At the last Milton Town Council meeting, I put forward a notice of motion to direct staff to review the towns current marketing plan, consult different groups (including seniors & youth) to find ways of improving ridership on Milton Transit Saturday service.
During council deliberations I was very adamant that we need to find different & better ways of promoting our transit service. Over the last number of years the topic of Saturday transit arises and some members of Milton Town Council support the cancellation of this service, only to have a majority of councillors agree to keep it. Nothing ends up happening throughout the year and the process is repeated again to no avail.
We’ve asked for this to be completed by September 2020 so that any improvements to ridership can be reported to council in plenty of time to be included in the budget process and a more informed dialogue to ensue.
Oddly enough, the motion hit a procedureal glitch because seeing how we would want staff to have enough time to start and complete this process, we would have to waive procedure to discuss at this meeting as opposed to waiting for March. Clr Best and Clr Malbouef didnt feel it was that important and declined to support the bump in discussion. No worries, I called for a recorded vote & instead of waiting another cycle, we could get to work. Thank you to my colleagues who supported this motion so we can take action on improving transit as opposed to simply waiting for budget time and spinning our wheels.
Here is an article from MYFM www.miltonnow.ca on the motion.
As always I am looking for input on how we can improve not only our Saturday transit ridership, but our services as a whole. My email is mike.cluett@milton.ca or call/text/WhatsApp me at (647)-888-9032
Had an opportunity to attend the Metrolinx Town Hall in Burlington tonight. I was able to ask a few questions in the limited amount of time where I brought up Route 20 that was cancelled last year and a request to revisit their decision to not fully expand the Milton GO Station.
They did say theyve reviewed the business case and the station is “adequate for the current service levels” and also promised more trains. It does go without saying that 2 way all day service was brought up…again…
The CEO mentioned that they are having productive talks with CP to allow more trains along the route and we should be seeing some progress shortly.
Im attaching a copy of my presentation to Metrolinx which I did deliver and will be following up with them in the coming weeks. Metrolinx did mention they are working on a time to come present to Milton Town Council, which is always appreciated and these issues arent going away.
Here is the link to the YOUTUBE Broadcast of the Town Hall
Metrolinx Town Hall Feb 5th, 2020 Prepared by: Mike Cluett, Halton Region Councillor – Town of Milton Ward 3 Mike.Cluett@milton.ca Cell (647) 888-9032
Thank you for holding this town hall in Halton and giving up the opportunity to let you know some of the issues Milton is facing regarding transit.
Milton has been known for many years as one of the fastest growing municipalities in Ontario. The provincial government has deemed our town as one of the Places to Grow through its legislation. Milton has grown over 56% between 2006 and 2011 from 54,000 to 85,000 and now over 30% in between 2011-2016 to over 110,000.
There are incredible pressures placed on our town from many directions – infrastructure, economic development, and most importantly transit. One of the main goals of our growth plan is to ensure residents can travel quickly and seamlessly around town and throughout the region.
It would be difficult to put only one issue facing Milton and the province of Ontario. Infrastructure, school construction, and transit are just a few of the many top issues.
I have been elected to Milton Town Council now for close to 10 years and I can honestly say transportation and transit issues consistently top the list of importance that Miltonians face.
Our town has a large percentage of highly educated workforce members living here, and unfortunately many commute out of town on a daily basis.
As a Town we are continuously working on many different plans that will help bring job opportunities for our residents. Whether it is our community engagement plans like the Milton Mobility Hub, our economic development plans for the Milton Education Village and growth plans like the Trafalgar Corridor development, we are looking to the province and the related agencies like Metrolinx to assist us in getting the tools we need to create a better quality of life, have the ease of transportation in and around the region doing what we can to build a complete community.
We completely understand the financial aspect of this process but there are in many cases more important “quality of life” implications of these decisions.
ROUTE 20 Cancellation
Late last year, Metrolinx made a decision to cut a number of GO bus routes throughout the Halton region. I believe the one route reduction that made the most impact was to remove Route 20.
