Several years ago I saw a comment on an article regarding transit in the US. To roughly quote it, 'Transit sucks because no one takes it. No one takes it because transit sucks.'
Despite investments in infrastructure, there is some sad truth to this here in York Region. Specifically if you do not happen to live along the Yonge St or Highway 7 corridors. Beyond these two avenues, most bus routes operate every 60-90 minutes, perhaps every 30 minutes during the rush hour.
To make matters worse, our fares which happen to be some of the highest on the continent, are looking to increase next year. This is to be coupled with even more service cuts!
The frustrating thing is how short sighted this policy is.
First of all, to quote transit planner and blogger Jarrett Walker, "Frequency means freedom." I recently moved to a location that is closer to Major Mackenzie than Yonge St. However, most of the locations I choose to visit will be on Yonge simply because of how infrequent the Major Mackenzie bus operates.
Let me also add that along the 6km stretch of Major Mac between Bathurst and Leslie, there are two high schools, several shopping plazas both big and small, a GO station with bus terminal, a hospital, library, fire and police stations, a community pool, and even a number of low, mid, and high-rise apartments and condos. Yet only during the heat of rush hour will you find buses running at a measly 20 minute headways.
Worst of all, this strategy of only supporting the Viva corridors ironically hurts their potential growth. There are hundreds of thousands of residents and businesses which are beyond a 5-10 minute walk from a Viva stop, and these places become very inaccessible to transit riders. If these people were interested in using public transit, perhaps using a local bus to connect to a Viva route to take them an extended distance, they won't be bothered if the bus only goes by every 45 minutes or so.
I was told that the region was getting complaints from people seeing empty buses going by, as these people felt it was a waste of tax dollars. Unfortunately investing in transit is not always roses and unicorns. It takes time before people make the switch to transit, especially in a suburban environment. And cutting back the absolute minimum of service will not encourage people to make the switch.
