Peterborough City Council voted unanimously to ratify the recommendations contained within a staff report on modifications to transit, including recommendations arising from the Peterborough Transit Liaison Committee (PTLC) during a meeting on September 25th. 

Key recommendations included considerations for the 2024 budget. Among the recommendations approved by council is that staff be directed to include service enhancements in the form of hiring four full-time drivers and two supervisors when planning next year’s budget. These positions are estimated to cost $340,000 and $256,000 respectively. 

Another consideration for staff as they continue to plan for the 2024 budget year is using up to $941,000 from the Transit Capital Reserve to cover the projected operating budget shortfall in 2023 and prevent service cutbacks for the remainder of 2023. This is the same amount which Council voted to hold back from the 2023 transit budget in January when they voted to maintain transit funding at 2022 levels. 

The report also included improvements to the route network and the elimination of the On-Demand Pilot service once contractual obligations end in October of this year. 

Victoria Bell, Vice President of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) 1320 which represents the workers at Peterborough Transit spoke in favour of the proposed route enhancements and funding recommendations presented to council.

Significantly, last week, ATU 1320 members voted overwhelmingly in support of a strike action due to what has been described as an impasse in negotiations with the City. During a recent Trent Central Student Association (TCSA) board meeting, Association General Manager, Tracy Milne, who sat on the PTLC, stated that should a transit worker strike occur then the TCSA would look at options with other transit authorities to ensure students' access to campus via transit are not interrupted. 

"We have a contact with a London bussing company we could look at having discussions about trying to replace some of the service," Milne said, "but we will never be able to reach the level of need that's currently being addressed right now." She added that "at the same time we'd also be showing the ATU that we would be working against them by having a different labourer brought in."

No member of the TCSA attended the Council meeting on September 25th, however in a statement released before council met, and send to Mayor Jeff Leal, they indicated their support for the report “as it would help ensure that the student population’s accessibility requirements will be more fulsomly supported.” 

Milne did not respond when asked on Tuesday to clarify her statements regarding whether the TCSA would stand in solidarity with ATU workers or hire outside labour should a strike occur. However, TCSA President Aimee Anctil told Arthur that while the Board has "not yet considered any possibilities" the TCSA has no plans to cross any picket lines.

Anctil's comment also stated that "it would be remiss for any union to cross picket lines" and that the TCSA has been in conversation with the Trent University Faculty Association (TUFA) "to ensure that professors will be aware of absences and to support remote work as in person courses will be very inaccessible."

For her part, Bell stuck to the issue at hand and did not mention the possibility of strike or labour negotiations with the city and focused on the improvements being recommended in the report. 

“Without transferring funding from the Transit Capital Reserve, the wheels on the bus will effectively become motionless for the remainder of 2023,” she told council during her delegation. “The short-term goals that have been identified by the [Transit Liaison] committee will be the first steps in getting our public transit system back on course.”

The route enhancements include the reinstatement of the Collison Route during weekdays between 8:30 am and 5:00 pm and the implementation of an East City loop pilot to service the area south of Parkhill Road. Both of these enhancements are dependent on staffing and are aimed to be implemented by November. 

Other, more immediate, changes to routes include the realignment of Routes 4 (Weller), 6 (Sherbrooke), and 9 (Parkhill) while adjusting the path of Routes 5 (Parkway) and 8 (Monaghan) to provide better service in September. 

Julie Morris, who is a member of the PLTC, spoke frankly about the impacts a dependable transit system has on the larger community, noting how frustrated community members are with the reliability of the service as it exists and how while operational costs have increased, ridership has declined. 

“There are citizens who choose to take transit for convenience or environmental reasons, but there’s a larger portion that has no choice,” she said, noting that seniors, students, people with disabilities, the working poor and others who cannot drive “still need to be able to get around to medical appointments, employment, school or just getting basic supplies.”

Of the improvements to routes, she noted that they depend upon the hiring of full-time drivers and supervisory staff in order to succeed.

“It was our mission to avoid the total shutdown by Autumn 2023 when the budget was predicted to run out,” Morris explained of the PTLC’s goals as they met over the summer. “Our suggestions were mostly geared towards inviting the greater public back to transit and demystifying the system.”

Phil Mechetuk, a member of both the PTLC and the Accessibility Advisory Committee noted that the pandemic had a significant impact on ridership and that he wishes to see the return to “regular routes” in the city. 

When asked by Monaghan Ward Councillor Matt Crowley, who has a child with cerebral palsy,   about what improvements could be made to transit when it comes to accessibility, Mechetuk responded that the accessible van program, which he called “a bit of a disaster” needs to be revamped due to his experience being dropped off in locations that are not fully accessible. 

Monaghan Ward Councillor, Don Vassiliadis spoke to his prior experience as the chair of transportation noted that many departments in the City, including the police and other emergency services are also looking at staffing increases for the 2024 budget year as well as the difficulty the City is facing in recruiting doctors to the area which has left 13,000 people without primary care providers. 

“I’m looking for whatever money that will make the largest impact to the overall community,” he said. “I know that will be in debates in our 2024 budget deliberations—and trust me, it will be a debate.” 

Later on in the meeting, Vassiliadis returned to his point noting that he “doesn’t want to mistake investing money as increasing ridership” citing the fact that for the past eight years councils have passed motions to allocate more money to transit. 

“I’d be willing to give money as long as we can operate a system that works,” he emphasized. “I’m happy that people came to speak that are on the committee that will help us create a convenient, reliable, safe transit system.”

 Keith Riel, the current chair of transportation and Ashburnham Ward Councillor, stated that there has been a lot of movement on this portfolio over his nine months in the role. 

“This is just the start as we make changes that do not cost a lot of money, but it has increased ridership in areas of the City that were left behind,” he explained. “We are hopeful that much needed monies for transit would happen so that everybody wishing to use a safe and reliable service” could do so.

‍

This article has been updated to include comments from TCSA President, Aimee Anctil, regarding the TCSA's plan should ATU 1320 strike as well as verbatim quotes from TCSA General Manager Tracy Milne regarding the investigation of replacement labour for student transportation in the event of an ATU strike.