Burlington Transit gets huge boost in ridership, but improvements ongoing

Public transit is getting better in Burlington but there is still a lot of work to do to improve it. 

That was the message City of Burlington representatives and members of the public sent at the annual BFAST Transit Users’ Forum at the Burlington Public Library Central branch auditorium Saturday afternoon.

BFAST — Burlington For Accessible, Sustainable Transit — hosted the annual event which brings politicians, transit workers and users together to discuss issues relating to public transit. Some guests who speak at similar meetings in Hamilton and Toronto were impressed with the turnout in Burlington.

Marianne Meed Ward detailed the problems and successes during her five years as Burlington mayor, earning applause when she mentioned the recent budget’s pilot project of providing free public transit for seniors.

“Transit is more than just a way to get around,” she said. “It is about bringing people together. It’s about being able to go to something like this because you have a way to get there. If you can’t get there, you can’t fully participate in the community.”

Heavy investment in transit along with discounts in fares (under-12s can ride free all day, low income earners can take advantage of a split pass that has the region and city each pay half of a fare, and students ride free after school and on weekends) have helped lift transit usage to new levels.

A major overhaul of services in 2019, including new routes, increasing interaction among Oakville, Hamilton and GO systems and improved conditions for riders, resulted in 2.97 million riders for BT in 2023. Fares were generally lower in Burlington than other GTA centres.

“We’re really proud of this achievement,” said Burlington Transit director Catherine Baldelli. “People are embracing transit.”

Some of the challenges facing BT, according to Baldelli, include heavy traffic delaying buses, keeping trained drivers and mechanics in Burlington, long wait times for specialized buses, and developing traffic signals that prioritize transit vehicles running late.

“We’d love to see dedicated bus lanes, but I don’t know where we’d put them,” she added.

Gideon Forman, a policy analyst for the David Suzuki Foundation, stressed how increasing public transportation is so valuable to the community not only in helping the environment, but in a number of lesser known areas.

“On a per household basis about $10,000 is saved if you’re taking public transit over a car,” he said. “You’re saving money on gas, of course, and repairs, parking, registration… it adds up.”

A lot of employment across the country is produced through the public transport sector, he added.

Members of the public had their chance to speak their mind, and included comments about transit systems not meshing schedules to provide seamless transportation between cities, lack of any viable public transportation to Milton, and, more than once, unacceptable behaviour from drivers.

One woman in the audience, Gloria, who moved to Canada — and Burlington — 14 years ago, uses public transit only, and says seniors need more than free service.

“I heard a lot of clapping earlier about making changes that benefit seniors,” said the PSW worker, who pays $2,400 a year for public transit to get back and forth from her job in Oakville. “I need the bus to work with seniors. I should not be stuck on a Saturday morning because the bus doesn’t start until 7:30 or 8 o’clock. Let us talk about the rude drivers, the drivers who sit and talk to themselves and then you’re late. We need to look not at the money needed, but at the quality of service given.”

Ward 3 councillor Rory Nisan, who handles the environment portfolio for the city, commiserated with the woman, suggesting that there is still a lot of work to be done.

“There’s a reason we got a C-plus (on a recent survey of municipality rating concerning public transit) and not an A-plus,” Nisan said. “A lot of the issues you’re talking about like getting the buses started earlier on the weekends only works if we have more buses and more drivers to drive these buses. We have to keep adding more buses. It’s been in every budget — we’ve added four more buses every single budget since I started,” he said.

Those who voiced complaints about specific incidents of poor service were urged to to contact Burlington Transit directly.

For transit news and discussion, or to volunteer, visit BFAST.ca.