HawthorneVillager.com

Hi fwad,

We do need more regional transit, very true, but that is built on what we get from the province in terms of the BIG MOVE. What everyone has to understand is that Milton is adding 6,000 - 8,000 people every year. Most will want to drive, we know that. If we do not provide options, which is why regional council agreed to the growth, all our regional roads will be extremely congested. Just imagine 150,000 more people in Milton on top of the 100,000 who are here now.

Yes, Derry Green means local jobs but also more motorists and trucks. I will see if we look at shutting that down also.

As for how trains help, just imagine, we cannot add another 150,000 people to Milton without transit options instead of the regional roads. No sir, we cannot. The province is building subways in Toronto, BUT we are growing FASTER than Toronto. Therefore, yes we are a priority, and if they don't see that - we're not playing along. Finito.



Best Regards,
Tony

Tony Lambert
Town & Regional Councillor
wards 1,6,7 and 8
http://www.tony-lambert.ca

Hi cactus_jack,

OK, I won't say "gridlock" with you, no problem (but I will refer it in the future with other people who don't mind). As I mentioned Milton is expected to add 150,000 more people over the next 25 years, and yes, it's happening as I type this. Our growth is that strong. Not all the workers will do the 7am-9am 4pm-6pm rush hour commute. Many will go into work after 10am and leave after 6pm. This is based on research of similar sized 250,000 communities. Right now Oakville and Burlington which have a population of 160,000 have all day train service. So does the communities of Oshawa and Ajax. Milton however has the fastest growing number of communters taking the train in Metrolinx, and projected for the next decade.

Many people who need the all day train service are students and non work people who need to travel at off peak hours. If they do not take the train, they will be on the regional roads. And because the population will be approaching close to 300,000, there will be many of them. We need the province to just keep their promise. Which is what we assumed we were getting to accommodate all the people moving here. Without it, I'm not playing along. BADABAM!!!


Best Regards,
Tony

Tony Lambert
Town & Regional Councillor
Wards 1,6,7 and 8
http://www.tony-lambert.ca

So let's say you win and get the all day train service, how are these 6000-8000 people getting to the all day train service? Oh that's right, not Region of Halton's problem, it's dependent on the BIG MOVE. What regional transit plans are in place to accommodate the growth and new train schedules? You are a regional councillor right?



Wouldn't local jobs mean less motorists? Actually I take that back You'd need efficient local transit in order to get people to these local jobs and that's not going to happen in Milton. So yeah Tony. Shut down the whole local jobs thing. Thank goodness you're on the Town Council.



Again....how are these 150,000 people getting to the additional train station to access these magic congestion eliminating all day trains? Probably not via the existing roads because that would cause congestion and once the trains come, there'd be no more congestion, right?

Guess what Tony, I'm not playing along either.

Hi MiltonShiv,

Thanks for the question. Transit within Milton is the responsibilty of the town of Milton. Milton Council approved the Transportation Master Plan for the anticipated population growth (subject to annual budget reviews, and ridership targets being met). Here is an article that was in the Milton Canadian Champion regarding the Transportation Master Plan:


Town council endorses transit plan, Move Milton Forward March 27, 2013 Julia Le


As Canada’s fastest growing municipality, Milton faces a number of challenges with the population expected to swell to 161,750 residents by 2021.

One of the challenges, as outlined in the Town of Milton’s transit master plan, is how the transportation and transit system will respond to ensure the community continues to be accessible with effective mobility options available for everyone.

In introducing the master plan called Move Milton Forward to town council Monday night, the Town’s Engineering Services Director Paul Cripps described it as a roadmap that lays out options on how the Town can develop public transit to anticipate growth in the community over the next five years.

It builds on the current foundation of transit service in Milton to achieve a more reliable, convenient, efficient and cost-effective system, he said, adding that the recommended service level improvements have to stand the test against the Town budget.

