York Region bus riders welcome new transit funding in provincial budget

YorkRegion.com
April 24, 2015
By Lisa Queen

Hefty transportation improvements announced in the provincial budget Thursday can’t come soon enough for York Region transit riders.

“This is welcome news,” Anthony Laloggia said at the Newmarket GO bus station Friday morning as he faced his two-hour commute to Humber College.

“We do need transit improvements. The routes take too long.”

Nancy Lund, also at the bus station as she made her way from her home in Barrie to her job in Richmond Hill, is also looking forward to better service, although she is concerned about the province’s ability to afford the improvements.

Jason Prothero, who lives in Toronto and was at the bus station as part of his commute to his construction job in Innisfil, said transit improvements, particularly train service, are desperately needed in York and north into Simcoe County.

“I take the bus, mostly. When I can, I take the train, but with the train service, it only runs in the morning and at night and anything else, you have to catch the bus,” he said.

“As a first world country, we’re still way behind on public transit, if you look at Japan and other countries with their high-speed trains. I think it (budget investments in transit) is a positive note. Looking at commuters, if you can speed up their commute, family life and everything along those lines is equally important to self and wellbeing, so having a better commute is perfect.

“Like anything, it’s a work in progress, but we need to keep moving forward.”

In his budget, Finance Minister Charles Sousa announced a 10-year $130-billion infrastructure program, including almost $50 billion for transit, highways and bridges in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area.

Almost $12 billion will be spent in 2015-2016 for infrastructure and public transit projects.

There will be improvements to GO Transit, which will lead to the foundation of a regional express rail network featuring 15-minute train service in core areas.

Among rapid transit projects, the province is expanding vivaNext bus rapid transit service in York Region.

Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti, chairperson of the York Region rapid transit corporation board, is thrilled with the province’s transportation investments, while York-Simcoe Conservative MPP Julia Munro complained the commuters have a long wait in store before they see the benefits.

“It’s not just welcome news, it’s going to transform how people in York Region and the GTA move around in coming years,” Scarpitti said.

“Full credit goes to this premier. It’s not a partisan thing because there have been governments of all stripes that have ignored evidence and our pleas to increase transit and this premier has come through. They (previous premiers) buried their heads in the sand. Just take a look at this incredible increase in the level of service.”

Without improvements to transit, future growth plans for York and the GTA would have been in jeopardy, Scarpitti said.

Meanwhile, although there was no mention in the budget about extending the Yonge subway north into York, he said he is hopeful there will be an announcement in coming weeks about moving forward on designing the project.

While transit improvements are welcome, Munro said they will take years to roll out.

“When you look beyond the announcement of infrastructure, I think all-day train service would be wonderful but I’m not holding my breath,” she said.

“It’s something they announced but nobody should be re-arranging their schedules any time soon because it requires a great deal of funding. Selling Hydro One and beer stores (just) gets you started.”

Meanwhile, Munro called attention to the province’s $300 billion debt.

After health care and education, the province spends more paying off the debt than another on other program, she said.