milton transit

Potential CP Strike Will Affect Milton & GO Transit

Mike Cluett

This will be an updated blog post as more information comes forward on this issue.

As you might have heard, CP might be going on strike midnight tonight which will cause some disruptions to transit riders who use the GO Train.  Here is what we have received so far from Milton Transit.

Milton Council,

GO Transit staff have recently notified Town Staff of a potential strike situation that would impact GO Transit’s Milton Rail corridor service. Effective 12:01 am on Wednesday, May 23, 2012, the Teamsters Union representing Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) train crew and rail traffic controllers will be in a legal strike position. GO Transit’s Milton Corridor is owned by CPR and will be directly impacted by any strike action. CPR and Teamsters will pursue a negotiated settlement right up until midnight, Tuesday May 22, 2012.

In the event of a CPR train crew and rail traffic controller strike, there will be no GO Transit Milton Corridor Train service effective midnight, Tuesday May 22, 2012. All current passengers will be encouraged to find alternative transportation methods starting Wednesday, May 23, 2012. All other GO rail corridor and bus services will continue to operate based on their public timetables.

Town Staff will be working with GO Transit officials on providing updates to customers. In the meantime, we will continue to support all GO Transit Bus services as per Milton Transit schedules, where possible.

I will provide further updates as they become available.

Thank you,

Tony D’Alessandro, M.E.Des, MCIP, RPP

As more information comes in I will post as soon as possible.

Here is the lastest from the National Post & Scott Deveau 

scdeveau@nationalpost.com

Commuters in Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal could face disruptions Wednesday morning with a potential strike looming at Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd.

The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference, which represents roughly 4,800 CP engineers, conductors, yardmen and rail traffic controllers, served strike 72-hour strike notice over the weekend warning its members were prepared to walk off the job as early as 12:01 a.m. Wednesday morning if a new labour agreement could not be reached by then.

Both sides in the dispute continue to meet, but were also called to Ottawa Tuesday morning for a meeting federal labour minister Lisa Raitt to discuss what would happen in the event of a strike.

“Our government is concerned that a work stoppage would have a negative effect on Canadian businesses, families, and the economy,” Ms. Raitt said in a statement. “That’s why I have invited both parties to attend a working summit in hopes that we can avoid any disruption of services.”

If a labour disruption were to occur, it would not only halt CP’s freight rail service in Canada, but also potentially disrupt the morning commute of thousands of VIA Rail, GO Transit, West Coast Express, and AMT passengers on routes that pass over CP’s lines.

Contingency plans are being put in place, but customers are being encouraged to check the website of the various rail companies for updates.

VIA Rail said it expects service between Toronto and Ottawa, Toronto-Kitchener-London, and Sudbury to White River to be impacted by the strike because its trains on those routes pass over CP lines.

Malcolm Andrews, VIA Rail spokesman, said it was still being determined what mitigating measures would be put in place and to what extent its operations would be affected.

“We will be putting updates on our website,” he said. “Should this all come to pass, we’ll keep that updated as the situation evolves.”

GO Transit said it expects there will be no rail service in its Milton corridor and that its service originating from Hamilton station to be impacted outside of Toronto in the event of a strike.

All GO bus service will continue to operate out of Milton, however, and all four trains originating in Hamilton will depart from its Aldershot station instead with bus service between those stations.

Meanwhile, West Coast Express said it was working with CP and its partners at Translink on contingency plans for the Vancouver area in the event of strike.

“These contingency plans include a number of options: expanded Train Bus services; bus shuttles to SkyTrain Stations; and, encouraging West Coast Express passengers to ride share or telecommute when possible. In the event of any job action, we will act on these plans when possible and provide updates for customers as soon as they come available,” it said on its website.

AMT said its service from Blainville to Saint-Jerome, Candiac and Vaudreuil to Hudson would be impacted in the event of a strike and that it continues to monitor the situation.

CP’s talks with the TCRC has been held up on numerous issues including work rules, fatigue management, and changes to the pension plan proposed by CP’s management, which the TCRC claims will be cut by 40%.

The TCRC sent a letter to CP’s management over the weekend committing to keeping commuter rail service running in the event of a strike in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal.

But it is likely that management would lock out the TCRC workers in the event of a strike.

Ed Greenberg, CP spokesman, said the railway wouldn’t have the resources to staff the commuter or inter-city passenger rail lines in the event of a labour disruption.