Recommendations for improvement this year include introducing Saturday services and having a GO shuttle service during afternoon peak periods for Milton GO Transit users. Staff also recommended a shuttle that would provide effective and efficient transit service to the growing business community in the Hwy. 401 industrial and business area.

Council approved the plan in principle in an 8-3 vote with the provision that service level expansions are subject to the annual budget process and new area construction.

Councillors also endorsed the 2013 service implementation plan, which includes purchasing three eight-metre transit buses and fare boxes at a cost of $567,617.

Dennis Kar, a transit and transportation planner with Dillon Consulting Ltd. hired by the Town to create the master plan, told councillors that through public consultation there was a strong desire from residents to extend service hours, particularly on weekends.

Faced with a potential university campus, a diverse workforce as Derry Green Business Park is developed and the construction of the velodrome in the years ahead, Kar added the vision for Milton’s transit system is “fundamental in the way Milton moves and grows.”

To that end, the plan outlines service improvements that could be phased in over time reliant on demand and supply.

“Triggers will look at the pace of population growth and expanding services into new areas as population is achieved,” he said. “Ridership performance will be a trigger for service enhancements.”

During heavy discussion, Ward 4 Councillor Rick Malboeuf and Ward 6 Councillor Mike Cluett questioned whether implementing the plan would be the best use of taxpayers dollars.

Malboeuf expressed his skepticism of the plan, which projects ridership will grow from about 300,000 to 1.1 million in 2017.

“To achieve that number we’d have to increase our ridership at 30 per cent a year,” he said. “Our current ridership right now is increasing at a rate of 12 to14 per cent and that’s because we added two more routes last September.”

Kar responded ridership increased by 66 per cent from 2010 and 2011 and 20 per cent last year.

“You’re right. It is a significant jump in ridership, but we believe it’s fully achievable based on the size of population that will grow into Milton, the younger demographic that is in place as well as the overall demographic,” he said. “We’re also seeing here a 400 per cent increase in service hours provided so we’re moving to about 23,000 hours of service to 68,000 hours of service.”

That said, he continued that if population growth isn’t achieved than neither will the expansion of the hours of service, which will in turn affect ridership projections.

The plan, said Kar, is based on a strategy looking at the best planning estimates and relies on performance triggers to move it forward.

Malboeuf said he believes the $160,000 spent to create the master plan was a waste of taxpayers’ money and the goals outlined in it are “unrealistic and unattainable.”

He said he doesn’t believe in spending money and then hoping people “jump on board.”

Malboeuf, who voted against the plan along with Cluett and Ward 2 Councillor Greg Nelson, also recommended that council only receive the plan for information for now to allow councillors the opportunity to go through the 500-page plan more thoroughly.

Ward 8 Councillor Zeeshan Hamid argued that transit isn’t an optional luxury.

He said he believes the system Milton has now is “so pathetic no one can rely on it.” “We’re doing so little that we’re not getting any return back on investment,” he said, adding that the plan doesn’t promise anything.

Hamid added he believes the 35-page summary explains thoroughly a well-thought out strategy to improve transportation locally.

Councillors also discussed at length a related report about purchasing three new buses.

Malboeuf said he believes the ridership numbers don’t justify the expense at this time.

Council voted 8-3 in favour of the purchase.

To see the summary of the master plan, visit http://www.milton.ca/en/live/transitmasterplan.asp.



Thanks,
Tony

Tony Lambert
Town & Regional Councillor
Wards 1,6,7 and 8
http://www.tony-lambert.ca

Is it possible to also push for some express service, say express to/from Meadowvale (i.e. only stopping at Meadowvale, Lisgar and Milton), kinda like what's done on the Lakeshore lines?

