Anthony finds transit compromise

North Bay City Councillor Mike Anthony believes he has found a compromise for the residents of a seniors’ complex on Douglas Street.

Anthony chairs the city's Community Services Committee, which oversees transit. This year, the transit department streamlined it's routes to update them and make them more efficient, which in turn is saving the taxpayer up to $200,000 a year while continuing to still service the city. The streamlining will also lessen the emissions impact on the environment.

However, the residents of Douglas Street spoke out about losing their service, and having to walk over to a new bus stop on Algonquin.

Anthony says he and city staff started looking at this a few weeks ago.

"When these valued seniors first raised their concerns I spoke to the Managing Director of Community Services and we started looking at solutions,” he says.

“On Wednesday of this week I was able to speak with the seniors featured in recent media reports. They have indicated they are very pleased with the middle-ground solution."

Anthony says he discussed a reduced level of bus runs that still serviced these seniors who have traditionally had a bus stop outside their door and instead of extended runs into the late hours of the night, he talked about peak hours of usage.

"They were very pleased to hear of a compromise solution that would see them retain at least ten runs a day, and at least 5 or 6 on weekend service,” he explains.

“This serviced their peak daytime usage, and our streamlined service still benefits the seniors, the city and the environment overall."

Anthony adds that revamping the entire transit for the whole city is bound to have some areas that need revisiting, and he says Douglas Street is one of them.