the province wants more people in smaller areas.  Seeing how theyve laid the ground work for more people or population density in a specific area…they have now made that specific area much smaller.

For those of us who like Milton the way it is (minus all the highrise apartments that dot the skyline of places like Toronto, Mississauga etc) might be in for a fight.  WIth Premier Dalton and the Ontario government making these changes, it will force municipalities to make more changes to their official plans for growth, change bylaws that are in place for height restrictions on buildings like we have here in Milton, and before you know it Dalton and his boys have just erased the view of the escarpment for 90% of us. 

And its not just that.  Milton, for all its good and bad, has a certain feel to it.  We can drive in along Derry Road or Britannia Road, enjoy a bit of farmland (at least for the time being) and have our view unobscured by large apartments and condo developments.  Things are definately in for a change.

New greenbelt rules poorly timed, industry says

JAMES RUSK

August 25, 2008

A move by the province to give municipalities authority to expand the 1.8-million-acre Greater Golden Horseshoe Greenbelt has come at the wrong time, according to the development industry.

Last week, the province published criteria for the expansion of the protected lands at municipal behest. It included a requirement that municipalities could propose changes in the greenbelt boundaries only after public consultation and approval by both local and upper-tier municipalities.

The new rules are unlikely to have an immediate impact on the development pattern in the Golden Horseshoe. However, they have the potential to drive the next generation’s development farther away from Toronto, if municipalities close to the city choose to expand the greenbelt.

To get provincial approval, a municipality would have to show that the new boundary meets the same criteria for the protection of land with environmental or agricultural importance that the province used to establish the original greenbelt legislation in 2005.

When the province created the greenbelt, some municipalities, such as Waterloo Region and Wellington County, argued that it should have been larger. The province brought down its new rules in response to this pressure.

What upsets industry is the possibility that the latest change could throw a last-minute curve at municipal efforts to bring official plans in line with the provincial Places To Grow Act, which sets population and density targets for the most populous urban area in Canada.

“This is premature and a potential distraction,” Stephen Dupuis, chief executive officer at the Building Industry and Land Development Association, said in an interview.

Municipalities have been scrambling to align official plans with the Places to Grow Act by a provincial deadline of next June, but under the new greenbelt criteria, a municipality “may initiate a request to grow the greenbelt at the same time as it is undertaking its Growth Plan conformity exercise,” the province said.

“All these municipalities are working on a conformity exercise, and hopefully, they are going to meet the deadline. But you throw this into the mix, and they could be sidetracked. The next thing you know, this could be an excuse for delay,” Mr. Dupuis said.

Tony Guergis, warden of Simcoe County, a municipality in which environmentalists have said the greenbelt should be expanded, said he welcomed the new greenbelt authority for municipalities as a confirmation of the county’s ability to protect the environment.

Even so, he said, “we could have planned without it. The County of Simcoe’s new official plan protects over a third of the entire county as it is. I think we are well on the way to achieving and meeting what it is … that is what this direction from the province is trying to get at.”

As well as Simcoe County, other areas where an expanded greenbelt might come into play are Caledon, Halton Hills, and the outer parts of the Golden Horseshoe such as Waterloo Region or neighbouring Wellington County, which surrounds the city of Guelph, an industry analyst said.

But attempts to expand the greenbelt could pit countryside landowners against city folk.

When the province set the greenbelt boundaries three years ago, some councillors in Halton Hills thought that another 7,000 acres of the town should be included, but they backed off when farmers complained that it would deprive them of retirement incomes when they sold their farms.

In the longer term, the possibility of expanding the greenbelt raises two other vital issues.

One is where growth will go once current development areas are built out. Currently, the land zoned agricultural that lies outside urban boundaries acts as a reserve for the period beyond 3031, when urban areas are expected to be built out.

If the greenbelt line moves, it will change the urban development pattern. “Growth pressure had to find an outlet,” Mr. Dupuis said.

The other issue is that the new plan could create political tensions inside two-tier municipal and regional governments. If lower-tier municipalities respond to pressure to limit growth by proposing changes to greenbelt boundaries, it would shift the growth pressure to a neighbouring municipality, said a development-industry executive who asked not to be named.

