UPDATE: At the December 4 Regular Council Meeting, my correspondence was acknowledged. Councilor Barber said it would be considered at upcoming Budget Deliberations. My correspondence was received for information purposes and put on the record.

On December 18th I submitted my petition, PETITION TO RESTORE THE TOWN OF COBOURG PUBLIC TRANSIT SYSTEM. The petitions reads: 
"We, the undersigned residents and stakeholders of the Town of Cobourg, move Council to considered restoring the fixed route public transit system as it was before April 19, 2021."

I got 4 pages filled with 16 signatures   
 
The Deputy Clerk e-mail me to say they received my petition and will include it on the January 9, 2024 Strategic Priorities and Policy Standing Committee for Council’s consideration. 
 

Dear friends of Cobourg,

if we want to improve our community - we have to lobby the Mayor and Councilors about taking action on hard pressing issues and concerns.

I became aware of the Cobourg public transit problems at the Regular Council Meeting on November 13, 2023. On the Agenda was a Correspondence from Hope Bergeron, resident of Cobourg regarding Budget & Planning for Routed Transit. She wanted to put Council on notice "to restore Regular Routed Transit to Cobourg and stop the Exclusionary Anxiety" from the On-Demand Transit Service.

https://pub-cobourg.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=34316 

I was inspired the raw emotions in the correspondence. I began diving deep into the On-Demand Transit System. At the Town of Cobourg Regular Council Meeting on December 4, I had a correspondence, Accessible On-Demand Transit Service,, on the agenda. My open letter was to put Council on notice about the importance of accessible public transit and human rights because its important for everyone to understand the importance of public transit (freedom of movement), and remind Council of their statutory duty and responsibility to serve the social health and well-being of the residents and stakeholders in the Town of Cobourg.

https://pub-cobourg.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=34820

 

 

 

 

I’m doing this public transit campaign (going through the civil proceedings) on behalf of residents of Cobourg, to reveal matters and make them crystal clear to the public and politicians.

As of this moment, the On-Demand Public Transit Service issue is largely ignored. I hope my effort in these proceedings will revealed any of this vitally important information to the general public.  

I wrote my correspondence (open letter) to raise some fundamentally important questions about: equity and inclusion in regards to accessible public transit and human rights. 

It feels there has been a lack of sufficient information about the decision-making process to switch from conventional transit into an On-Demand ridesharing service (like Uber). There was no community consultation, and it appears previous Council made their decision based on finances (funding from Safe Restart initiative by Fed/Prov. governments) not operational.

Or maybe there been some other reason? 

Its weird how Cobourg public transit functions, and so far it seems like a convoluted transportation system.

As of this moment - The Town of Cobourg owns a small fleet of buses, Century is contracted to provide drivers and a call centre, and RideCo provides an On-demand ridesharing software for ridership which commingles with WHEELS services.

Why can't the Town of Cobourg restore the conventional public transit to what it was pre-2021 or further back? It is unfair to collectively push re-education of public transit on residents and stakeholders.  The public transit business model should be explored more. Perhaps letting a single contractor provide the fleet and drivers. Like it used to be. 

I hope Councilors will pose questions and debate key points in my correspondence at the Regular Council Meeting on December 4th.

The residents should nevertheless pose questions to the Council about its position on this critically important matter of accessible public transit. Let the Council defend its position, which should be in the best interests of the residents and stakeholders of Cobourg.. 

In any case, this issue should become a major plank in the fighting the good fight for an accessible and viable Cobourg transit system. 

It would be of great help to bring a light to the issue of accessible public transit and human rights by sharing this petition and open letter in getting support for an equitable, inclusive, and accessible Town of Cobourg public transit.

