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13 · Thursday, February 25, 2010 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.oakvillebeaver.com Buses on deck in The Road to Change By Tim Foran OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF An amalgamated transit system possibly serving Halton's four communities of Burlington, Oakville, Milton, and Halton Hills will be studied by Regional staff. Halton's council has directed the works department to consider including an integrated regional transit system into the multi-billion dollar master plan it is developing for transportation projects over the next two decades. Staff hope to complete the master plan, dubbed The Road to Change, by the end of the year. A public information meeting is scheduled for late March. Currently, transit service in Halton is handled at the local municipal level, with Burlington, Oakville and Milton all operating separate transit systems. Halton Hills does not have a conventional transit system, but Regional planning documents envision the Town could have a small six-bus system by 2031 to service the approximately 25,000 extra people coming to Acton, Georgetown and area hamlets between 2015 and 2031. Taylor's Oakville colleague, Allan Elgar, was more circumspect of a regional transit initiative, in regards to the cost. "Who's going to pay?" asked Elgar in a separate interview. "I don't believe Oakville is interested in subsidizing Halton Hills and Milton in this initiative." Elgar was referring to a point raised often by Oakville's regional council members, that residents and businesses in their town, due to the higher assessment value of their properties, pay approximately 42 per cent of the property taxes that end up at the Region though Oakville's population is only 37 per cent of Halton's total. Elgar said Oakville Transit has RIZIERO VERTOLLI / OAKVILLE BEAVER also moved to a grid based transit system designed for people to get MAKING THE CONNECTIONS: An Oakville Transit bus at the Oakville GO Station on Cross Avenue. around the town, while Burlington's and Milton's transit agencies still In the past decade, both York and Taylor, vice-chair of council's plan- explained. "I think we should have operate radial systems focused on getting commuters to GO stations. Durham regions have created region- ning and public works committee the facts in front of us." Taylor responded to Elgar's conal transit bodies, taking over the bus and a Burlington regional councillor, Taylor said a Halton regional trancerns by suggesting a regional transit services offered by their local munic- in an interview. sit system would be an intermediate ipalities. "Milton has a fledgling system, step. The ultimate aim should be a system could operate like Halton's "I've been an advocate for looking Burlington and Oakville have more seamless, GTA-wide transit system waste collection division, with local at this (regional transit system) for sophisticated systems. Can we find a similar to what is available in municipalities determining the servSee Hoping page 14 some period of time," said John way to find efficiencies?" he Vancouver and its suburbs, he said. 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