Talk about future tax increases

Mike Cluett

A number of friends have sent me an email to let me know a letter to the Milton Canadian Champion editorial department was printed in this Friday’s paper. Thanks to everyone who noticed.

The letter is pretty much word for word what my last posting talked about and I’ve received a number of emails from people all over the town supporting my thoughts. What seems to get me the most is that there doesnt seem to be a sense of urgency on council to say “hey…this is wrong. We need to fix this now!”

There hasn’t been many voices on council talking about this. After this story was printed I had expected to read a few responses from councillors around the table with their views on the potential increase. Nothing.

Another week passes…still nothing. Why is the question? Why wouldn’t these individuals, trusted by the votes of Milton residents for a four year period NOT want to say something? Why isn’t there any outrage or a showing of concern at the impact this potential (and some would say inevitable) tax increase on people in Milton.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that things aren’t going swimmingly for our economy, and those of our neighbours to the south the United States. Gas is at all time highs and bouncing up and down on a weekly basis, putting incredible pressure on our budgets. The cost of food is increasing for many items in the store which lead to a further tightening of the belts. It just seems no one cares. Its all going to work itself out and the council will accept whatever town staff dishes out.

Some councillors in the past like Paul Schere and Colin Best (among some others) have been very vocal about what council is doing with the budgets, spending and other programs. Where are the voices now?

Is this catastrophic? Will this lead us down into the depths of dispair? Not likely. From an email I received last week, I was told I was being a bit too melodramatic with the potential impact of high municipal tax increases. Not so, because the Town is just one portion of the tax bill.

Town Council seems to forget there are 2 other levels of municipal government that have been sharpening their pencils to take more money out of the ONE taxpayer. The Region of Halton is also projecting a tax INCREASE and school boards (both public and separate) are getting ready to do the same.

We are only one taxpayer. There are numerous levels of government lining up to take what they feel they need to do the business of the “people”. Governments at all levels tax, tax and tax, but they fail to remember its just one taxpayer.

As the cost of everything continues to go up, and confidence in the economy for the short and long term begin to wane…tax increases are going to be a further kick in the shins to people in Halton, Milton and across Canada.

It seems to be an exercise in futility but everyone needs to do what they can to let Milton Town Council know that more needs to be done. Tax increases are inevitable and I have never said there shouldnt be an increase. Common sense would say that government should live within its means as every other household has to. If a family cant afford something, it has to wait. Simple as that. Priorities have to be made and maintained. That simply isnt being done here.

There are a number of areas in the last few budgets that could have been put off until later so they can re-build reserves higher and save for the future. Milton needs more fire fighters. Thats a fact not in dispute. But the Town has to look at their priorities and see if it fits. If not, we wait. Hard pills to swallow but a fact is a fact. You cant do everything right away. It simply wont work.

Did we need almost $3 million dollars spent on brand new buses when the other ones were doing just fine? Again, Im not against a public transit system. Many of the readers of my blog know that as this town grows we NEED a reliable transit system for the future that needs to be properly maintained and kept an eye on. Once its in place, its a slippery slope to more money out the window. The last couple of budgets have proven that with the expenditures on these buses. Could they have waited? Perhaps. Maybe not. Perception of this is that Council merely rubber stamped it so they could expediate the 2 day budget process in December.

There needs to be more leadership on council. Some voices to say, this isnt right and we need to look at things more closely. If it means extending the budget approval process an extra day or go into the long hours of the evening debating line by line…then so be it. Thats what people elect their representatives to do, no matter what level of government.

Milton Canada Day

Mike Cluett

The family and I will be on the move to Milton’s fairgrounds in the next little while to take part in the official opening of Milton’s Canada Day Festivities. In case you have never been to our Canada Day Celebrations, heres some idea of what to expect.

Every year there is a veteran’s breakfast at Victoria Park from 10 -11 am. Then at 1130 there is a brief ceremony at the cenotaph to honour the men and women who have given their lives for our country. This is a great time to mingle with some of Milton’s veterans and have a chance to say thank you as well.

Afterwards they form a parade with the veterans, city politicians, our MP and MPP and march towards the fairgrounds and the stage for the formal part of the celebrations. After the dignitaries speak, the town officially opens up the day for celebrations by a cutting of our Canada birthday cake. The planned events go on all day long and will last until 11pm.

