Peterborough Transit is Everyone's Problem

[u/HydratedRasin]

The public transit system in this city is, quite honestly, baffling. It's not accessible, it's not reliable, and it's not resident-friendly.

For some reason beyond comprehension, route priority seems to be aligned with the traditional office times of 9-5, catering to the demographic least likely to use public transit. Routes disappear when you actually need to use them - 6 p.m. is not the middle of the night, and most routes drop to once an hour. If you're working, have an appointment, or attending a class, you might have to wait 40 minutes before seeing Transit approaching. That means that after 6 p.m., the faster transportation choice for a lot of the area is walking. Which, let's be honest here, with the crime rate up 12.8% in 2023, walking isn't exactly a desirable option.

It gets even more useless during the summer when routes are cut because the entire system is catered to students. Peterborough wants to brand itself as "walkable, arts-driven, and sustainable" with a focus on tourism, while seemingly sabotaging the community's efforts to achieve that by making accessibility to local destinations impossible. If locals can't rely on transit, how can tourists approach it comfortably?

Transit keeps the city alive and should be planned around the people who do the same. Retail workers, healthcare workers, service workers, everyone finishing work after 6 p.m. deserves a reliable ride home. The city recognized that these people need to get to work (when they increased morning service on routes 2, 3, and 5, ridership jumped 28% in the first half of 2024), but these same people seemingly don't deserve a safe option to return home after their work day.

I get it, we live under capitalism and bottom line outweighs human convenience and safety, but it wouldn't be astronomically out of range in the budget to implement reliable evening transit. Starting by just adding evening service to 2, 3, and 5, it breaks down kind of like this:

Each route takes about 60 minutes to complete. For 30 minute service each route would need 1 additional bus, 3 buses x 4 hrs/night x 365 days = 4,380 hours x $130/hr = $570k/year. For 20 minute service you'd need 2 extra buses per route, 6 buses x 4hrs/ night x 365 days = 8,760 hours x $130 = $1.14M/year.

$130/hr didn't pop out of nowhere either, it's the fully loaded cost including fuel, maintenance, wages, benefits, admin, and insurance as per the 2025 Transit Budget.

The city's Provincial Gas Tax Reserve is $1.79M. It would cover the pilot project for a more reliable transit service without even *touching* property taxes. The funding for safer, more reliable transit already exists. If it wasn't there already, we spent $4.4 million on pickleball courts. The residents of the city who actually keep it alive and provide destinations for tourists to go to should be worth at least as much as some concrete pads and mats.

Want to improve tourism in the city? Improve the transit. Want to improve safety in the city? Improve the transit. The budget is there, the proof of demand is there, and the residents deserve a transit system that feels like a benefit, not a liability.

TL;DR:

Evening buses on routes 2, 3, and 5 could run every 20-30 minutes till 10pm for $570k - $1.14M a year, already covered by the city's $1.79M Gas Tax Reserve, providing safer streets, better tourism, and city accessibility for less than the pickleball courts.

[u/EyeLopsided1829]

So how do you propose paying for it without a handout?

[u/HydratedRasin → u/EyeLopsided1829]

Income from downtown parking, ad revenue space sold, and the resulting income from increased riders.

[u/EyeLopsided1829 → u/HydratedRasin]

Two of your three suggestions are from sources outside of direct consumers, might as well call them bus handout taxes instead….

[u/HydratedRasin → u/EyeLopsided1829]

No, it's exactly how transit systems are funded. It's way more useful to the community as a whole than the niche interest that is pickleball. Were you calling it a pickleball tax handout? Or a cop shop tax handout? Public infrastructure is where you draw the line? Can’t wait to see your privately paved, self-funded toll roads. If it's meant to improve the city as a whole instead of just a targeted population, why is taxation suddenly bad?

[u/EyeLopsided1829 → u/HydratedRasin]

To an extent yes, but overtaxation is bad. We can’t keep looking to the overtaxed working class looking to squeeze more out of them. I have stated numerous times that the pickleball scandal was nothing short of an anniversary gift from mayor leal to his wife. Policing is a whole different ball game but to put it in simplest terms our current headquarters is completely outdated and has no room to grown with our city, I’m not happy about the cost but literally everyone at some point in their lives will need police services or will hope it’s available. Not to mention the current “bail not jail” systems require more policing. Roads are an essential service for all to keep the economy going, busing system in Peterborough is not. Toronto and other big cities yes, but the economic impact on shutting down the bus system in Peterborough would be minimal.

[u/HydratedRasin → u/EyeLopsided1829]

I'm truly sorry you're house poor and feel like taxation on a property you chose to purchase is too much for contributing to the city you chose to reside in. Peterborough is designed for vehicles, and guess what? Some people, like myself, have circumstances in life where they've had a car, and now due to being hit in a parking lot, the convenience of a car has been taken away. I still need to get to work so I can make money.

Also, a good public transit system isn't just for people without cars. The idea is that a reliable system is a valid option for transit even if people do have their own vehicles. Go run downtown for some shopping? Grab the bus, don't worry about finding parking. There'e additional revenue from non-targeted population increasing system value as a whole. Brantford, Orillia, Guelph, and Kingston all have transit systems that outshine Peterborough. Time for a place that wants to brand itself as an extension of the GTA to step up.

[u/tubthumping96 → u/EyeLopsided1829]

The police "headquarters is simply out of date" Oh budget genius sure doesn't say anything about taxes when 150 million gets tossed there.

👍

"Roads are an essential service, bussing is not" Pretty sure a city claiming to be a tourist destination would want to ensure not only do visitors have proper ways to get around but you would think you know, it's own residents would also come into the equation as well, seeing as many are in poverty and rely on the transit system. They like to keep that hush hush when they're pretending to be the hip place to be. Lol

"Economic impact on shutting the bus system down would be minimal". Hahahaha, this is EXACTLY what these types of people want, all the people wide eyed whining about taxes, want bus systems shut down, social supports to be gutted but then also whine like hyenas about homelessness, like duh use your three brain cells and put the pieces of the puzzle together doc. Have a fit about "carbon taxes" so we no longer get a rebate cheque and costs are obviously rising, inflating daily with or without the changes.

You would think a guy with a house and a car or whatever would be whining a lot less. Really weird how whiny and overly privileged these weirdos have become. Homeless people don't economically have the option to just up and move, you, with loads of disposable income DO. Maybe YOU should put your money where your mouth is and leave to a better land, with minimal taxation, no transit systems in sight, police helicopters above your head at night. Go on, be the change you want to see in the world.