Written by Peter McIntyre 107.5 KISSFM Monday, 23 September 2013 19:14
Vernon council has been presented with a 3,191 name petition calling for improved transit service in Greater Vernon. Resident Winnifred Hibbert, and several others, collected the names, requesting bus service from 6am to 11 pm, seven days a week. "It's about time this city got it together and got us decent bus service so people can get to work and where they are going without leaving three hours early to get there," Hibbert told council. Hibbert says the longer bus hours at night would be a safety issue. "And I hope you'll listen before somebody is injured on the road walking in the dark, or a young lady is raped and murdered on the way home. We don't need that sort of thing in town." Mayor Rob Sawatzky says it's heartening to see that many people seeking better transit, even though any improvements would be costly. "In the core service review KPMG pointed out that, with the cost of running this service and the number of riders we have, it would be cheaper to consider abandoning the service and just using taxis." Another delegation asked council to extend bus service to the North East Hill area, to include the top end of 43rd Avenue. Councillor Bob Spiers says improving transit service is a goal, but it comes with a cost. "Every $240,000 dollars that we spend extra, it's another (percentage) point on everyone's taxes," says Spiers. The requests will be considered in the city's 25 year old plan for transit which is under discussion.
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Don Quixote Note: The proposed 25 year Transit PLan can be found at P. 210-256 (Priorities in order and costs start at P.226 . The Implementation list starts at Page 247 and you can use to total the costs in each period. Some of the costs for some of the projects are not yet shown on this prelim draft. http://www.vernon.ca/images/uploads/council/agendas/packages/130923_1.pdf
You can see the priority lists for the first 5, 6-10 and 11- 25 years and the estimated costs that will be incurred from the property taxpayers.
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