Survey Response: Rowen Fraser, Candidate for Councillor, Ward 6

Question 1:

What role can transit play in reducing traffic congestion and mitigating increasing expenditures on road maintenance?

Obviously the more people that use transit the less people are driving individual vehicles therefore relieving traffic congestion.

Question 2:

In your opinion, what can be done to improve specialized transit for disabled riders and would you be in favour of raising the budget for this increasingly important service?

If residents are not receiving an acceptable service standard from the existing budget then it stands to reason that an expansion of that budget is necessary.

Question 3:

Burlington’s and Halton’s Official Plans call for transit’s share of all trips to rise to 20% (from the current figure of about 4%) by 2031. Do you support this objective?

I support increasing transit ridership, absolutely. 20% however is extremely lofty. It would have to increase by 4% per year for 4 years in a row. That expectation is not realistic. The official plan is far too optimistic. The money we would require to do this would be staggering. I would say that if we play our cards right we can get to 10% by 2031. Even then that would involve more than doubling current ridership within 4 years 

Question 4:

With record ridership and increasing demand, are you in favour of supporting continued expansion of Burlington’s transit system?

Expansion may not be immediately necessary to accomplish this goal. There are several routes that are under utilized at present. A reorganization of those routes along side an on demand service should provide increased coverage at the same price.

Question 5:

Have you ever used Burlington Transit? Would you be willing to give it a try?

I rode Burlington transit every day to work and college for nearly a decade. It was that experience that drove me to purchase a vehicle.

Question 6:

The Ontario Legislature recently passed Bill 98, the Building Homes and Improving Transportation Infrastructure Act, 2026, which gives the provincial Minister of Transportation the power to override municipal transit authorities and set routes and fares for municipal transit systems. We at BFAST have the following concerns about this legislation:

1. It could disrupt current arrangements between transit systems in Burlington, Oakville and Hamilton that provide connections between these cities. 
2. The Minister could divert Burlington Transit resources to provide service along the planned bus rapid transit corridor on Highway 5 (Dundas St.), which was supposed to have been undertaken by GO Transit. This would, in effect, download more fiscal responsibility from the province to local governments.
3. Certain initiatives by Burlington Transit, such as free fares for seniors and students, could be eliminated. 

Please comment on this legislation and what measures you would undertake or support to ensure transit service levels in Burlington would not be degraded.

It would be my perogative to work with the province to ensure their goals are being met. It is my understanding that we stand to benefit from additional subsidies should we play ball. This legislation is legally dubious at best and we would merely have to find a way to weather any storms until new provincial leadership could remedy any issues.

Question 7:

Over the past months, a plan has been promoted wherein a private company would provide on-demand transit service to potentially replace certain routes operated by Burlington Transit. Among BFAST’s concerns with this plan are:

1. Over-reliance on one private company to provide a service that could not be easily replaced if the provider were to fail.
2. Cost escalation and more traffic on our roads as mini-buses replaced current vehicles and more drivers were needed to move the same number of passengers.
3. Diversion of already-constrained Burlington Transit budget to a private, for-profit company, resulting in lower levels of service.

We would appreciate your comments on on-demand transit in general and the idea of diverting public budgets to private corporations.

I really like the ARGO transit proposal here for Burlington. It would allow us to examine whether an on demand model is effective here without undertaking the risk of investing in the equipment. If the project is viable we can purchase our own equipment and copy the successful model under the Burlington Transit Badge. ARGO has been extremely successful in other communities. In Bradford their service fit within the existing budget and added over 100k trips in their pilot year.