Solution as easy as pie?

40-minute guarantee just one way to entice drivers off road

(Monday, 12 November 2007 by Derek Puddicombe, Ottawa Sun) -- Barrhaven to downtown in 40 minutes or your pizza's free.

That's one possible marketing ploy that two west-end city councillors are tossing around to get people who normally take their vehicle to get to work downtown to park it and hop on a bus.

With drivers spending more time in traffic and little vision to solve the city's transportation woes, Barrhaven Coun. Jan Harder and Gloucester-South Nepean Coun. Steve Desroches say potential commuters need a reason to start taking the bus and a guaranteed arrival time may just be what the commuter is waiting for.

Desroches has already coined the possible rapid transit bus route the "Barrhaven Bullet."

"We need a rapid commuter service into the downtown core," he said. "We aren't going to attract riders with a lumbering bus service."

Desroches will lobby for Barrhaven to get at least two of the city's new double-decker buses expected to arrive soon as a pilot project for the "Barrhaven Bullet" rapid transit service.

Harder said with no major transit project in the municipal wings to replace the cancelled LRT, she wants the city to act quickly to ensure Barrhaven commuters get downtown as quickly as possible.

"Forty minutes or free pizza," she said. "But we haven't flushed it out yet. We definitely are underserved out here."

GROWING POPULATION

With the population of South Nepean closing in on 70,000, almost 30,000 more than just seven years ago, Harder said bus commute times from her ward to downtown can run up to two hours. It can be a longer ride home during peak traffic times.

"You can drive from Barrhaven to Kingston in 90 minutes," she said.

With the population of the South Nepean community estimated to reach 172,000 by 2025, Harder says it's time to expand the community's transit options.

"There has been no investment in transit to keep up with the growth," she said.

With many people living in Barrhaven and working in Kanata, Harder also wants a dedicated express bus route from her community to the city's hi-tech centre.

Desroches isn't sure what type of marketing strategy the city should engage in to entice drivers out of their cars and onto public transit, but perhaps the emphasis should be on reliability.

"We have to show there is a difference in taking the bus rather than sitting in your car," he said. "I don't think we do a very good job of that now."

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