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OAKVILLE BEAVER Friday, September 11, 2009 · 8 Letter to the editor Re: Empty buses pollute the air, Oakville Beaver, Sept. 4. Oakville residents have been asking for more choice and more convenience in transit on all recent surveys. The new grid route service does just that. The new Lakeshore service is a good example. Currently, Route 14 which connects Bronte Village, Hopedale Mall, downtown Oakville, and the Oakville GO is one of the best used bus routes in Oakville. Having used that bus many times myself, I know that people get on and off everywhere along the route. Introducing a new route along Lakeshore will give these riders another option with a different schedule. Perhaps they aren't interested in the detour up to Rebecca, or they want to continue further along Lakeshore without having to transfer at the Oakville GO. The new service along Lakeshore finally makes Coronation Park accessible by bus. The homes around the park will now be within Oakville's distance guideline of 400 metres from a bus stop. There are also a number of institutions and businesses along Lakeshore that have not been well-served by the existing buses. The new service has been designed to make it easier for people to go from place to place within Oakville. All of the grid routes enable riders to continue along the main corridors in town. GreenTrans is especially pleased with the introduction of service along Dundas Street. GreenTrans members have been anxiously awaiting the expansion of Oakville Transit to include grid routes. Although the new and changed routes are not perfect and not as frequent as we would like, we are hopeful that they will provide a good starting point for routing and schedule improvements in the future. GreenTrans thanks Town Council for having the vision and courage to dedicate money to improving transit service in Oakville for the ultimate benefit of all who live and work here. Convenient bus service enables improvements in local air quality, less need for people to buy a second or third car, less money spent on gas, reductions in the size of parking lots, greater mobility for those who need it and decreased use of fossil fuels, which contribute to global warming. GreenTrans is an Oakville-based group, which advocates environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable transportation policies and programs. GreenTrans can be reached at info@greentrans.org. For information on bus routes and schedules, visit www.oakvilletransit.ca. LISA SEILER, CHAIR GREENTRANS Letter to the editor I'm writing in response to Brian Hopkin's praise of the new grid system (Oakville Beaver, Sept. 9). He calls it a `step forward.' I beg to differ. While I'm happy that new routes have been added, I'm not happy about major changes to our system that have resulted in delays, crowded buses and loss of routes. First of all, the number White Oaks 27 was taken out. This bus provided much needed service along the Elm Road strip running between Sixth Line and Upper Middle. With the loss of this bus, we are forced to take the 19 Uptown Town/River Oaks bus to the Go Station. This bus, I have found, is often late and very crowded. As a single parent with no other means of transportation, it's a bitter pill to swallow to have lost a bus that was my main source of transportation and having to take a crowded and late bus that sometimes doesn't make the GO Station on time to meet with my other bus connections. Was this done to appease the folks who complained about empty buses? So are we to do an immediate flip flop and have buses as crowded as though we lived in Toronto? There's a problem here? We're not Toronto, we're Oakville. We don't have 2 million people living here and I enjoyed getting on the Oakville Transit bus knowing I'd more than likely have a seat. Is that such a bad thing? Secondly, the new system has found passengers not making crucial connections at the GO Station. My friend has found with the loss of the 27 White Oaks/Go, she has been late to her job several times this week by 15 minutes or more and that's after taking the earlier bus to ensure she'd make her connecting bus at the GO Station. Another woman complained on the bus, with the loss of the 27, she has to push her baby in a stroller for almost 15 minutes to reach home. And I was told that by having the 19 Uptown bus go straight up Sixth Line instead of Oakmead, lateness would no longer be a factor. Not so. The lateness continues. On a personal note, I am not looking forward to walking in freezing cold weather to get my daughter to school because we don't have a car and the school bus doesn't cover her area. It's not a problem in the fall, spring and summer. But walking in below 0 temperatures is horrible for a nine year old. The 27 bus ran along a route in front of her school and we would take it on those cold mornings. Now we can't. You call that a `step forward'? How do you call causing commuters even more stress by eliminating a much-needed bus progress? How do you call making people late a `step forward'? Sorry, but I don't see it that way when a crucial bus is taken from us. SANDRA MACKAY New transit system more convenient New transit system step backward