Hatters deserve a great but affordable transit system

By Letter to the Editor on October 4, 2017.

As a member of the Transit Advisory Committee, I feel the need to clarify the intent of the motion that I made that was brought to the Public Service Committee meeting on Sept. 20.

My intention was not to “fight” for the new system or to suggest that all that was needed was minor tweaking to make it work. The city invested a significant amount of money into the consultation and design of the new system. The result has been a failure.

The service hours are too short, the transfer points are confusing, and people have to walk too far to get to a bus stop. My hope was that with major or minor adjustments, and some time to work out these significant issues, the system could be properly evaluated and could possibly be salvaged.

As a committee member, I attended several presentations that made it clear that the previous transit system was not only unaffordable, but also under-utilized and inefficient. By simply going back to the way it was, we have not solved any of those problems. I think it is great that the people of our city are so passionate about public transportation; we owe it to ourselves to have a great transit system — one that best serves those who need it most, but also one that we can afford.

Jeff Decelle

Medicine Hat

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