Deficit leads to bus route changes

DURHAM -- Use it or lose it, Phil Meagher says.

The deputy general manager for Durham Region Transit (DRT) says this has been the deal with local transit since its inception.

“If ridership isn’t there to support the service, we are not going to run empty buses all day,” Mr. Meagher says.

Now facing a $2.3 million deficit, DRT is tweaking routes, making cuts and planning no service expansions in 2008. Mr. Meagher says DRT is reviewing the frequencies of stops and changing routing to achieve efficiencies and increase ridership.

“We track boardings per hour and the boardings for some routes are low,” he explains. “We have minimum service standards and we have to maintain those.” The first round of adjustments is in January 2008, with more to follow in March and July, but Mr. Meagher says the changes shouldn’t affect the operators.

“We are trying to avoid any layoffs,” he says. “None are planned for right now and hopefully this will help us balance our work force a little better.”

Changes are being made in Pickering, Ajax, Whitby and Oshawa. (See accompanying maps for details.)

“There are some expansion in those changes,” Mr. Meagher says. “We reduced frequency in some off peaks and increased peaks because we are getting crushed loads in the morning going to the college.”

Launched in January 2006, DRT amalgamated Durham’s municipal transit systems and Mr. Meagher says the changes are just growing pains.

“This is all part of the growth and amalgamation,” he says. “Last year we said let the merged services operate. Now this is the second year and we have to fine tune some of the routes.”

The deficit resulted in the changes and is blamed on ridership, less than anticipated growth and the access pass for Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) recipients, which became available in November 2006 and cost DRT $300,000.    

The local DRT/GO co-fare agreement, allowing customers travelling on DRT buses to board GO Transit buses with a pre-paid DRT ticket, pass or transfer, was more successful than anticipated.

Still causing an impact is the labour strike in October 2006.

“We are still suffering the impact of that in ridership,” Mr. Meagher says. “It is still causing a revenue shortfall.”