Tax hounds will always come out of the wood works and scream bloody murder whenever the government proposes a tax hike to cover the costs for some new expense.
So is the case with the Kitchener – Waterloo light rail and rapid bus transit system proposed by city council.
The cost, running almost into a billion CAD over a period of six years, is what has the pro and con camps split.
The supporters of the proposal say that whatever the cost may be, the expenses will not only be re-gained, but also that potential for profit coming out of the service is enormous. They say investors are attracted by the ever increasing expansion of the tri-cities and that a light-rail system will bring in a new wave of investment into the region.
Detractors, on the other hand, think that proposed property tax increases, like the tax hike suggested by Kitchener city councilor Jim Wideman and Waterloo councilor Sean Strickland, of 4.9 percent over seven years to pay for trains and 2.1 percent, over the same period, to pay for buses, are not worth the resulting services.
Also, a recent poll commissioned by the Record, a Waterloo region newspaper, and conducted by the Metroline Research Group, shows that Waterloo Region residents are deeply divided on the issue.
On the question of which type of transit system should be developed, 38% of people decided that light rail would be preferable, 32% opted for rapid buses and 30% for neither.
On the question of which strategy of growth the City Council should adopt, 55% of people opted for the City Council to encourage transit growth and 45% wanted to see the council increase the capacity of existing roads in the region.
Finally, on the question, if people choose to build a light rail system, then in which area of the tri-cities should it be built, 56% of participants though that one system should apply to all of the tri-cities, Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge, 24% though that only Kitchener and Waterloo would need the system since these two regions have a higher ridership than Cambridge and the outlying townships, and 20% decided that only Kitchener and Waterloo actually need the trains, and not Cambridge.
Now it is well known that Waterloo Region residents do alot of commuting throughout the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) and as such use their vehicles quite a bit. A light rail or rapid transit system would, I think, decrease in-city traffic significantly.
So I guess I’m one of those 56% that think we should start with a light rail system, build it, decrease car traffic and help Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge, three cities that will inevitably amalgamate in the near future, become the city that Toronto could have been.
Percentages taken from therecord.com. Article 1, Article 2.