Cordially Yours,

Adam White

______________________________________________________________________________

Mayor and Council contacts:

Mayor Lucas Cleveland

Business Phone: (905) 372-4301 Ext. 4000

Cell Phone: (289) 251-4193

lcleveland@cobourg.ca

Mailing Address: 55 King Street West, Cobourg, ON K9A 2M2

 

Deputy Mayor Nicole Beatty

Cell Phone: (905) 269-5637

nbeatty@cobourg.ca

Mailing Address: 55 King Street West, Cobourg, ON K9A 2M2

 

Councillor Adam Bureau

Cell Phone: 905-207-3370

abureau@cobourg.ca

Mailing Address: 55 King Street West, Cobourg, ON K9A 2M2

 

Councillor Brian Darling

Cell Phone: 289-251-2177

bdarling@cobourg.ca

Mailing Address: 55 King Street West, Cobourg, ON K9A 2M2

 

Councillor Aaron Burchat

Cell Phone: 905-375-3535

aburchat@cobourg.ca

Mailing Address: 55 King Street West, Cobourg, ON K9A 2M2  

 

Councillor Miriam Mutton

 Cell Phone: 905-269-1560

mmutton@cobourg.ca

Mailing Address: 55 King Street West, Cobourg, ON K9A 2M2

 

Councillor Randy Barber

Cell Phone: 905-207-4940

rbarber@cobourg.ca

Mailing Address: 55 King Street West, Cobourg, ON K9A 2M2

______________________________________________________________________________

Correspondence

Re: An Accessible On-Demand Transit System 

November 30, 2023 

Dear Mayor Cleveland and Council Members: 

I’m writing you today to share my perspective about the On-Demand Public Transit Service, and to request your support for a public transit system that is equitable, inclusive and accessible by implementing the hybrid option that commingles with On-Demand Transit Service, or fixed routes. 

 

Introduction 

On June 14, 2021 - Cobourg's traditional public transit system (fixed routes) had switched into an On-Demand Public Transit Service without public consultation. it appears that Council felt it had a personal responsibility to change public transit operations due to a public health response from the Covid-19 pandemic. 

2021 - Council approved the operating budget to provide On-Demand services for a one (1) year pilot commencing on April 19, 2021.  

Council would essentially approve an experimental public transit service without community input that would transform resident's daily lives.  

It seems the previous Council was more influenced by the fog of the Covid-19 pandemic than to be statesmen/women and have an open dialogue with mutual respect with residents and stakeholders to keep conventional public transit accessible.  

It appears the leadership of the previous Council wanted to do what was easy and not what was right. Was previous Council lead by their emotions, personal fears, and opinions to rationalize their new public transit policy? A new normal to transform how society will access public transit.

Previous Council did see a public transit opportunity with the Safe Restart Agreement. "The Safe Restart Agreement (SRA) is a federal investment of more than $19 billion to help provinces and territories safely restart their economies and make our country more resilient to possible future surges in cases of COVID-19.." (canada.ca). 

The Safe Restart Agreement would be used for funding the On-Demand Transit Service for a one (1) year pilot that commenced on April 19, 2021. 

May 9, 2022 - RideCo spoke to Council about the "On- Demand Transit Pilot Results, the increase in service, ridership, and value; servicing of new areas; vehicle fleet and service options;" (Minutes) 

https://pub-cobourg.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=18457

It has become a public transit initiative by this Council to change public transit and resident’s whole way of life.  

 

Accessibility Barriers to On-Demand Transit Service  

Council needs to be aware that On-Demand Transit Service has attitudinal and communication barriers, and organizational and system barriers - which have a negative impact on accessible transit services for students, seniors, labourers, tourists, parents with children, and persons with disabilities.  

For example:  

1. Attitudinal and Communication barriers: residents and stakeholders not understanding how the system works, and not comfortable or have access to technology (a smart phone with a data plan);  

2. Organization and System barriers: discriminating against residents and stakeholders because of status (not having a car, homeless, lifestyle choices and livelihoods);  

 

The Town of Cobourg needs a viable transit system for the social and economic needs of its residents and stakeholders. The traditional route system has been the gold standard for municipalities, but Cobourg Council has opted for the current experimental On-Demand Transit System.

