The following article appeared in the November 8 edition of the Guelph Mercury:
Sasha Saladziak is starting to think her feet might be the most reliable form of transit.
The 19-year-old University of Guelph student is tired of the city’s 40-minute bus service. She said it isn’t getting her to where she needs be when she needs to be there.
Yesterday, Saladziak, a second year hotel and food administration student, nearly missed a quiz when she said her bus came 10 minutes early.
“It’s kind of like, ‘Should I walk to school now or take the bus?’ ” she asked, adding that she lives off Elizabeth Street.
It’s been more than two months since the city reduced its bus service to a 40-minute schedule from the previous 30 minutes, but adjusting to the new system continues to be tough for residents.
Evelynne Sundholm, 64, said she hasn’t mastered the new schedule yet.
“All the time I’ve lived here, you knew the bus was leaving downtown at quarter to the hour or quarter after the hour,” she said. “I just don’t seem able to calculate (the new rotating schedule) at all in my head.
“It doesn’t make sense. Why should you have to do that?”
Randall French, manager of Guelph Transit, said paper schedules have been posted in bus shelters at St. George’s Square to give riders a better sense of when the next bus is coming. He said permanent signage has been ordered and it will be installed soon at the square and major bus stops around the city including Stone Road Mall, the West End Recreation Centre and the University of Guelph.
But Sundholm doesn’t think the interim measure has helped her situation at all.
“Having one ticky tacky piece of paper in St. George’s Square doesn’t help me when I’m at Eramosa,” she said, explaining that she doesn’t have a cellphone to access the Next Bus service.
French said permanent signage will be expanded once additional funds are identified in the 2008 budget.
“Most transit systems don’t have that kind of information posted at every (stop),” he said. “We’re going to get that information out at the major locations.”
Guelph Transit is also working on a budget expansion package that, if approved by city council in the new year, could mean a 20-minute service, either at peak times, seasonally or overall.
At least two city councillors say improving transit service is a priority.
“Transit ridership is very, very important. If we want to encourage people to take the bus, we have to have service available,” Councillor June Hofland said.
Coun. Ian Findlay said of all the calls he fields from constituents, public transit concerns tend to be the most common. It’s also something that affects his life.
“I personally would like to get from my house near the hospital to Stone Road Mall in a reasonable, timely manner,” he said. “It’s what I’m hearing and it’s what I feel.”
There are currently six groups on the Facebook website dedicated to Guelph Transit issues. One of the most recent additions was created by University of Guelph student Justin Toth, who lives at Clair Road and Gordon Street.
He says he’s frustrated with obscure bus times, slow service and the inaccuracies of the Next Bus system.
“I can’t afford to keep getting cabs,” he said, explaining that this week alone he’s taken four. “For a student, every second counts.”
But French says on time performance has improved considerably since the switch to the 40-minute service.
“We understand it’s not as convenient as when we ran 30-minute service, but certainly the system is more reliable.”