Kingston council set to vote on dedicated bus lane study

When council introduced express routes several years ago, it was seen as an improvement to the municipal transit system.

Now, Kingston transit could be looking at another large change to its service.

Sydenham district Coun. Peter Stroud has a motion on next week’s agenda directing staff to study dedicated bus lanes.

The motion calls for city staff to identify at least one North/South and one East/West lane that could be dedicated to buses.

Coun. Stroud refused to be interviewed by Global Kingston about his upcoming motion.

Trillium district Coun. Robert Kiley says he will support the motion when it comes to a vote on Nov. 19.

Kiley says the study fits with the municipality’s strategic plan and identified priorities.

“With expressways, you could get downtown from the west end or the east end quicker than you could in your car and that’s a win because it drives down emissions.”

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The motion also directs city staff to look at potential grant funding from other levels of government.

Sonia Burgess uses Kingston Transit regularly to get to and from school.

Burgess likes the idea of dedicated bus lanes, saying it could improve reliability.

“I have had experiences where I’ve been on time at the bus stop but then the bus is late. I’m not blaming the person who’s driving the bus, it’s probably traffic or stuff like that.”

Janice Leach, a regular transit user, thinks dedicated lanes could improve safety as well.

“There’s a lot of the time cars cut the buses off a lot out there and it’s very dangerous. I hope they can get that for the buses.”

If the motion passes, staff are to have a report ready for Environment, Infrastructure & Transportation Policies Committee by the end of the second quarter of 2020.