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6- The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday October 29, 2008 www.oakvillebeaver.com OPINION & LETTERS The Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5567 Classified Advertising: 845-3824, ext. 224 Circulation: 845-9742 Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: NEIL OLIVER Vice ­ President and Group Publisher of Metroland West The Oakville Beaver is a division of IAN OLIVER President Media Group Ltd. DAVID HARVEY General Manager JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief ROD JERRED Managing Editor DANIEL BAIRD Advertising Director RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director SANDY PARE Business Manager MARK DILLS Director of Production MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager CHARLENE HALL Director of Distribution ALEXANDRIA ANCHOR Circ. Manager Have a safe Halloween Halloween is a night for fun and treats, but it is also a night to be safety conscious as many hidden dangers lurk in the dark. With that in mind, Halton Regional Police have released some safety tips to ensure that children will have a safe and happy time while trick or treating. · Younger children should go trick or treating with an adult while older children, who are not taking an adult, should travel in groups of at least two and provide a route and time of return to a parent or other responsible adult. · Being visible to cars is another important part of being safe, so police are advising trick or treaters to wear light-coloured costumes and carry a flashlight. · Placing reflective tape on clothing is another way to enhance chances of being seen. · Children should stay off the roadways and walk on sidewalks where available. If no sidewalks are present, police say kids should walk facing traffic. · When the time does come to cross a street, children should look both ways before crossing, never run across the road and cross at intersections only. · Children should make sure they can see where they are going by either wearing makeup as part of their costume or by ensuring the eye openings in their mask do not restrict their vision. Children should remove masks before crossing the street. · When it comes to actually getting the candy, children should accept treats at the door only, never enter a stranger's home and only visit homes where the lights are on. · Children should also wait until their parents have examined their candy before they eat any of it. The last bit of advice is for the motorists who may be hurrying home from work to take their anxious youngster out or heading to a Halloween party. Slow down. A few seconds can make all the difference in the world. Motorists should also take extra care driving on Halloween night and watch for children on the roads and in driveways. Have a safe and happy Halloween. The Oakville Beaver welcomes letters from its readers. Letters will be edited for clarity, length, legal considerations and grammar. In order to be published all letters must contain the name, address and phone number of the author. Letters should be addressed to The Editor, Oakville Beaver, 467 Speers Rd., Oakville, ON, L6K 3S4, or via e-mail to editor@oakvillebeaver.com. The Beaver reserves the right to refuse to publish a letter. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Oakville Transit bus service not deserving of fare increase Re: Town council okays hikes in bus fares, Oakville Beaver, Oct. 24 I was shocked after reading in the newspaper about Oakville Transit and Town Hall talking about raising the bus fare from $2.75 to $3, as well as raising the monthly bus passes by $8 to $88. I travel frequently from one city to another. The other cities such as Hamilton, Mississauga, and Toronto have buses running every five minutes on weekdays and every 15-20 minutes on weekends. Oakville Transit has bus service every 30 minutes during the week with buses running every hour after 7 p.m. On weekends, the buses run hourly with Sundays running from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Why should Oakville residents pay a $3 fare when the services are next to nothing compared to other cities. If Oakville Transit was like other cities, I would pay $3 fare, but in Oakville, no way. Oakville Transit complains that the ridership is low, now. With this fare increase there will be a much lower ridership and people will take a taxi or even get back in their cars. I would like to see people in Town Hall take buses every day to see what we as residents go through from buses being late, not stopping for passengers and not connecting with GO Transit. Oakville Transit needs to improve the bus services and add new routes without raising the fare. I hope that all bus riders will stand up to Oakville Transit and Town Hall to (complain about) the fare increase. If Oakville Transit and Town Hall raise the fare, the ridership could be in danger and what happens to improving public transit and keeping cars off the roads? There has to be a better way to deal with this issue. If not, I and three others in my household will start taking a taxi, which is cheaper if the bus fare goes up. Which is important -- taking a taxi or the bus? DEBBIE ROBILLIARD This week's poll Pud The Oakville Beaver has a polling feature on its website oakvillebeaver.com. A new poll will be posted every Wednesday with the results of the poll published in the following Wednesday edition of The Oakville Beaver. This week's question is: Do you support a ban on the use of cellphones and other electronic gadgets while driving? · Yes BY STEVE NEASE snease@haltonsearch.com · No To vote, visit oakvillebeaver.com Last week's poll: How long will this Conservative minority government last?: · Six months 5.88% · One year 17.65% · 18 months 11.76% · Two years 11.76% · Three years 52.94% Total votes: 17 The Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council.The council is located at 80 Gould St., Suite 206,Toronto, Ont., M5B 2M7. Phone 416-340-1981.Advertising is accepted on the condition that, in the event of a typographical error, that portion of advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate.The publisher reserves the right to categorize advertisements or decline.