Post on Mississauga LRT proposal
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City hopes to add LRT to transit system
Mississauga already runs 26 buses on busy Hurontario Street route
Natalie Alcoba, National Post
Published: Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Mississauga hopes to run a light rail system -- much like Toronto's Spadina Avenue streetcar -- up and down busy Hurontario Street.
A feasibility study, expected to get underway next year, will examine the prospects of a "higher order transit system" to move people along Hurontario, Mississauga Transit's busiest and fastest-growing transit corridor.
Already, 26 buses, including four added this month, move 20,000 riders a day along the north-south No. 19 route, which runs from Brampton to Lake Ontario every seven minutes during peak hours.
"At some point in time when you get so many transit users, you have to start looking at other forms of transit," said Bruce Carr, director of the strategic planning and business services division in the city's planning and building department.
A light rail system that operates on an exclusive lane and has right-of-way privileges sounds like the "optimal solution" for a service corridor that has already reached saturation, said Bill Cunningham, director of Mississauga Transit.
But if recommended, such a dramatic shakeup of the city's bus-only system is at least 15 years away, he said. In the meantime, the city has other, less expensive changes to consider.
Dedicated bus lanes are one way to speed up bus travel times, said Mr. Cunningham. Affording buses traffic signal priority is another. The feasibility of these options will be examined in the study.
"Whether or not it goes to LRT would depend on future growth and the pace of development," Mr. Cunningham said. "It would very much depend on the availability of funding, too."
On the street yesterday, plumber Gary Lawless waited no more than five minutes for his bus and the start of a seemingly endless trek on Mississauga Transit. The 44-year-old rides on as many as five buses to get from Mississauga to his destination in Brampton, "and it's not even that far," he said as he waited for the No. 19 to pick him up on Hurontario Street near Eglinton Avenue. He is in favour of any modification that would speed up the trip or cut out a transfer.
Others wonder why the city wants to fix something that is not broken.
"I'm happy with the service," said Lana Richards, another rider who waited on a grassy slope for the bus. "They've expanded a number of routes, and it's quite frequent." She wasn't seduced by the idea of streetcar or light rail service. "What's the point?" she asked. "Why fix something that's working?"