City committee approves moving forward with London bus rapid transit project

It’s full speed ahead for bus rapid transit in London. City politicians voted overwhelmingly in favour of staying the course at Monday’s strategic priorities and policy committee meeting.

Although concerns around cost, funding and Western University’s involvement remain, city politicians held strong to their beliefs in the benefits of the $500-million project.

Coun. Phil Squire had pushed to defer the decision until after a deal is reached with Western University, but the motion was defeated.

Since construction on the route that will run through Western’s campus isn’t set to start until 2022, city staff said there is more than enough time to figure out a deal.

A running theme throughout the meeting was the assertion by politicians backing BRT that the system will make moving around the city better for everyone.

The reliability of the new system compared to the current one also played a factor in politicians’ decision to move forward with the current plan.

“With the current system, you can see people saying, ‘As soon as I can stop using this … I’m going to get a car and I’m going to get something that’s actually reliable,'” said Ward 4 Coun. Jesse Helmer.

“What we’ll have now is a system that’s actually reliable, that moves people around.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "What we'll have now is a system that's actually reliable, that moves people around."

Routes along the Richmond corridor are still a major concern for many Londoners.

For most parts of the rapid transit network, buses would run down the middle of the road in BRT-only lanes — those dedicated lanes are what makes the system rapid.

For those who believe dedicated lanes along Richmond will negatively impact the flow of traffic, Ward 5 Coun. Maureen Cassidy says Richmond was never meant to be an arterial road.

“That’s why you have Adelaide and Wonderland and Wharncliffe, which is going to be improved way beyond what it is today,” said Cassidy.

“Richmond is stretched to its limits, just like the transit system is stretched to its limits. Richmond doesn’t flow at all, it is not a reliable way to get to work on time, just like the current transit system isn’t a reliable way to get to work on time,” she said.

Ward 1 Coun. Michael van Holst was against moving the plan ahead.

“I think there’s a voice that needs to be heard. If council were to approve this unanimously, I think there’s people that would be questioning and would be upset. We can improve this and a lot of people think it should be improved. That’s what I’m holding out for.”

Critics of the rapid transit plan continue to be worried about funding and costs, but Ward 8 Coun. Paul Hubert believes BRT is fiscally responsible.

“This actually makes sense from a fiscal perspective. For today, but it makes way more sense for the people who are going to be residents of the city of London in 2030 and in 2035,” said Hubert.

He went on to say BRT is good not only for the residents of his ward but also for the residents of all the wards in London.

Although it’s difficult to predict what the exact future costs will be, Zaifman feels BRT needs to happen.

“What are we going to do without this? How much is it going to cost the city if we don’t do something like this?” said Zaifman.

“We already know the problems it has created by not doing something like this up to this point and if we don’t do something like this, [we know] how much worse it’s going to be in the city. That’s why we’re doing this,” he said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "We already know the problems it has created by not doing something like this up to this point and if we don't do something like this, [we know] how much worse it's going to be in the city. That's why we're doing this," he said.

The plan heads to full council tonight.

If approved, it will start a 185-day review period.