Transit must be reliable

Monday’s vote by Grand River transit workers to stay on the job and sign a new contract should be celebrated throughout this community.

There will be no strike, no service disruption and no traffic chaos on the streets — all of which seemed inevitable just a few days ago.

Unionized workers, the regional government which runs public transit, and the thousands of riders who rely on the buses daily can cheer the settlement that made this happy conclusion possible.

But whether they use the buses or not, regional taxpayers can also breathe a huge sigh of relief.

Year after year they’re pumping big bucks into public transit to put more buses on the road on more routes and, of course, to build a light rail system that should start running next year.

The only way their investments will pay off with more riders in the seats is if the system is reliable.

So far, since the regional government created Grand River Transit in 2001, it has been just that.

It has been free of strikes. People have been able to count on it. And as Grand River Transit has grown, so has its ridership. In the 16 years since the region took over public transit from Kitchener and Cambridge, Grand River Transit ridership has more than doubled to more than 20 million rides each year.

Of course, in Waterloo Region public transit is not just about moving people around.

It is an important planning tool the regional government is wielding to encourage more people to live and work in city cores, to stop urban sprawl and to preserve precious farmland.

Public transit is being touted as a viable alternative to the automobile that can persuade people to leave their cars at home or forego car ownership altogether.

It is also a strategy to keep our road systems open, reduce the need for new roadways and cut greenhouse gas emissions.

In addition to subsidizing those GRT riders — and we have no complaint about that — regional taxpayers are contributing more than $250 million to build a light rail train system which, even though it will be operated by GrandLinq employees, will link up with public transit bus routes.

You can already see the condominium towers and new workplaces that have risen or are rising along the light rail corridor. Many new residential developments are being planned with fewer parking spaces than potential occupants.

And much of this urban renaissance is based on the assumption that public transit will run on time every day of the year.

So, as we applaud the union and management negotiators as well as the union members who averted a strike that seemed too close for comfort, we urge them to find ways to keep labour peace in the coming years.

We’re not taking sides. We can’t attest to the accuracy of union complaints of a “toxic” work environment.

We do know this: The success of the region’s ambitious transit plans as well as long-term public support for funding that vision both depend on the system being dependable.