This GO Bus route was the only transit route that connected Milton to Oakville from the north to the south. Metrolinx based this decision on ridership numbers as well as costs. Both very valid reasons but one must look outside the box and the implications that decision has had on the quality of life of some residents.
Albeit the ridership was low, but that route connected many students to Oakville’s Sheridan College campus and was the only transportation option for many of them.
Environmental issues are now one of the top three issues of residents / young people in Halton Region. One only has to look at the demand on all Halton municipalities recently to engage the population and work toward declaring a climate emergency which now puts that issue at the top of the list for both Milton and Halton Region.
The decision to cancel Route 20 does run counter to the intention of putting climate change and the environment as decision factors. Many of the students I have talked with are now forced to purchase a vehicle to get them back and forth to school. This now puts more vehicles on the road which not only increases green house gases, but pressures on road infrastructure and gridlock.
Students also live on limited budgets based on the cost of education, books, tuition, and now increased transportation costs. All of this has a negative impact on the quality of life in Milton and the surrounding areas.
If we as a province are doing to do the things like cancelling transit routes, we are definitely sending a clear message to our young people that the environment and gridlock issues are not a priority.
Given these reasons I would like Metrolinx to reconsider its decision to cancel route 20 and reinstate this needed service, even if it might require some rescheduling changes that could make the route more efficient. Cutting it off entirely isn’t going to work.
Milton GO Station Redevelopment
One of the other issues I would like to address as important for Metrolinx to look and review is the full redevelopment for the Milton GO Station. Recent projections of growth that Milton will be facing in the next 2 decades show that we will be reaching a population of 300-350k and a community this size will require 2 GO stations at the very least.
The Town of Milton is stepping up with a redevelopment plan – a mobility hub – on the lands surrounding our current GO station. We re looking at this plan to improve the area by focusing on high intensity residential growth as well as business/recreation to ensure the viability and accessibility of this corridor.
The Town has begun its public input process that you can find at our website www.letstalkmilton.ca gathering feedback from the pubic and business communities. The original plan for the expansion of the Milton GO station was vital to the success of this project and now that a big portion of that plan has been put on the back burner, it brings even more challenges to the success of the mobility hub.
The Milton Mobility Hub is one of the towns crucial projects on improving the quality of life in town and building a complete community. The Towns Mobility Hub study will support future redevelopment and intensification. The project promotes active transportation, walking, cycling and the use of public transit both local and GO transit. It is critical to ensure that plans for higher density, mixed use building and community uses are properly integrated.
The initial plans for the expansion of the Milton GO station and its improvements being completed as the Milton Mobility Hub is being developed is vital for its success. Any delays in the full expansion of the GO station will put at risk the quick turnaround of the Milton Mobility Hub and in the long run increase the costs of the development that eventually will have to be passed along to the local taxpayer.
We are designing this area with future sustainability in mind and will not just improve the quality of life here in Milton but for the entire Halton Region and the GTA.
Given these reasons I would like Metrolinx to reconsider its decision to reduce the scope of the Milton o GO Station improvements back to its original plan as to be able to work in conjunction with the Town of Milton’s mobility hub planning and development and reduce the impact of construction in this high profile area.
These are all pieces of the puzzle that are needed to build a complete community. They cannot be assembled after the fact without either increasing long term costs and disruption of the quality of life in Milton. It must be a cooperative effort with all team members as the table. Those teammates include The Town of Milton, Halton Region, the Province of Ontario and Metrolinx.
The Ask
In summary, the first item I would like Metrolinx to look at is the reinstatement of route 20 from Milton to Sheridan College in Oakville and to help promote this essential lifeline for employees and students in Milton and Oakville.
The second item I would request is to review its decision to not fully expand the Milton GO Station and be revisited with close cooperation with the Town of Milton and Halton Region as we go through the Milton Mobility Hub process.
What I am asking for is further and continued cooperation with the province of Ontario, Metrolinx, the Town of Milton and Halton Region. The end goal is to provide efficient and effective transit services for the residents of Milton – all parties working toward the end goal of building a complete community.
