Transit commissioner doing the right thing

Re: Outspoken transit commish might deliver the respect unelected members have been chasing, Oct. 31.

Thank you, Sarah Wright-Gilbert, for putting visibility to the numerous complaints transit riders have about LRT and OC Transpo. Whether perception or reality, riders believe their complaints have fallen on deaf ears for years. Late buses, no-shows, poor service to suburbs and new areas have eroded the service that once was lauded as the best in North America. That’s a problem that Coun. Allan Hubley and senior OC Transpo staff have to deal with.

Hubley defended transit problems a few weeks ago, stating that Ottawa was now a city of one million people. However, population growth has been climbing steadily for years, something planners should have accounted for.

Now, his statement that Wright- Gilbert’s comments “are helping to destroy any remaining faith or confidence our ridership has in the system” is laughable. Political inaction and suspect decisions are the true culprits.

OC Transpo employees are not being attacked, but for

$2.1 billion, riders and taxpayers deserve answers as to what led to this mess and what is being done to fix it. Why do subway cars in New York and London not shut down the system if forced open, but ours do? Why do buses with GPS fail to appear when they are listed as showing up in four minutes? If LRT is reducing the number of buses in the core, why aren’t these buses redistributed to underserved routes? Why did OC Transpo not have enough buses during the LRT launch period?

I strongly suggest that Hubley

take his own advice: rather than wasting his precious time writing memos to admonish Wright-Gilbert and others, he should spend his time trying to solve them.

Mike McMullin, Nepean