Also this year at 12:30 there will be a swearing in ceremony to welcome Canada’s newest citizens. Its a special day for them and what a better day to become a Canadian then on Canada Day!

Each year the Canada Day celebrations get better and better. Seeing how this will our first Canada Day with both Anthony and Miranda, it will be even more special. Theres always lots to do down at the fairgrounds with games, rides, and goods for everyone.

I urge everyone who attends to help raise money to pay for our celebrations by giving as generously at the entrances with the members of the Canada Day committee and the Lions club. Our celebrations are paid for exclusively from private donations from individuals, companies and people like us…ones who join together each year for one amazing day in Milton.

Happy Canada Day everyone.

Canadas second national anthem gone

Mike Cluett

Can it be true? Canada’s second national anthem is no more? What will be the new theme?

In case you missed it, CBC has decided not to renew the rights to the song that has played every Saturday night for, I don’t know, a billion years!

CBC had apparently let them know that they would’nt be renewing the rights to the song with amount to what they said was “$500 per broadcast.”

I know CBC is in the pits when it comes to sports and they’ve all but remortgaged the home fort to ensure they have the Olympics this year, but where does it end. TSN has slowly picked away at our so called beloved national broadcaster and has now become a joke across the country.

Bob Cole from what I hear will no longer be doing the playoff broadcasts for the CBC next year. Is the writing on the wall? Will CBC be making a drastic attempt at reinventing itself to salvage whats left of their sports department? Or is it they cant afford $500 per episode? It is possible.

Should the CBC pack it in and stop trying to compete in the real world where the pockets are much deeper? Canadian taxpayers fund the CBC to the tune of billions of dollars per year. Are these billions better spent on things like health care, infrastructure and the environment?

All I know is that as a hockey fan who spent many nights in front of the TV waiting to hear the “dun dun dun dun dun……da da da da da daaaaaaaaaaaaaaa” will have to look forward to another song, maybe a complete re branding of the CBC Hockey Night in Canada. They have been debuting different hosts on the show like PJ Starks (I think) and local guys like Jeff Marek more. (Jeff was also on Sirius channels doing the HNIC show during the year as well…hes a great radio guy!)

All anyone can see is CBC’s HNIC is in trouble. Ratings are down, revenues are down and it seems like a very old and tired product that needs some refreshing and modernization. TSN’s hockey programs are the best in our area as far as Im concerned and if CBC wants to get back into it, they need to change how things are done. As much of a traditionalist that I am, as a business person something needs to be done with them or pull the plug.

The theme will always live on with me though…its downloaded as a ring tone. In case I feel a bit of nostalgia hit me.

Go West

Mike Cluett

Go West

If you have ever gone to the farmers market in downtown Milton, you are familiar with Ann Kornuta. Shes the one who seems to be painting all the time.

Every week, or as often as she can, she can be found in front of the Haight Gallery in the midst of all the vendors in the farmers market, painting. Shes just another example of the amazing talent found in the town of Milton.

Ann spends a lot of time on her craft and over the years has assembled quite a portfolio of artwork. She has a website containing pictures of her work, and tonight she sends me a link to show me some of the new pieces. I’ve been a tad busy these past few weeks so I’ve fallen behind on some of them.

The picture above is called Go West which shows people looking westward to Canada’s fastest growing municipality….(yep you guessed it) Milton. I love this picture because it gives you the impression that people are waiting in line to come here to experience what many of us now take for granted…a great town and a great community.

One where we can, if we like, head to a big box store to buy camping gear for the long weekend at Canadian Tire. Or if we so choose, we can head to a local pub and take advantage of some nice weather and sit out on the rooftop patio of Ned Devine’s. There are so many parks in and around town to take advantage of the view of the escarpment or go for a hike. No matter what side of town you live on, there are many coffee shops like Cafe Deda, and restaurants like Symposium at the ready to have a quick cup of coffee or a meal for the family. Or, if we want to, head to downtown Milton on Saturday mornings and check out some great produce from local farmers and watch a talented artist as she puts together another fantastic painting while you wait.

Just some of the great things about this town.