Raise the Hammer

Here is Chad's reply to my letter and my reply to him:

Hi Loretta, thanks for sending to my attention. I read the small article in the paper as well; I hope your daughter-in-law is recovering quickly (both mentally and physically) from the ordeal.

I’m well aware of the busing situation along Centennial as I worked with the employees of the new development, SmartCentres representatives and our HSR staff to implement the current service. We originally passed a ‘pilot service’ in 2011/12 wherein we would gauge the ridership and determine after one year, whether the schedule needed to change. At the time, the new service was given priority over other areas of the City that were waiting for new or expanded HSR service for years. It's probably small consolation for those that are now forced to take the Barton bus and/or walk from Barton/Centennial outside of the Confederation route hours but unfortunately it was quite an ordeal to manage to secure the funding to expand the Confederation route.

One of the options for the Centennial service was to mirror the service offered to the Smart Centre shopping complex on Rymal Road. The service on Rymal was extended in '09 or '10 to coincide with the Walmart opening and has operated Mon-Fri (6am to 9am in the morning and 3pm to 6:30pm in the evening). We collectively decided that the additional cost of providing better service to the Centennial site would be better received by the employees and customers than the service we provide on Rymal and elsewhere.

As new businesses are established and demand for new services increases, we'll certainly continue to look at expanding the hours of operation. By copy of this note I’ll advise our HSR staff of your request and ask that they respond with the most recent ridership numbers. Thanks. Chad

Hello Chad, Thank you for responding but the bus service is needed now, or at the very least taxi scripts to get people safely to the nearest bus connection. We don’t have bus service in my area, but we do have taxi scripts. People’s safety is at risk! I would like to know what immediate action you will be taking to address this. Hopefully it won’t be after someone gets raped or murdered. Saving money should not take priority over people’s lives. Loretta