The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

21| O akville B eaver | T hursday,M ay 24,2018 insidehalton.com Need directions to your financial destination? Marc Nutford . Member - Canadian Investor Protection Fund www.edwardjones.com/marc-nutford Marc Nutford Financial Advisor . 2387 Trafalgar Road Unit E2 Oakville, ON L6H 6K7 905-844-4043 Does your financial advisor know your life goals? WE PROTECT YOUR RIGHT TO RECEIVE DISABILITY BENEFITS CONTACT US FOR A FREE CASE EVALUATION 905.337.9568 4-1464 CORNWALL RD., OAKVILLE DISABILITY BENEFITS DENIED/TERMINATED? As part of its comprehen- sive coverage of the provin- cial election, the Beaver and Post invited each of thePost invited each of theP Oakville North-Burlington riding candidates to weigh in on a particular issue. This is the second in a three-This is the second in a three-T part question-and-answer with your local candidates. This week, their responsesThis week, their responsesT are listed in reverse alpha- betical order. TRANSIT: Congestion on our roads and highways is at a maximum. If elected, what solutions would you and your party bring to the table to alleviate gridlock in the GTA? Saima Zaidi • NDP The best way to allevi- ate congestion is to get cars off the road, and to do that we need to have transit that works for everyday people. This problem dates back decades. The last Conservative government cut the provincial govern- ment's funding for munici- pal transit, and Kathleen Wynne's government re-Wynne's government re-W fused to restore it. fused to restore it. f The province used to fund 50 per cent of munici-fund 50 per cent of munici-f pal transit operations, which made transit agen- cies like Oakville Transit the envy of the world. Now we have transit fares rising faster than inflation, andfaster than inflation, andf service seems to be getting worse. Under the Liberals, funding decisions havefunding decisions havef been ad hoc, making it im- possible for municipalities to make long-term plans to get the right transit built where it will best serve the public interest. The NDP will restore the province's traditional 50 per cent funding for mu- nicipal transit operations to ensure immediate im- provements to the system, which will lead to higher ridership throughout the province. This means spending more than $800 million across the prov- ince, and more than $330 million in Toronto. We will also review Presto, and rein in fees that have driv- en up costs for transit rid- ers. Saima Zaidi and the NDP transit plan will bring 'Change for the Better' to Oakville North-Burling- ton. Charles Zach • Libertarian Traffic gridlock is the result of big government interference in the flow of traffic. Traffic lights and low speed limits on divided highways are major con- tributors to the back up of traffic during peak traffic periods. Counter-intuitive as it may seem, one real and rel- atively simple solution is the elimination of traffic lights. Traffic studies now shows how removing traf- fic lights can turn a previ-fic lights can turn a previ-f ously congested junction or intersection into a zone of free-flowing traffic. Journey times fell by over half and there was abso- lutely no loss of pedestrian safety. Contrary to some residents' expectations, re- moving traffic controls did not lead to a "breakdown of civilization as we know it." Rather, drivers began to stop naturally when pedes- trians walked in front of them. This type of road design has been called "shared space." When you create such an area of "egalitari- an space-sharing," a new hierarchy emerges on the roads with pedestrians at the top. The reason: drivers begin "to see people on foot as fellow road users rather than obstacles in the way of the next light." Divided highways are the safest roads ever in- vented and designed. They are capable of handling much higher speeds with much less fatalities than slower city and secondary roads. Increasing speed limits on divided highways will reduce gridlock. Marianne Workman •.Green Congestion in the GTHA is costing us billions of dollars each year in lost productivity, wasted time, higher costs for goods and increased pollution. Our transit system needs atten- tion. We need seamless, af-We need seamless, af-W fordable transit, alongfordable transit, alongf with safe and accessible in- frastructure for users of allfrastructure for users of allf ages and abilities, regard- less of their mode of trans- port. To build the world-class system that we need, I will increase funding for public transit infrastructure by $1.5 billion per year; fund 50 per cent of the operating costs for municipal transit; dedicate 5 per cent of the budget for walking and cy- cling infrastructure - cur- rently it is 0 per cent; ex- pand all day, two-way GO service on all lines; in- crease bus service on un- derserved routes; electrify passenger rail service; an- ticipate and plan for future transit direction, such as self-driving electric vehi- cles, high speed rail, etc. To fund the necessary changes, I will implement fair and progressive reve-fair and progressive reve-f nue tools including conges- tion charges, parking lev- ies, and land value taxes. I want to make it safe, easy and enjoyable to walk and ride. I want to make it convenient and economi- cal to take public transit. I will advocate to make this happen. The GTHA needs a world-class transit system. Q&A: Oakville North-Burlington The Oakville North-Burlington riding candidates include, from left, Frank DeLuca (Trillium), Alvin Tedjo (Liberal), Effie Triantafilopoulos (PC), Marianne Workman (Green), Charles Zach (Libertarian) and Saima Zaidi (NDP). Metroland photo composition Check out the latest online on the upcoming provincial election. insidehalton.com /provincialelection l See TRANSIT, page 44