Newmarket councillors dismayed over 'empty' YRT buses


Yorkregion.com
March 26, 2015
By Chris Simon

At least two Newmarket councillors are tired of seeing “empty buses” rolling down town streets.

Councillors Dave Kerwin and Christina Bisanz showed their displeasure with York Region Transit service at a recent town committee of the whole meeting. The discussion took place during an overview of the YRT/Viva 2015 service plan by Adrian Kawun, a manager with the transit authority.

Specifically, the loss of several major manufacturers in the Harry Walker Industrial Parkway corridor in recent years has led to a drop in ridership in the area. It often means buses along that route are “nearly empty”, Kerwin said.

"The flack I receive is constantly (over) empty buses at weird hours," he said. "Surely, we have to become more efficient. I keep wondering how long people are going to tolerate the empty buses. I see the de-industrialization of Newmarket with the closing of plants and the ridership is not improving."

Bisanz has the same issue over buses travelling through the Glenway area.

"A concern I often hear from residents (is) about buses barrelling down the road with no one on them," she said. "Are we really able to justify large buses down subdivision roads with no people riding them?"

However, local ridership has stayed consistent over the past two years, despite major transit construction projects and a regionwide dip in users during last winter's poor weather, Kawun said.

"It's stable ridership," he said. "In Newmarket, there are some routes that will have a faster decline in ridership, based on the timing of the route. There are some trips that may be operating through a neighbourhood with only a few people (onboard). But the next time the trip comes through, more people are on the bus. The service continues happening because there's demand for a later trip; we don't want to cancel the device and reinstate it an hour after. It's to keep a consistency; we're trying to grow that ridership and show there's a way to get home at any time."

Changes are, however, being made to the system. YRT staff regularly identifies low-performing routes and thas also introduced alternative services - such as the Dial-A-Ride on-request program - which could be expanded in the coming years, Kawun said.

"It does take time to really put forward alternatives for change," he said. "We understand it's happening but we're developing a strategy for those routes. We're always open to new ideas; this service is for the customer. We want to make sure they are happy."

While the region is always seeking cost savings for the transit system, consistent, reliable service is key to expanding ridership, Regional Councillor John Taylor said.

"This is a very complex topic," he said. "(The region) has done a very detailed analysis of, basically, the cost per trip per route. We did rationalization and revision for the area we provide service to, to try to reduce cost. We have to remember we're building a transit system. We're a maturing, urbanizing region and we're also one of the largest transit systems in the country and operating across the largest geographic area. It's very expensive; the real challenges come when you're covering King, Georgina and large rural areas. It's finding that balancing point; if you pull back on transit, people will be less likely to use it."

Kerwin also suggested town taxpayers cannot continue to subsidize the system at such a high rate.

"When we ran our old transit system in Newmarket, we strived for a 50/50 consumer/taxpayer subsidy (ratio)," he said. "It's a heavy subsidy. Almost 44 per cent of my tax bill goes to the region and I'm sure a good chunk of that goes to the transit system."

Kawun said about 39 per cent of the system is covered by user fares, with the outstanding balance paid for by the region and the province.

"There are other sources of funding that do come in. It's not just regional residents subsidizing the service," he said.