 

Chris Wattie/Reuters files

“I continue to encourage the Canadian Pacific Railway and the TCRC to either reach a deal or agree to submit to a binding process to settle their dispute and avoid a work stoppage,” federal labour minister Lisa Raitt said in a statement over the weekend.

“Should there be a work stoppage, we have indicated that we would be proceeding with a safe and structured shutdown of our freight and commuter train operations,” he said. “Without the resources in place, it is simply not possible to run reliable and safe commuter service. We would hope if the union is interested in running commuter rail and inter-city passenger rail that they would agree to an extension to the negotiation talks or reach an agreement to the company.”

He said the railway would also be willing to enter into binding arbitration with the union in order to ensure rail service continued.

Ms. Raitt said she is monitoring the situation closely and encouraged both sides in the dispute to continue to negotiate.

“Today, I will remind the parties that the best solution is the one they reach themselves,” Ms. Raitt said. “I encourage both parties to continue negotiating and reach a prompt resolution to this dispute.”

Some of the railway’s customers are already calling for back-to-work legislation in the event of a strike.

Ms. Raitt has demonstrated a propensity to intervene to prevent labour disruptions in the past, including the tabling of numerous back-to-work bills to prevent work stoppages at Air Canada and Canada Post.

The threat of a strike at CP comes less than a week after its chief executive Fred Green resigned under pressure from activist investor Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital Management L.P., which has been pushing to see him replaced with Hunter Harrison, the former head of rival Canadian National Railway Co.

Stephen Tobias, an industry veteran and former chief operating officer at Norfolk Southern, has been named interim CEO of CP while the search for a successor is conducted.

Milton Transit Fares for 2012

Mike Cluett

The Town of Milton has announced new fares for Miton Transit for 2012.  They can be found here.  Included in the link will be locations where you can purchase your transit tickets and passes.

Effective January 1, 2012 the cost for a cash ride for adults and seniors will be $ 3.00.  Adult 10 ticket pass will be $ 24.00 and $ 64.00 for a monthly pass.  Seniors will see the cost of 10 tickets be at $ 17.00 and a monthly pass $ 45.00.

Children under 6 will be free.  Children 6-18 years old (need school ID) will be $ 17.00 for 10 tickets and $ 45.00 for the monthly pass.

For GO Riders, the cost per ride will be $ 0.60 and a monthly pass will cost $ 24.00

If you have any further questions please email transit@milton.ca

No Milton Transit for Family Day on February 21st

Mike Cluett

Family Day Holiday Transit Notice

Please note that there will be no Milton Transit service or Accessible Paratransit service on Monday, February 21, 2011. Scheduled services will resume on Tuesday February 22, 2011. For more information please contact the Transit Information Line at 905-864-4141.

Transit Information Sessions

Mike Cluett

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.

 

Use it or lose it

Mike Cluett

0x0_637853That was the message last week by town councillor Mike Boughton regarding the state of Milton Transit.

“Use it or lose it.”

Nothing really of note came out of this meeting from town councillors on how we can make the transit system better or find ways of saving money, or encouraging people to use the buses more.  Does the lack of attendance show that people don’t care about our transit system?  Hands up to those people who knew there was a meeting at town council discussing Milton Transit?  I thought so.

I recently heard someone joke about the contest Milton Transit had a couple of years back when the new buses were unveiled.  People were encouraged to take a picture of the bus if they saw one driving around town.  The contest should have been if you can see a bus driving around town WITH people in it.

Maybe town council should have thought about it more before they decided to invest over $3 million in buying new buses for the town.  Maybe they should have realized ridership was lower than they expected before they sent the cheque for several brand new, state of the art buses, to drive around town on a daily basis…empty.

Every year the report on Milton Transit came out and it showed what they called an “increase in ridership” for Milton Transit.  This report didn’t take into consideration the “free days” throughout the year.  If the buses are free, more people use them. 

The main problem with our transit system is convenience.  For instance, it’s not convenient for someone in the south eastern part of town to take the bus to go to downtown Milton.  If someone from Hawthorne Village wants to go downtown Milton to have a meal at the Ivy Arms or Pasqualino Cafe they would have to take at least two buses there and two buses back.  Or if someone who lives at Bronte Street and Ontario wanted to go to Montana’s or shop at Walmart at James Snow Parkway and Steeles, they would again have to take two buses there and two buses back.

