Mayor Spearman encouraging residents to have their voices heard in upcoming Transit Master Plan meeting

Councillor Jeffery Coffman posed a question around whether or not someone wanting to present will have to phone into the city clerk ahead of time, or if they will be permitted to speak without prior notice.

Mayor Chris Spearman says the preference is for anyone looking to weigh in on the plan to let them know ahead of time but since the rules around these meetings are still being worked out, they may allow anyone to speak.

Whether or not a person’s issue is raised in council chambers depends on whether it has wide community relevance.

After the information session had concluded, Spearman took a few minutes to explain about the upcoming transit master plan CIC meeting a little further.

“The Transit Master Plan is a significant issue that affects a large number of people in our city. We refer the report to the community issues committee, so we can get input from the public, input from people who are directly impacted by the recommendations in the TMP,” Spearman said.

Spearman says there’s always been a bit of a debate over the city’s transit plan.

“Should city buses be more direct and quicker in getting to destinations, or should we provide more comprehensive service in the city where we are reaching out to more areas to make transit more accessible,” he continued. “Those are two diametrically opposing points of view.”

Hearing the personal experiences of users in the city is exactly what this upcoming meeting is all about, and Spearman believes it’s beneficial for council to hear all opinions.

“The people who are looking to get around more quickly may be OK with walking a little further to jump on a bus on a main road so they can get downtown or to the college or university faster. Others, who may be less mobile, are obviously much more concerned about having to walk two or three blocks to get to a bus stop,” Spearman stated, while also encouraging anyone who uses public transit regularly to reach out to the city clerk to make sure their opinion is heard.

At a community issues committee, councillors are looking to discuss issues with residents that really focus on the greater good of the whole community.

But, at the same time, Spearman says they don’t want to lose sensitivity to those who may have specific needs.

“We’re interested in hearing from everybody, and it would certainly help us plan the meeting if we know how many people want to present at the meeting ahead of time. That said, we probably will hear from people who show up and may want to speak after listening to the discussions and comments of other users that they wish to elaborate on,” Spearman said.

Spearman continued to say all of that is fair game, because what council wants to do is get the best information possible from users so they’re not just relying on reports from “experts.”

When it comes to how high of a priority that transit is for the current city council, Spearman was blunt.

“Transit is a very important issue, because it’s one of the services that the municipality provides. Transit is sometimes the only form of transportation for some people. They rely on it to get to work, to access services, get to medical appointments, those types of things so it’s important that we provide a transit service that works for people,” Spearman said.

It’s no secret that transit service is subsidized by tax payers, and while transit fares cover about 25 per cent of the overall costs, Spearman says the rest of the costs are covered by tax payers.

“There is that balance, we have to recognize that not everybody can afford a car, a lot of people rely on transit to live their day-to-day lives and it’s an important service in Lethbridge,” he added.

Transit not only impacts users, it also has an impact on the congestion on the roads as well as pollution in the air.

Both of those factors have been taken into account all the way along the process for the city, as council has worked to modernize the way things work.

“For people to use transit more, it certainly has to be seen to be more efficient. We’ve been buying more efficient buses, buses that use cleaner fuel, and things like that because we’re trying to cut down on our carbon footprint as a city. On top of that, if more people use transit it would alleviate some issues surrounding downtown parking for example,” Spearman said, adding it could also help cut down on traffic problems downtown as well.

The meeting will get underway at 1 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 12 and more background information on the city’s Transit Master Plan can be found here.

by Aaron Mahoney (@Mahones93 on Twitter)

Mayor Spearman encouraging residents to have their voices heard in upcoming Transit Master Plan meeting

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