Pelham Town Council unanimously voted 6-0 in a special meeting on Jan. 17 to pass a bylaw consenting to and endorsing a Niagara Region initiative to launch an integrated transit system in 2023. Ward 2 Councillor Ron Kore was not in attendance for the unusually all-virtual gathering, as Town Clerk Holly Willford coordinated the meeting from her residence, which remained snowed-in.
While the Region had already obtained the triple-majority vote needed to launch the long-discussed project prior to Pelham’s vote, all Niagara municipalities are still asked to endorse. As of last Monday, Lincoln, West Lincoln and Wainfleet had yet to vote on the matter.
While all present Pelham members voted in favour, some hesitancy over the project came from Ward 1’s Marianne Stewart, who voiced concern over what kind of service “huge, outlying rural areas” can expect under the new system.
“I’m not opposed to a transit system, but it needs to be thoughtful,” Stewart said. “I’m not confident in this at this point.”
I’m not opposed to a transit system, but it needs to be thoughtful
Matt Robinson, GO Transit’s Niagara implementation director, explained that the current on-demand system will remain in place for those areas until such time as growth requires higher service levels.
“It doesn’t mean that Pelham will see on-demand service in its entirety for the long term,” Robinson said. “But you will see on-demand servicing Pelham in some capacity exclusively for the foreseeable future. But as more corridors demand more and more riders and service, that’s where the model is able to pivot.”
Ward 3 Councillor Bob Hildebrandt, long a critic of the existing on-demand system, said that a recent experience using the online booking app had shown him the Region was improving service.
“As you probably know, I’ve been asking a lot of questions about the details of this service for the Town of Pelham,” he said, noting that over the holidays the wait times improved and a conversation with a bus driver indicated better strategic placement of buses.
“The driver said, ‘Well, they’re now parking a couple of vans at the Welland Arena.’”
Robinson said the system was constantly trying to improve service, but that the benchmark wait time for the on-demand system was still 60 minutes, and wouldn’t guarantee it could always beat that.
Mayor Marvin Junkin expressed his support and thanked Robinson and his implementation team.
“I just want to express my thanks to you and your team for bringing this baby home,” the Mayor said, against a Zoom background of two very large pandas. “The fact that you have done this in the last two years, under the pandemic … your accomplishment is all the more special. Will we have a few cogs or problems going ahead? I’m sure we will, as any child who goes from crawling to walking.”
The amalgamated Regional transit system is scheduled to officially launch Jan. 1, 2023.
