The Peterborough Examiner e-edition

Bus system doesn’t work, candidates agree

BILL HODGINS

Peterborough Transit’s hub-andspoke system that was discarded during the pandemic mostly to allow for less crowding at its downtown terminal needs to come back in some form, most of the city’s mayoral candidates agreed during the first debate ahead of the Oct. 24 municipal election.

At the invitation from Peterborough This Week, candidates Jeff Leal, Henry Clarke, Stephen Wright, and Victor Kruez met Thursday morning at the Best Western Inn on Lansdowne Street East with newspaper staff. A fifth candidate, Brian Lumsden, chose not to attend the event. Incumbent Mayor Diane Therrien is not seeking re-election to a second term.

The debate was recorded and will be posted to The Examiner’s website in the coming days.

For more than two hours, the four candidates tackled issues from homelessness and housing to downtown detractors and transit.

The changes to the transit system — even city staff have stated “the routes don’t work” — need to be undone now, most of the mayoral candidates agreed. Before the pandemic, the system was a hub-andspoke model, meaning all buses radiated from the Simcoe Street transit station.

“During the period of COVID when the transit system was realigned, there was very little consultation with the community. The community has now had the opportunity to see what the deficits are,” Wright said.

“Our city has to return back to the previous hub-and-spoke system until we gauge in further consultation, not only with the drivers, but also the community.”

Leal said he was a member of city council when the hub-and-spoke system was introduced more than 30 years ago.

“I think we need to go back to that system with modifications to make sure that buses are available when people need them. I would also make sure that our buses have a GPS system and that people with their apps can find out exactly where buses are in order for them to be picked up.”

Kruez also called for a return to the hub-and-spoke system but said the city should consider adding to it.

“A lot of people aren’t happy with the transit system the way it is now,” he said. “It should be returned to the hub and spoke system, but there should be some straight runs added as well, along Lansdowne Street for example. … Just a bus dedicated to travelling along Lansdowne Street.”

Taking the issue of transit outside the city, Clarke said the municipality has the property to construct a train station and bringing rail traffic between here and Toronto should be a priority.

“That’s a huge opportunity for our community. It allows people to come from a distance to bring specialized skills that we can always use in our business and industry, and it allows people to really be able to reach out to the cultural areas that perhaps are a little further away,” Clarke said.

As mayor, he said he can encourage council through motions of support. “Bringing that train that wants to run from Montreal to Toronto right through here will be a very solid economic boon to the city.”

Wright said the location of the Peterborough airport presents an opportunity to attach train service to Peterborough from the GTA.

“Whether it’s GO or a Via extension to Peterborough … with that new investment dollar coming to the community, you can make the argument for the need for full rail service from Peterborough back to Toronto.”

Leal touted the work he did as Peterborough MPP to help bring GO Transit buses to Peterborough back in 2009. He said he met with Via Rail officials five years ago to discuss the return of rail service to Peterborough and said the federal government needs to step in further to help make it happen.

“Peterborough deserves from Via Rail and the government of Canada a critical path … that investment needs to be done to restore that track and get the train running through our community,” Leal said.

Kruez criticized Leal, saying he was bragging about his accomplishments even though years have passed without a return to train service. “I don’t understand why he couldn’t have done a lot more,” he said.

But Leal argued he wasn’t bragging by making those statements.

“There is nothing nostalgic about delivering priorities for the people of Peterborough,” he said.

Via Rail has proposed creating a high-frequency passenger rail service on a dedicated Quebec CityToronto corridor that would pass through Peterborough. Transport Canada has said it is in the “procurement process” for the service, but it won’t be fully operational until the early 2030s.

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2022-10-01T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-10-01T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://thepeterboroughexaminer.pressreader.com/article/281590949447360

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