Could offering free rides on London’s transit system be the ticket to increasing overall ridership? That’s one of the dozens of ideas in a report headed to a London Transit Commission (LTC) meeting Wednesday night.
The document, put together by consultants, lists more than 50 opportunities that could boost the number of people riding the bus.
“I don’t know why London always has a loser-cruiser attitude about the bus,” said LTC chair Sheryl Rooth.
“That mindset is slowly changing. But we really need to promote that it’s so good for the environment, it’s good for families, it’s good for children and teenagers and their independence. It’s better for our roadways, and getting where you need to be.”
Free transit to all customers, expanding service to schools, dedicating right of ways to transit vehicles, and increasing parking costs top a summarized list of 20 ideas, ranked by their ability to improve ridership.
The document — a preliminary step in the LTC’s Ridership Growth Strategy — doesn’t include information about costing.
“All of these changes not only come with a cost, but they come with partnerships,” said Rooth.
“We all have to work together to make our transportation system work better.”
The next steps in the strategy are to flesh out the top 20 ideas and to come up with a final set of initiatives that’ll get an in-depth examination of resource requirements, funding/costs, project interdependencies, and implementation considerations.
That final report is expected next spring.
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