Convenient?  Check the maps and see where you would be able to go if you were to take the bus.  I live at Thompson and Yates Drive and I wouldn’t even be able to go to one of my favourite places to get a coffee, Cafe Deda at Trudeau and Derry Road by bus.  If I wanted to go downtown Milton to Main Street Yarns to buy something for my mother, I wouldn’t be able to without taking two buses.  That means that during the day it would take me close to 45-50 minutes to go downtown Milton where I could take my car and be there in less than 10 minutes.

Has town council actually gone to the Milton Chamber of Commerce or the Milton DBIA to ask them what they think would help get people to take the bus?  I’m sure that the DBIA would love to see more people walking the streets of downtown Milton. 

The main reason why people take public transit is for work related travel.  So if you work and live in Milton there’s an option right?  Not likely.  Lets say you work at the new business park at the top of Hwy 25 and 401 and you live south of Main Street…you have to take two buses there and two buses back.  I don’t think there has been any study in town to find out how many people work and live in Milton but the numbers would definitely be interesting.  My guess, and that’s all it is, would be roughly 15% of people work and live in Milton.  As its been described before, Milton has become a bedroom community with a majority of people working outside of town.

There’s a trend forming here and it didn’t take too long for me to figure it out.

The focal point of the Milton Transit system is the GO Station and people who need to take the GO Train out of town SHOULD be encouraged to use the transit system.  Its perfectly set up for them.  Where is the advertising from Milton Transit to those riders?  Why don’t we see any programs available for these individuals like reduced rates, free days, etc to help promote the ease of taking the transit to the GO Station instead of trudging up Thompson Road first thing in the morning to complain about the number of lights and how slow it is.

If I had to take the GO Train out of town, Id be taking the bus believe me.  Problem is that aspect of the convenience of Milton Transit isn’t being talked about.  They just went ahead and spent millions on new buses and thought people will come in droves.  That kind of thinking reminds me of the movie FIELD OF DREAMS… “If you build it they will come.”

Not the case in the real world.  So instead of making comments like “use it or lose it”, we need to see some leadership and out of the box thinking.  Maybe the routes need to be changed in order to accommodate people who would like to shop and eat downtown to take the bus instead of a car.

Just imagine if they could go back in time and do some market research to find out if the system that was in place was acceptable to the potential transit rider.  Imagine if they surveyed people who drive from all parts of Milton to the GO Transit station and informed them of the routes in place, and offered an incentive for them to use.

There is a current promotion right now for free rides to the Milton Library for people under the age of 14.

Read and Ride Program for Summer 2009

Milton Transit and the Milton Public Library are teaming up for the Read and Ride Program. If you are 14 years of age or younger, you can ride the bus for free to the library to enjoy special summer reading programs, books, magazines and more, courtesy of Milton Transit. (Ride all over town for free, too!)

Visit the library as of mid-June to obtain a transit sticker for your library card. Ride Milton Transit all over town for free by presenting your stickered library card on the bus. Stickers are valid from July 6 to August 28; parent/guardian fare still applies. For information on summer reading programs at the library, visit Milton Public Library or call 905-875-2665.

Great idea but…people are still going to be required to take a bus, then transfer to another bus in order to get to the library no matter what part of town they are coming from outside of Route 2 on the map.  If someone from north of Main Street along Route 1 or Route 4 or Route 5 wants to take advantage of this program, transfering buses WILL be required.  Also, the fare is free for the child under 14 but not the parent or guardian taking the child to the library.

Will this promotion work?  Will having this available to students under 14 years old intice a parent or guardian to take their kids to the Milton Library on Milton Transit?  What do you think?

Our town has grown rapidly in the last several years and will continue to do so in the near future.  A new campus of WLU is being built shortly and there will be lots of students with or without cars who will need the convenience of a transit system to get about town.  Hundreds of homes are being built on the west side of town which means more congestion on the streets for people travelling around town.

Given these future changes, I think its time for our local government to take a long and hard look at the transit system that’s in place, admit that its been a colossal failure and the millions spent on the new buses was a mistake, and try to find a way to fix it before any more money is wasted.

This goes back to something I talked about during the last municipal campaign…door knocking.  Everyone, including myself, knocked on doors during the campaign.  What I talked about was continuing that in between election campaigns.  How do you know what the people are thinking if you don’t ask them.  You can continue to hold meetings that a majority of people wont attend and then say “see…no one cares.” or you can get out there and talk to people directly.  You can ask them face to face what they think and what advice they might have.

Democracy is a two way street.  People expect that their elected representatives wont forget about them the 3 or so years in between votes.  Problem is, no one is seen going door to door to get peoples opinions.  Maybe they’re afraid of what they hear?