Survey Response: Tony Brecknock, Candidate for Council, Ward 3

Question 1:

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

Well planned and efficient transit is pivotal to reducing not only traffic congestion but in mitigating increased maintenance costs and I would add reducing health concerns. Road rage and traffic stress is a quality of life problem.

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?

To improve specialized transit we need to understand the target need. Even though an app is handy for some, it isn’t viable for many. We need a human approach, a hot line answered by a human with understanding to help the rider. We need a fleet of appropriate access and sized vehicles and we need the volume of that fleet to meet the demand of our needed community members. The old ‘dial a bus’ idea where riders are picked up and dropped at destination is the way to go, as long as it is extremely cheap and/or public/free via subsidy or partnerships. Yes the budget needs to meet the overwhelming need.

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 do but further, as we know time passes and while meeting a minimum increase is adequate I truly believe we should exceed this quota and stop working from reaction, we know the need will increase.

Question 4:

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

Absolutely

Question 5:

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

Yes I have had disappointing results and gave up on it tbh.

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 — for example, 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.

This is again an example of Provincial oversight gone too far. The city of Burlington has made certain inroads lately in trying to fix the current public transit landscape that is under serviced and over worked. This Bill undermines that progress.

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.

Private is run on profits. My entire platform is People over Profits. A private solution for what I consider to be an essential service is not a good idea. A blend of frequent and timely scheduled transit, especially on the main thoroughfares AND an on demand service is a good blend to keep our populous moving.