Will we be forced back to horse and buggy?

I live in the Nickel Belt and I want to take the bus.  The problem is that I live on the outskirts of Wahnapitae, and there is no bus service this far out.  Every day that I drive into the city of Sudbury I think to myself that there must be a better way. 

During my drive I wonder how long it would take me to ride my bike (I believe if I was in top shape it would take 3 hours one way), or if I could not ride my bike how about a horse?  However, there are so many complications to worry about with that option.  Most importantly of course there is always the weather.

The city, and local businesses are dependent on employees who live outside the main hub, and employees are dependent on the work provided by the city.  There is not enough affordable space for all of the Greater City of Sudbury to live within the city of Sudbury’s borders.  Therefore, people live on the outskirts and commute into work. I sometimes think about what would happen to the city if gas prices really got too high (not that they are not now). 

The Canadian Automobile Association has an awesome page on how much it costs to run a vehicle for a year, check it out here: http://www.caa.ca/documents/DrivingCostsBrochure-jan09-eng-v3.pdf.  On average a Chevy Cobalt costs approximately $8, 227.25 per year.  This report was done in 2009 and has not taken into account the incredible amount that gas has gone up in the last two years.   It is becoming way too expensive to maintain a vehicle in northern Ontario, but from where I stand there is currently no real alternative option.

To be honest there is convenience to a car, but we pay for it dearly.  We pay for it financially and with a lot of time.  I have to drive, wait in traffic, wait for the car to get fixed (which is often because the roads are often bad), wait for it to gas up and on and on and on...

I much prefer the bus.  On the bus I have small worries, getting to a stop on time and off at the right stop, making sure I have enough change to pay, and strong enough bags to carry my groceries.  While on the bus I am productive.  I can write or read (thank goodness for the new smart phones), take a nap, or just have some quiet time to myself or a quick conversation with someone I’ve never met before.  My friends, who are currently able to take the bus, often describe their experiences on the bus to me and have convinced me that they are a part of a larger community that I am not.

For a long time now I’ve kicked around ideas about combining the bus service with a local rail line.   I can imagine each little town has its own bus that runs all day.  It would pick up waiting commuters and drop them off at a little trolley or train that would bring them to Sudbury’s downtown where the major system would complete their travels.  I am convinced that this must have been a part of the way that people got around 75 years ago or so.  The reality is that it probably stems from my experience growing up in the Greater Toronto area. 

 I originally come from a small town just outside of Newmarket. There was a bus service that could get me into the town of Newmarket.  From Newmarket there were several options (bus, train or taxi) for me to get to the city of Toronto. 

There were three bus systems in York Region alone (York Region Transit, GoBus, and the Viva).  The Viva is the newest addition to the system with an amazing system that allows passengers to buy tickets by cash, debit, or credit card at each stop.  Each bus is connected to a GPS system that is connected to a clock at each stop that tells waiting customers when the bus will be arriving and when the next one is following that one.  Each of these systems would take me to Finch Station where I would transfer to the Toronto Transit Commission which has an amazing mass public transit service that will transfer you anywhere you need to go inside the city. 

Just like Toronto, Sudbury has grown to amalgamate with the towns in the Nickel Belt, and we have begun contributing our tax dollars to the city coffers.  Every citizen of the Greater City of Sudbury contributes approximately $44 for every $1000 of tax we pay towards the transit system.  But in the Nickel Belt we have not seen the benefit of an expanded transport system, other than roads that continue to cater to cars.  So it is no wonder that it is cars that dominate the city’s roads, and that there is almost always traffic and we’re beginning to see gridlock in some areas.

Around the world major cities have begun to seriously invest in mass transit.  Take Bogota in South America for example.  They have all but outlawed personal vehicles in the city.  People were at first irritated, but have since learned to adapt.  They have begun riding their bikes, and taking the transit system.  You know what?  That city has seen a much greater increase in community pride, a decrease in personal stress levels, and a noticeable decrease in crime rates.  People have been able to take back their streets.

As commodities continue to inflate the Greater City of Sudbury and the province are going to have to work together to come up with creative transportation solutions.  Solutions that will insure that large amounts of people are able to get where they need to go without having to mortgage their homes, put the environment at risk, and that the transportation of goods is not compromised ensuring that prices can remain realistic.  An increased mass transit system will cost upfront money no doubt, but the better the service is at reaching customers the more the system will be able to support itself. 

Finally a better mass transit will open up jobs for people.  Not just in the building and maintenance of infrastructure but also in the access to other businesses that provide employment for people.