Regional and Intercity Bus\Rail Transportation

[lrt's friend]

Originally Posted by CityTech

Rockland and Russell/Embrun have municipal transit agencies that seem to be doing well enough.. it seems like the Russell one is somewhat precarious but the Rockland one looks to be in good shape. If those townships could be convinced to actually fund the service properly and the province stepped in to solve issues related to fare integration, I think transit out there could have a go. Thanks to the way Ottawa is distributed, with the urban area going further west than east, Rockland and Russell aren't actually as far out of the city as one would think. Rockland is actually about the same distance to downtown as Stittsville is! And those areas are developing alright enough... notably, in Russell all the new subdivisions are within the town and reasonably dense, as opposed to places like Kemptville where new development is acre lots on backroads.

But when it comes to place like Kemptville and Carleton Place that are much further beyond the city, where there's no public transit, and where development is not being done well, then yes, the province should absolutely clip their growth. It was a mistake twinning the 7 out to Carleton Place; they should have twinned the 17 to Rockland instead.

Heck, there might even be a solid case to expand Ottawa's municipal borders to include Russell and Clarence-Rockland.

If we are talking about commuter service, it is not always density that matters but the number of people that might be served. All that needs to be provided is a Park n Ride lot and maybe a few other key pick up points. If we are ever going to be considering commuter rail service, then a proper commuter bus service must be established first. At some point, satellite towns should have commuter service. Exurb sprawl is inevitable as the cost of housing in the city continues to rise. If we provide no service, then we create traffic problems leading into the city, which adds to the traffic headaches that those who already live in the urban area experience. There are already examples of this and areas within the Ottawa city boundary that receive no transit service even though population would suggest that there should be. I am thinking of Greely.