Public Transit a growing issue

Town Council

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The issue of public transit in Saugeen Shores has been on-going for several years and still continues today.

There have been proponents for disability transit in particular, or as it is known today, transit for those 'with barriers'.

When it comes to transportation however, anyone who absolutely would rely on it has a barrier to overcome, at least in Saugeen Shores, where there is no public transit of any kind.

Several times, local residents, Joyce Scammell and Alice McLaren, have approached Town Council with various proposals to get a transit system started.  It started out as 'disability transit' and has now moved on to transit for those with barriers which can mean almost anything that prohibits a person from driving.

In a community where the demographics of the population includes an ever-growing segment of seniors, some of whom no longer drive and many with physical and mental health issues that prevent driving a vehicle.

The Saugeen Times researched communities throughout Ontario, and specifically, those with approximately the same population base as Saugeen Shores.

One such community in Northern Ontario, Elliot Lake, is primarily a retirement community of approximately 12,000 and is one that has a complete public transit system.  Click Here.  The system offers four full bus routes running every half hour and also has a 'handi-lift service for those physically unable to use public transit.

With Saugeen Shores being divided by distance between Port Elgin and Southampton, each with distinct shopping amenities, public transit is becoming even more of an issue.  With the addition of a major box store and several stores, such as Rexall following its lead by moving to highway locations where vehicular travel is now becoming a necessity, a public transit system is becoming even  more of a requirement.

We look forward to your views and encourage you to answer our latest survey regarding public transit.

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Thursday, February 04, 2010