Transit service lacking: students

University students who say it takes too long for them to do their shopping in the South End and get back to campus on the city bus asked the city's transit committee for better service at a Sept. 23 meeting.

“There are 1,500 students on campus,” Samantha Pitzel, president of the Laurentian University Students' General Association (SGA), said.

“Over half are dependent on Sudbury Transit to get to the bank, access pharmacies and food stores.”

Students contribute $750,000 per year in transit passes to the city, she said. All Laurentian students pay for a “U-pass” bus pass through their student fees, whether or not they use the service.

“Students are important stakeholders in public transit,” she said.

The total student body at the university is 8,000 and growing, she added. A new resident being built at the campus will add another 236 on-campus students by 2012.

Roger Sauve, Greater Sudbury director of Transit Services, said the city improved service to the university when the U-pass system came into effect several years ago.

But he said he is not opposed to juggling the transit service schedule to see if express buses to the Four Corners could be tried to see if students would use the service.

That would not cost extra money if buses were pulled from university routes during slow periods or during the exam periods on campus.

The other option was to present a request for increased service during the next budget process, later in the year.

“That would mean the new service could not be implemented this school year,” Sauve said.

Transit committee chair Coun. Ted Callaghan said it's important student leaders ensure their students use the buses.

“We need your co-operation on this,” he said. He said the province could cut funding to the city for transit services, so any new transit routes being proposed would have to be sustainable.

“We don't want empty buses on those new routes.”

Currently the city has run a deficit of up to $500,000 for expanding service to the university despite expectations the service would be break even for the city.

Other requests to the transit committee for enhanced service came from residents outlying areas through their city councillors:

-a bus route to the Valley at 1:30 p.m.
-more trans cab connections to Wahnapitae
-extra service to Lively
-a new trip to the Valley at 10:30 p.m.
-connecting two health care clinics in the Valley and Lively to bus routes
-providing extra service to Capreol

Some of the requests, such as connecting the health care clinics, could again be handled by tweaking the schedule, rather than asking for more money, Sauve noted.

Others would have to go through the upcoming budget process of the next council.

Callaghan applauded Sauve and his staff for making the effort to be responsive for requests for better transit service.

“Other departments in the city could learn from their responsiveness,” Callaghan said. “They are leaders in city departments.”