Burlington Transit Five-Year Business Plan Approved by Council
*Please see a media release issued by the City of Burlington.
Burlington, Ont. — Dec. 15, 2020 — The City of Burlington’s Transit Business Plan has been approved by Council. Burlington Transit Staff presented the Transit Five-Year Business Plan to members of the Community Planning, Regulation and Mobility (CPRM) Committee on Dec. 8 and to City Council on Dec. 14.The Transit Five-Year Business Plan will cover 2020 through 2024 and will direct Burlington Transit to make service improvements over the next five years. In November 2019, Burlington Transit, along with Dillion Consulting, presented the initial plan that included:
- Vision and mission statements,
- Strategic directions and
- A growth strategy for the next five years.
Report TR-02-20 includes a Business Plan updated by Burlington Transit. The plan is based on ridership projections and the impact of the route redesign that was put in place in fall 2019. It was also updated to outline the impacts of COVID-19 on each of the proposed strategies. Ridership forecasts reflect the decline of transit use during the pandemic and anticipated growth in the following years after there is a vaccine.
"The team has delivered a 5-year plan that recognizes the importance of sustainable mobility options, the importance of service quality and customer convenience to reduce automobile travel. It also emphasizes the need for forward-thinking innovation to plan and operate the type of service that is required to achieve the strategic directions identified in the 25-year City of Burlington Strategic Plan and the 2018-2022 From Vision to Focus plan. Our plan will focus on reliable, efficient, and innovative transit service over the next five years to deliver a better Burlington Transit to our residents of all ages." -- Sue Connor, Director of Burlington Transit
Highlights of the plan include:
- Adding more busses to the fleet
- Children under 12 ride free
- 15 minutes or better service on Plains Road and Fairview Street
- COVID-19 Service Continuity Plan, 2020
- Pilot launch of on-demand transit, 2021
- Launch of transit signal priority, 2021
MAYOR MEED WARD'S TAKE:This plan will take us into the future to achieve our goals of increased ridership, value for money and convenience. The investments we’ve already made are paying off. Since 2010, there’s been 25 per cent growth annually in ridership – well above the increase to our population. That means more of our residents are choosing transit.The investments made in September 2019, to 15-minute service on key routes and changing to a grid system, led to a 14 per cent increase in ridership in the six months before COVID-19 hit. We also saw a whopping 41 per cent increase in senior ridership as a result of the free senior fare pilot program – a program I am committed to continuing.All of these changes have meant we are recovering more quickly than transit agencies around us from the lost ridership due to COVID-19. This is a credit to the great team we have at Burlington Transit, as well as the leadership of this Council in continuing to invest in this form of green transportation.Links and Resources:
- TR-02-20 Transit Five-Year Business Plan (2020 – 2024)
- Appendix A – Transit Five-Year Business Plan (2020 – 2024)
- burlingtontransit.ca
--*Posted by John Bkila, Mayor's Media and Digital Communications Specialist