Question 1:
What role can transit play in reducing traffic congestion and mitigating increasing expenditures on road maintenance?
Transit moves more people more quickly than individualistic modes of transportation. This includes bikes, buses, and more. Whether its pushing for more GO Service, or expanded local bus routes to connect nodes of the city, or finding ways to allow for e-scooters to be safely used as a method of transportation, we need to fight to increase transit access.
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?
A proposal from a current councillor involves specialized transportation that works almost as a taxi/bus combination. Ensuring this pilot is also readily accessible for those with specialized needs is critical to the value and success of the program. This program cannot and should not replace any forms of public transit, or funding to public transit.
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?
The more trips taken via transit, the more people using alternative forms of transportation that get cars off the roads, the better.
Question 4:
With record ridership and increasing demand, are you in favour of supporting continued expansion of Burlington’s transit system?
I am in support of expanding routes, specifically with more connecting routes from the north side of the city.
Question 5:
Have you ever used Burlington Transit? Would you be willing to give it a try?
I have used Burlington Transit on a few occasions, but my most common form of public transit usage is trains.
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.
Bill 98, as many other bills from the provincial government, result in overreach on our municipalities and regions that end up having costly and negative downstream effects. We see this in all areas of life, not just in transportation. Fare incentives in particular are necessary for access and to expand ridership. In an ideal world, transit would be as low cost as possible, with initiatives like free rides on the TTC after certain ride counts being extremely valuable to the economic viability of any city and its residents.
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.
While specialized private transit companies can provide limited specific relief for some individuals, it cannot, and should not, in any capacity, replace existing funding, routes, or proposed expansions to the wider public transit program. This private program should only be utilized in specific use cases, not as a bandaid that is constantly re-applied.