Letters
Turn gloom into a positive!
To The Editor:
High gas prices! Fewer tourists! Doom and gloom!
What an opportunity for our Department of Tourism!
Let's fill the New Brunswick attractions with our citizens and their guests. But make it worthwhile. Issue NB Tourism passes at all Service NB outlets. Presenting the pass gets half price admission.
Let accommodations join the project. New Brunswick has wonderful bed and breakfasts, country inns and hotels. A pass gets you 10 per cent off. Isn't a 90 per cent room better than an empty room?
Have you visited Grand Manan or Miscou Island? Have you been to the Irving Nature Park in Saint John, Kingsbrae in St. Andrews, or the botanical gardens at Saint-Jacques? Have you gone fishing or whale watching? Have you climbed Mount Carleton, the Maritimes' highest peak, or Sugarloaf in Campbellton?
Spend a day or two in each of our cities: Bathurst, Campbellton, Dieppe, Edmundston, Fredericton, Miramichi, Moncton, Saint John: each has lots to offer. This could be your best summer ever.
It's not too late: August and September are wonderful times to see our province.
And while you're doing this, make a special effort to welcome all visitors to New Brunswick. We want them back.
Wayne Harrigan,
Barb Harrigan,
Riverview
(Via e-mail)
Keep regular bus service too
To The Editor:
Codiac Transit has been improving its service over the past couple of years and ridership has increased thanks to fuel prices and scheduling that actually makes its possible for people to get to and from work.
However they've taken a step backwards by announcing that regular bus routes will end an hour earlier than usual on Saturday, Aug. 2 so that buses can be assigned to the concert shuttles which will run until 1:30 a.m. This is not fair to regular transit users who have come to depend on the extended hours offered on regular routes.
The decision to cut service an hour early is a slap in the face to regular users and shows that we are nothing more than second class citizens to the folks at Codiac. It's not our fault that management failed to realize they didn't have enough buses and drivers to perform the concert shuttle work.
Montreal's STM pulled a similar stunt last year when bus users were forced to wait for late rush hour buses because of a "shortage" of vehicles, yet the transit corporation had sent those buses and drivers to instead run a VIP shuttle at a major golf tournament. Those waiting for regular routes were faced with 30 minute delays and the golf people got a bus every five minutes.
Passengers and the drivers' union made sure that the STM knew they weren't happy. Will our transit union do the same?
Jean-Claude Theriault,
Moncton
(Via Canadaeast.com)
Firefighter role essential
To The Editor:
Your article the other day about first response to 911 was certainly of interest to me.
The firemen at the station on the corner of St. George and Milner saved my husband's life on two separate occasions as well as attended him on two others. They are my heroes.
My husband had congestive heart failure and would go into flash pulmonary edema quickly and stop breathing. When I called 911 and reported that my husband couldn't breathe, I asked that the operator stay on the line so I would have someone to communicate with -- it's a very scary time and seconds seem like forever -- but in less than four minutes the firemen were there, giving him oxygen and taking his vitals so that when the ambulance arrived several minutes later, he was ready to be transported to the hospital.
Perhaps a small vehicle for the firemen might be useful but their professional and caring ministrations are essential as first responders to our 911 calls.
Marie McGrath,
Moncton
(Via e-mail)
Defensive driving is the answer
To The Editor:
To drive safely on New Brunswick roads, or anywhere, you have to drive defensively.
Many accidents are caused by cars passing where no passing is allowed, and at very high speed.
Also cars that forget or refuse to stop at stop signs. Another cause is driving on a rainy day the same as if one is on a dry road.
I do not think that testing drivers would make a difference. With more traffic on our roads, we all have to drive safely and always drive defensively.
Roger Daigle,
Saint-Louis de Kent
(Via e-mail)
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Comments (12)
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After sending the letter to the paper I was in touch with City Hall officials who then passed my info to Angela Allain at Codiac. She called me and basically explained the city was "forcing" Codiac to run this special service. While somewhat sympathetic to the transit users she was determined that service was still ending early so empty buses could get to the concert site before people started to exit.