Life does not go like clock-work; Emergencies and circumstances happen without our control. A public transit system that is solely on-call is a barrier for fully participating in society and having a productive livelihood.  

 

Is Council Creating An Equitable, Inclusive, and Accessible Public Transit? 

How is Council assisting communities and transportation infrastructure in future projects? It is my understanding that profits for RideCo go to their shareholders, and a publicly owned transportation system - the profits would be recycled to the Town of Cobourg and thereby to society.   

RideCo proposed three transit options:   

• Fully On-Demand Service means full integration of public transit (ridesharing and WHEELS) with RideCo’s rideshared technology software (App), a call centre (limited business hours), and Council is considering buying two buses to add to fleet operated by Century.  
• Hybrid model which consists of On Demand Services as well as offering one (1) Limited Fixed Route system that serves conventional and WHEELS services.  
• Fixed Routes option will have the transit system revert back to the two route fixed conventional service and WHEELS service operating separately as they did prior to April 19, 2021. 

 

The Fully On-Demand Service option that Council has considered at the May 16, Regular Council Meeting is not the best choice because the On-Demand technology is not a good fit for Cobourg's growing and diverse population. Residents need public transportation that is predictable and stable for daily and varied transit needs by: students, labourers, tourists, parents with children, seniors, and persons with disabilities. 

The On-Demand Transit Service is used mostly used by riders going shopping and feel taxis are expensive (Engage Cobourg, On-Demand Transit Survey).

This public transit service is essentially a municipal funded Uber, except its privately operated. 

It is unfair to demand residents to register to use a public transit system they own. 

Furthermore, this public transit service initiative has completely removed conventional transit operations which causes anxiety for residents. Accessible public transit is a human right.  

 

Ontario Human Rights Commission, Part 1. Transit and Human Rights: 

"the Code emphasizes the importance of human rights in enabling each person to feel part of the community and to contribute fully to society. For many persons in Ontario, transit services are critical to their achieving these goals. Transit services are part of the public infrastructure, which provides access to basic goods and services, as well as to social and economic activities." 

 

Transit Operations*

Contracting out the service of Cobourg Transit is interesting, but it has always been a contracted service.  It was originally operated by Charterways Transportation on behalf of Cobourg and then I believe may have been transferred to Trentway-Wagar.  I am unsure who owns Century but believe they came on scene about 20 years or so ago.

Similarly, while Oshawa used to own Oshawa Transit, Charterways and then Trentway-Wagar operated Whitby Transit and Charterways operated Ajax Transit long before Durham Region came into being and amalgamated all together under Durham Transit.  The contractors do not own the transit, they are the contractual operators/managers, similar to Oshawa Executive Airport having a contracted manager.  It is supposed to offer 'economy of scale' because the operators have greater resources in the industry, more knowledge, and it is more efficient than hiring a full time dedicated staff for such a small operation....  supposed to be.

On-Demand Public Transit Service is technically not privatization of public transit, but could certainly lead to be. 

 

The Road Map for Public Transit 

It is of vital importance that accessible public transit policies and programs are made available to all residents and stakeholders in a fair and equitable way. By singling out residents with this experimental On-Demand Transit Service, it is causing anxiety and divisions in society 

It is very important for Council to have a perspective on where we are going over the next three, five, and 10 years, not only for our own public transit operations, but how we are making every effort to have accessible and viable public transit. 

I hope Council understands the gravity of the accessible public transit situation and treats all residents and stakeholders fairly. The public transit system should be restored to its original purpose, by exercising its public statutory function and human rights that enables "each person to feel part of the community and to contribute fully to society." 

I understand the Town of Cobourg is under contract with RideCo till 2024. RideCo did provide three options for public transit. I like to draw Council's attention to accessible public transit and human rights. I recommend either implementing a hybrid option by commissioning two buses to specialty fixed routes which commingles with On-Demand transit service, or restore the fixed route option. 

 

Cordially Yours, 

Adam White 

 

*Transit Operations section was not included in my submitted correspondence.