The vast majority of those consulted in preparation of this report were current Milton Transit users, so you can assume they would be in favour of increasing service. I suspect had a more intensive consultation process been done, such as speaking with people at the Milton Mall, farmer's market, sports centers to name a few, the results may have been a bit different, Unfortunately that wasn't done, I guess $160 thousand doesn't get you much these days. Also Tony talks about Saturday service, the consultants report stated that providing this service would cost tax payers $ 190 K, I have since found out and had it confirmed by our transit dept. that in fact it will cost tax payers $ 230 K. My concern now is if the consultant was 20% off on this number how confidant can we be that all the other numbers and projections they provided are accurate. I guess I shouldn't worry about it though, Milton has all sorts of money, and if we need more we can always rely on a member of council to introduce a new tax levy.....

Rick Malboeuf
Councillor Ward 4

Hi Councillor Malboeuf,

Just to clarify, the "quote" parts above - "Tony wrote..." and "Tony talks about..." are not my words, their from the Milton Canadian Champion's article/reporter.


Thanks,
Tony

Tony Lambert
Town & Regional Councillor
Wards 1,6,7 and 8
http://www.tony-lambert.ca

Personally I leave for work at around 10 am and come home at 3, so I welcome all day GO service to the airport area from Milton

Ah Tony, copying other people's copyright works without attribution, original source link, and claiming credit.

Can't teach an old dog new tricks.

Speaking of gridlock, I found this interesting.

http://www.torontosun.com/2013/04/10/to ... ems-solved



You some kind of teacher?

And is the all day train service being fought for going to provide this for you?

_________________
Laugh when you can; Apologize when you should; and Let go of what you can't change.

+1. GO bus is totally fine, I even prefer it. You can get off wherever you want, including Hawthorne Cafe, Neighbours at Thompson and many other places.

All day GO will solve zero congestion issues ... it will just give us less choice of stops throughout town.



Hey, Tony, here's a idea: pick up the damn trash!

Maybe the province can help us with that, because clearly the region isn't capable of it.

All day Go trains would probably help with congestion because it would open up the schedule to those who work shifts. It would also I'm told make Metrolinx some money by 2031; of course that is based on 2010 numbers which didn't include possible capital costs (train vehicles, track, and other infrastructure improvements or repairs).

Which brings us to the town's "Master Transit Plan." I'm not crazy about it; I likely wouldn't have voted for it. I think subjecting it to the town's operating budget is a bit of a cop out- it gives council an easy out, when I think we can no longer afford to take it easy here. I probably as well would have brought the "inter boundary" transit forward from 2016- a way via transit to Oakville/Burlington, and north to Halton Hills has been badly needed here probably for at least the last decade or so. It would push ridership numbers up while we figure out what's going on in Boyne.

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Follow me on Twitter: @miltonlaura
Check out my blog: http://www.miltonviews.wordpress.com
website: www.laurarsteiner.com

Isn't this an assumption? There is all day bus service to meet this need. Or do you think that these shift people travel in rush hour and then sit around waiting for their jobs to start? How do they get home if they finish after peak hours without all day train service?

All day train service will have minimal impact on congestion without proper support from local transit. People will still need to get to the trains (as opposed to waiting for the bus to come get them - most bus stops are within walking distances) and our council doesn't seem to think beyond now. Don't buy into the "No All Day Train = No Growth!" BS Tony is selling. You're smarter than that.

Do you even understand the master plan? In your ownn words Tony, can you tell me what it means to the community? How it will help congestion and meet the needs of the community?

No links to reports or news articles....just you saying what you understand about what the plan means to your constituents.

Sorry, it was a bad attempt at humour that was obviously too subtle. I was running on fumes yesterday and unfortunately that was the best I had.

But it underscored a curiosity I have about the split of commuters working downtown vs. other business parks in the west end. I'm sure it's been brought up in the thread, but I think some inter-regional transit to and from certain employment hubs in Mississauga would help Miltonians more than all day train service.

Having said that, I'm a bit surprised that all-day GO train service was quashed. Not for Milton's sake, but more for service to Mississauga (I believe the Milton line runs through downtown Mississauga?)