City Hall needs to wake up and do some changes at Codiac. First, get some people in there who understand the transit mandate and will actually make it possible for the average citizen to use a reliable transit system, not one that pulls buses from routes to accomodate concert-goers, many of whom likely never use the bus on a regular basis.
Couldn't the city work with a private bus company and charter a fleet of school buses to run this service? It's been done for concerts before and the City/Codiac dropped the ball this time.
There are 40,000 people expected at the concert. Most are being encouraged to travel by bus or in groups. The idea is to make it environmentally friendly. People complain about gas costs and traffic and here's an example of doing something about both. Not to mention safety improvements from NOT having all those vehicles exiting the site at the same time.
This measure will take thousands of vehicles off the road for that night.
It's just ONE NIGHT for heaven's sake; not the end of civilisation.
They knew they didn't have enough spare buses to accomodate the concert crowd after the show and should have contracted out the transportation to a private bus operator with vehicle capacity.
Canadian transit firms I spoke to yesterday couldn't recall taking off buses off routes to service a special event.
Codiac has demonstrated a total lack of respect for those of us who buy a monthly pass or those who drop $2 in the fare box on a daily basis. We are the ones who demanded service expansions and supported the growing service once implemented. Apparently Codiac thinks bus users keep a car tucked away for occasions when they yank buses off the normal routes.
Your assumption that I'm missing the point is off target. I don't drive and I AM a bus user. I am aware the normal service is being affected.
I repeat, this is a one-off event and buses are missing for one hour only.
Involving other companies would ultimately cost more....either that cost would then be passed on to the concert goers and that cost could put them off, thus defeating the whole point.....or it would be paid for by 'savings' ie cutbacks in service or a fare increase.
This plan is a good compromise. It's a damned sight less inconvenient than some areas with a lesser service or no service at all on other days, like when there's no bus to see the fireworks on Canada Day.
Codiac would have a hard time explaining any fare increases because of hiring outside workerts to run a shuttle service. They are already going to be paying overtime to many drivers, office and maintenance staff that night, in addition to the extra fuel burned. They could have issued a bid request for a private operator to run the shuttle that night and compare costs. Maybe they'll do that next time.
I pretty much give up on Moncton's backwards thinking, car ownership is looking damn good these days.
No. But how many are affected? How many CAN'T make an alternative arrangement with the advance notice they have.
How does that number compare with the 40,000 plus who won't suffer the inconvenience and danger that has been experienced before?
In past years people were stranded because their cars were stuck in mud and other people were in danger due to pedestrians competing with cars.
We can agree to differ JC, but what about my other para? "Involving other companies would ultimately cost more....either that cost would then be passed on to the concert goers and that cost could put them off, thus defeating the whole point.....or it would be paid for by 'savings' ie cutbacks in service or a fare increase."
To me, that is a greater threat to bus service.
I'm sure they've done what's cheapest overall.
1 48 passenger school bus, in town travel, $55/hr. x 6 (lets say 9pm to 3am for drivers pay) $330.00/bus x 20 buses = $6600.00
Codiac drivers wages, based on $19/hr at 1.5 overtime x 20 for same hours = $3420.00 plus whatever benefits and other premiums the city pays out such as meal tickets for extra work. lets say another 20% for a total of $4104.00 which leaves $2496 from the quote.
Codiac then has to pay for fuel/lubricants, parts/wear & tear, tow calls or breakdown rescues along with garage/office staff to be on standby during this afterhours work. They also have to have garage staff on hand into the early morning to ready buses for Sunday routes. I can't see them coming out with lower costs compared to the private fleet operator.
I'll have to ask city hall for a cost breakdown in 90 days :)
But how do you build in efficiency? Codiac drivers knowing the Moncton area for example and being able to use that knowledge to help disperse the 40,000 homewards?