Transit public meeting planned

Scott Hagell

- August 17, 2012 at 18:55:04

The idea that government should only focus on profit-making ventures is a rather dangerous notion. There is no question that our wants our unlimited and our resources are finite and that governments need to generate revenue. Having said that, however, it is the job of government to provide public services to its citizens even if it results in a loss of revenue. The question, then, is do we need public transit? The sad reality is that our services are being pushed further and further outside of the downtown core which makes it more difficult for those who don’t have access to a car to benefit from these services. We are closing our community swimming pools, moving our hospital, and I suspect that this is the trend for the future. Another trend for the future is an aging population. The baby boomers are still active and independent but this will be less so in ten years time. What are our communities doing to prepare for these demographic challenges? It was indicated at the meeting that it would take several years for a transit system to become fully integrated into our community which means that we would need to start now in order to be ready for the future. It would appear to me that the transit study that was conducted was designed to turn public opinion against the idea and the final cost that was presented was for a “cadillac” system as Mayor Mills indicated. We don’t need a cadillac system. We need to start very small and then expand according to need. It’s also important to consider other options as well. A transit system is about more than buses. There is also the option of creating a ride share website or bringing a bike rental system like Bixi to Truro. A car share is another possible option and I just finished speaking with Pam Cooley, founder of CarShare Halifax and she is incredibly interested in bringing the service to Truro and will be attending our next meeting on September 12. As usual, we seem to get caught up in talking about things and never seem to move into the action phase. We need to be willing to try things because nothing changes if nothing changes.

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mark austin

- August 17, 2012 at 10:45:17

I left out a word in my previous comment. I meant to say that that study was NOT designed to build support for a transit project. Posting a survey on the Town's website with little promotion and no specificproposal can only inform a discussion; it certainly can't be used as proof of support or lack of it.

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Mark Austin

- August 15, 2012 at 20:36:04

Dear "Mayors Put Brakes...". I'm not sure what would keep a person engaging in public debate about this local issue to not identify her/himself? I wish you would. Then we could engage in some factual discussion. The study you refer to actually showed the feasibility of a system. It was designed to build public support; it was a technical and economic study. You are factually wrong when you say that the study found that support was not there. Apparently, you have not read it. There are many reasons to figure out some sort of transportation system for our community (economic, social, and environmental). That doesn't mean that we should insist on a HRM-style big-bus system run with municipal money only; it also doesn't mean we should stop talking about it.

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Mayors Put Brakes on public Transit

- August 14, 2012 at 11:46:54

According to a story in your paper Dec 12, 2012 , both local Mayors stated that a new form of public transit would not be coming to our area in the near future. There was a $50,000 study (completed Dec,2012) paid for by the province , Town and the County that found out the suport for this project was just not there. Mayor Mills stated "we need revenue generators, not revenue eaters", and Mayor Tayor said there were more pressing matters in the community to attend to. It's a great project, but without support we're not moving forward. Now less then 9 months latter after this study showing a great cost to the community and a real lack of support from the anyone (122 people responded out of what 50,000 people the town and county and only 60% said they use it out of that total). I give this issue a rest for awhile, both town and county looked at it and with the 0.010% interest, no one is going to spend any money on this project now or for a few years. Not sure Mrs MacLellan knew this study just took place less then a year ago, but this is a very costly non issue according to the Mayors and the study results from Dec, 2012, and I agree with Mayor Tayor, the cost out weigh the benefits.

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Paul Faulkenham

- August 13, 2012 at 23:47:01

Its about time Truro has a bus system in place. I've always felt sorry for the residents of Truro who don't or didn't have cars to get around. While the town isn't so big, it can be a big place if someone is in a wheel chair or has a walking hadi cap.

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