We appreciate the foresight of Cochrane’s mayor and council in their bid to provide public transit services to residents.
However, we question the timing of Premier Stelmach’s Aug. 9 announcement made at the Spray Lakes recreation centre.
Providing $6.1 million in funding for eight buses, a terminal and for designing a storage and maintenance facility seems premature at best.
We are all aware of the recent debt crisis in the U.S. and the severe recession in countries around the world. We are fooling ourselves if we think the Albertan economy is immune to world market forces.
Perhaps these funds would be better directed towards health and education spending.
Based on the experience of Airdrie, we think it would have been wise to complete a long-term pilot project before committing millions to Cochrane. The City of Airdrie launched its InterCity Express bus routes last October, connecting residents to Calgary with three 62-passenger buses.
The City was thrilled but, apparently, residents weren’t. The buses operated at about 10 per cent capacity in May when statistics were last released.
Cochrane’s population, while growing, is still a far cry from Airdrie’s 43,000. Which begs the question: Will the commuter bus system be sustainable in the town?
We realize transit service will be necessary in the future. But with a population less than half of Airdrie’s, we are concerned the government is more interested in a good public relations message than providing sustainable, sensible service to Albertans.
