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10 Friday, December 16, 2022 brooklintowncrier.com On December 7, members of the Durham Region Transit Executive Committee (TEC) met to discuss various Durham Region Transit (DRT) initiatives and updates. Details and highlights include: New TEC Chair and ViceChair: The committee honoured Marilyn Crawford, Regional Councillor of the Town of Ajax as Chair of the Transit Executive Committee; and Walter Schummer, Mayor of the Township of Brock as Vice-Chair. Holiday service: With lower demand in service and ridership during the holiday season, DRT has modified its service levels as of December 5, 2022. Updated schedules are available at DurhamRegionTransit.com/DecemberService. Service updates: Service updates will begin on January 2, 2023, to enhance service in growth areas and improve reliability across the network. These updates reflect increased travel times on key corridors. Updates will be posted at DurhamRegionTransit.com. Hybrid buses: On Monday, October 31, 2022, the first of 10 hybrid buses entered revenue service. This is part of DRT's E-Mission Zero strategy, a suite of emission-reducing initiatives to introduce a more sustainable network of vehicles, infrastructure and facilities. The hybrid buses will reduce fuel consumption and emissions by up to 30 per cent compared to conventional diesel buses. TAP passes and ridership:The Transit Assistance Program (TAP) has fully replaced the paper ACCESS Pass.TAP provides eligible Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) and Ontario Works (OW) clients with lower DRT fares and the security benefits of the PRESTO card. In November 2022, the number of TAP passes sold reached prepandemic levels. Local ridership has returned strong in the fall of 2022, consistent with the full return of ODSP and OW clients. DRT receives provincial and federal funding: On December 7, 2020, the Region of Durham was informed that DRT is eligible to receive up to $3.7 million in funding from the Safe Restart Agreement (SRA) Phase 4 allocations, to address continued COVID-19 pressures sustained from February 1, 2022, to December 31, 2022. Since 2020, the provincial and federal governments have partnered to provide more than two billion dollars to help mitigate financial impacts of the pandemic on municipal transit systems across the province. Durham Transit Updates Initiatives If it's true that every cloud has a silver lining, then Brooklin's Katie Cowan is managing to make that possible after a tragic loss. Her new web site venture, tellmenow.ca, is that very silver lining. "My aunt was the healthiest person I knew," she recalls of her Aunt Elaine who died in 2021 in Ottawa's Elisabeth Bruyere Hospital of colon cancer. "She was like a second mother to me. I was driving back and forth to Ottawa three or four times a week to see her. I couldn't imagine anything stopping her." As her aunt rested in palliative care, Cowan contacted people to write to her about the impact the woman had had on them over the years. She took those offerings to her aunt and read them to her, bringing them both to tears. "She had no idea the impact she'd had on so many people," Cowan says. However, it did get her thinking. "If she (her aunt) didn't know, who else doesn't know about their own influences on people? There's a tendency in western society not to talk about such things till after people are gone. I felt we needed to have a way to show what a life has meant to us." And so the silver lining took shape. Using the web design skills of Sozo Media's Sharia Viapiana, Cowan created her Tell Me Now site. Its expressed purpose is "to provide support when it's needed most." The site, which launched last February, provides space for living memorials but also for "life transitions." While there is a free version with limited editorial options, she also offers monthly and annual subscription rates. Cowan, a Brooklinite since 2009 after living in Toronto, is working at the venture part-time while handling her full time job as admin support in the medical field. Various individuals she consulted with, especially in mortuaries, suggested how tough it would be for this to gain traction because of how we view death and that we're used to dialogue after the fact. However, she is undaunted and determined to help find a way to memorialize and thank our loved ones and friends. As she points out on the site, "I want to share this powerful experience and shift the mindset around how we deal with life's deepest valleys." Web site: https://tellmenow.ca Email Katie Cowan: katie@tellmenow.ca "Tell Me Now" Provides Remembrance DRPS completed its third week of the 2022 Festive R.I.D.E program, stopping more than 1,753 vehicles and charging 13 drivers with impaired driving offences. Durham Regional Officers conducted R.I.D.E checks in Ajax, Pickering, Oshawa, and Bowmanville with the following totals (the numbers in brackets reflect 2021 third week totals for comparison): 1753 (1362) Vehicles stopped by R.I.D.E. 134 (41) Roadside Breath Tests 2 (2) People received "3 Day Suspensions" for registering a "WARN" 0 (4) Novice Driver received a 3, 7 or 30 Licence Suspension 13 (16) People were charged with Impaired Driving Offences 20 (3) Other Criminal Code Charges 150 (46) Charged with various Highway Traffic Act Offences 1 (0) Drug Offences This week of R.I.D.E. saw DRPS officers working alongside our partners with the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario, conducting proactive inspections and education to multiple licensed establishments throughout our region. We also partnered with the Ministry of Transportation - Ontario, ensuring the sobriety of transport truck drivers travelling through our region. It is through continued partnerships with other enforcement agencies that we are able to provide strategic and effective enforcement and education campaigns geared towards Reducing Impaired Driving Everywhere (R.I.D.E.). A complete list of those charged with Impaired/Exceed will be posted today on our website at www.drps.ca under Ride Results. Note: Under the Ontario Highway Traffic Act, anyone charged with a criminal impaired driving offence will have their driver's licence suspended for ninety days and their vehicle impounded automatically for seven days. SUBJECT: Festive R.I.D.E. Results - Week Three Photo courtesy of Liz Salman Photography