Rural Transit
Every Camrosian should have access to the city, and with the cost of driving getting higher and higher, this can improve accessibility and affordability. Giving Camrosians a choice in how they move through the City can also improve safety on our roads and reduce wear-and-tear.
The Problem
For most of Camrose's history, it's been built with the assumption that everyone would own a car, and that walkability was a secondary concern. However, the reality is that that's not working for a huge number of Camrosians. Thanks to skyrocketing insurance rates, gas prices, and just the general cost of living over the last few years, driving has become increasingly expensive - but thanks to poor planning decisions and a lack of public transit, Camrosians really haven't had any choice but to grin and bear it.
It's not just residents' pocketbooks that are affected by this, either; our city's reliance on cars has meant that new developments need massive, wasteful parking lots because we have to assume that people will need to drive to these businesses - and if a parking lot is less accessible than others, it directly impacts the viability of businesses in the area, which is especially noticeable downtown. Our infrastructure is also hit hard by our exclusive reliance on private personal transit - our cars cause wear-and-tear on our streets, and the more cars we have on the road, the sooner we have to pay for repairs.
As well, we need to acknowledge the fact that the current system is actively undermining a huge number of members of our community - for disabled people and seniors in particular, this isn't a trivial matter. Many people in our city cannot safely drive for a variety of reasons, and this severely limits their options for housing while dramatically increasing their cost of living. As well, the vast majority of Camrosians - particularly those of us in lower-income neighbourhoods - live in food deserts. These are areas in which reasonable access to affordable, nutritionally-valuable food simply does not exist without a car, and when you consider the climate we live in, walking can only get you so far for much of the year - especially for the most vulnerable. Now factor in the fact that those deserts are also often places without access to healthcare, childcare, pharmacies, and countless other essential services, and you see the scale of this problem and why we need a real solution - and a good public transit system can be part of that.
The Cause
This city, like countless others across North America, was developed with personal cars in mind. If you look at a map of our city's zoning plan, you'll be able to spot the symptoms of this suburbanization of rural Alberta - new commercial development exclusively concentrated on the highway, and increasingly-aggressive urban sprawl in terms of residential neighbourhoods, and a complete separation of residential and commercial zoning.
This is a failure of the Camrose municipal government that stretches back decades. When I was born, Park Ridge was the newest neighbourhood being developed; over the course of my lifetime, we've continued seeing the southern expansion of our residential neighbourhoods, but our commercial zoning has stayed firm - and this is not normal. It has meant that living in Camrose keeps getting more expensive without getting better.
And the fact is, we have to live with that failure. This isn't a city building video game where we can demolish dozens of blocks and re-zone them at a whim - we need to work with what we've got. Short-term, that limits our options - but that doesn't mean we don't have any.
My Proposal
My proposal involves the creation of a proper bus system for Camrose, starting with three basic lines; one which runs down the entire length of the highway west-to-east, one which runs from the southern tip of Valleyview Drive to the intersection of 54 Avenue and 53 Street, and one which runs in a loop around the ring road. From there, based on input from the community at annual reviews, the service would either expand to create more lines or increase the frequency along existing lines. Initially, each of these lines will have a single bus operating on them at a given time so as to reduce costs and avoid over-spending. These lines would also use proper city buses, rather than the current community buses, in order to guarantee efficiency and accessibility. These lines are meant to serve the community as reliable, consistent, and affordable transit, and are deliberately designed to eliminate food deserts and improve accessibility as much as possible.
As well, my proposal would call for the development of an on-call public transit shuttle service, using the existing community buses for the service. This service is meant to fill the gaps of the scheduled bus system, particularly for disabled and/or senior Camrosians in order to make sure nobody is left behind.
Alongside all of this, my proposal would ensure that our transit information is clearly visible and accessible, both physically and digitally. It would involve a modernized digital payment system, including pre-loadable cards for the bus system, but would also include the option to pay by cash to ensure that the system is equally accessible to everyone, regardless of access to or comfort with banking and digital payment.
The Outcome
The short version of this is that the city will become better-connected, more accessible, more equitable, and more capable of economic growth on an individual level as well as a city-wide level. I feel like it's important to note that this policy is not about removing cars from the road; however, for Camrosians who do drive, it gives them choices - and for Camrosians who either can't or don't drive, it makes sure that they aren't isolated from their community or essential services by that. It will reduce wear-and-tear on our roads, increasing our infrastructure's longevity, and will reduce congestion to make our streets quieter, safer, and quicker. It makes a dollar go farther for working class Camrosians who can dramatically cut down on their commuting costs, and gives them greater access to job opportunities throughout the city.
I will be upfront that this proposal is likely not a money-making venture for the city - public transit rarely is. However, I firmly believe that this is still the right course of action to take. This service is necessary for making sure our city is accessible to everyone, and for ensuring the health, happiness, and prosperity of the community. Measuring our return-on-investment for this service won't just be a matter of measuring how much money we bring in, but whether or not Camrosians are happy with the service provided and whether it's genuinely improving their quality of life while lowering their cost of living. This is also a pro-business policy; by making it easier and more affordable for Camrosians to access our commercial zones they have more freedom to engage in the local economy, while employers can cast a wider net when looking for potential employees thanks to the public transit system reducing the cost to travel for work.
The outcome of this policy is a stronger economy, a more affordable city, and a better-connected community - and to me, that's worth the investment.