As many Miltonians are aware, Metrolinx recently announced many changes to the GO bus schedules for Milton which included the number 20 bus from Milton to Sheridan College in Oakville. The province had sighted a few reasons for the cancellation including low ridership and cost savings.
The option devised by GO Transit/Metrolinx was for riders to take Rt 25 or 29 from the Highway Park and Ride at RR25 to Erin Mills station in Mississauga and then transfer to Rt 46 to Sheridan College. Let’s see…drive to 401 & 25, then go to Mississauga and then go to Oakville. This doesnt make sense at all.
Ridership numbers aside, this was the only north / south transit route to connect Milton with its Halton municipal partner Oakville. A number of students and employees living in Milton have contacted myself along with other councillors and Milton Transit to express their intense opposition to the move. Personally I feel that if we want to reduce traffic on our roads, encourage transit as an option for people who don’t have cars or the means to go back and forth – especially students – there needs to be a revisit of this decision.
I received an email from Metrolinx the other day letting us know about an upcoming Town Hall meeting they are hosting in Burlington to discuss services and transit planning. Seeing how there is no other local Milton location for the town hall, I am putting this information out to residents and transit advocates to head down to Burlington to let their views known.
Here is the email.
A friendly note that we’re bringing the Metrolinx Town Hall series to Burlington! Join CEO Phil Verster and our Senior Management Team in-person or online on February 5, at 7PM. Metrolinx Town Halls are an opportunity for communities to ask our leadership about services, transit planning or anything else.
Date: February 5, 2019 – 7:00PM to 8:30PM Location: Burlington GO Station Main Station Building 2101 Fairview St. Burlington, ON L7R 2C8
Please visit the social media links and register to attend the event on February 5th or submit your comments via the Facebook page and let them know they need to reinstate Route 20 or provide a more seamless route so that people living in Milton and working in Oakville and students who attend Sheridan College have a fast and easy way to travel.
In a new edition of my show on YourTV Halton “Local Matters” I sit down with Milton Mayor Gord Krantz to discuss the first full year of our council term 2018-2022. We talked about the regional review that just passed, our budgets, future plans for Milton Education Village with Laurier University & Conestoga College as well as whats coming in 2020 and beyond.
You can tune into Local Matters every Tuesday at 8pm on YourTV Halton on Channel 14/700 HD and repeated throughout the week.
As I mentioned a few posts ago (here) I mentioned that I was beginning a new program on our local community television channel from Cogeco YourTV Halton. This is where I meet with other local politicians and community leaders and discuss issues that are important to Milton and its residents.
I will be posting some clips from previous shows soon but here is the most recent program.
This episode I spoke with Ward 4 Councillor Sameera Ali and we talked about life as a new councillor and her ideas for the future. Enjoy.
Growth has never paid for growth, and with MPP Parm Gill and the province supporting this legislation, the Town will have less to provide for new infrastructure in high growth areas, slower development of parks and trails and lowering the quality of services to residents in Milton – our place of possibility.
One of the outcomes of Bill 108 now that it has passed is that what little local control municipalities gained when the governing body changed to LPAT has now been taken away by going back to the OMB rules.
We as a town agree that red tape must be eliminated, but we can’t do it simply by putting more financial pressures on municipalities who have no choice other than reduce programs or further increase taxes. This law now puts fast growing communities like Milton under even further financial pressures.
The people of Milton understand that growth is happening but what they want the most is more local control of HOW their community is growing. By reverting back to old OMB rules, it ensures that the residents of Milton will have an even smaller voice on how we grow going forward. Any reduction in the amount of development charges Milton and Halton Region can collect puts further financial pressures on both levels and eventually will lead to further tax increases.
Growth has never paid for growth, and with MPP Parm Gill and the province supporting this legislation, the Town will have less to provide for new infrastructure in high growth areas, slower development of parks and trails and lowering the quality of services like public transit to residents in Milton – our place of possibility.
Sadly this government didn’t listen when we asked to be at the table to discuss these changes. The bill has passed and its now the law and we are going to have to figure out how to keep up with a lot less.
