New buses * Canada - Just the first step
Major transit investments needed now to avert coming transportation crisisVictoria,British Columbia,Canada -The Times Colonist -December 18, 2007: -- Count the addition of 16 new double-decker buses to B.C. Transit's fleet as a useful start on the much larger improvements needed to help the region escape a transportation mess... Transit says the new buses will be used to expand service and relieve overcrowding on peak runs. There have been increasing complaints about jammed buses unable to pick up waiting passengers. The new buses will add about seven per cent to system capacity... The $12.8-million purchase is welcome. But much more needs to be done to lure drivers out of their cars and on to the buses... Regional transit is trapped in a catch-22 situation familiar to many businesses. The service isn't adequate to attract new customers now commuting by car. Without more customers, it's difficult to justify -- or pay for -- expanded service... We could wait for mounting traffic congestion to reach a crisis point. But that would be foolish. The costs of congestion are already significant, as anyone who commutes from the West Shore can attest. The Capital Regional District projects a 50-per-cent growth in the number of daily trips within the region over the next 20 years, an indication of bigger problems ahead... The need to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions adds to the urgency... (Debra Brash, Times ColonistPublic transit has a big role in helping the capital region avoid a traffic crisis)
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