Sir: New restructuring of our bus transit services in the Municipality of Chatham-Kent will mean increased fares for many users of the city busses, while giving breaks to those who can least afford an increase.
Low-income families with young children will benefit by not having to pay for their children under five years of age, for instance.
I was concerned that these changes will cause people more hardship when it comes to forking over money to ride our public transit, especially those who do not or cannot work for one reason or another. However, not just the cost of fuel, but probably insurance cost, repair costs, and paying employees such as the drivers and bus mechanics has to be taken into consideration for some of these increases in fares.
Despite the fact that we have a limited number of buses currently running, and that often they are full to capacity with riders during inclement weather, for instance, there are times that the buses are running well under capacity.
Despite all the pros and cons of these issues of fare increases, those of us who ride the bus should all be glad we still have a bus service of any sort in the municipality to get to and from our destinations. I am most certain that people who live outside in the rural towns and villages and don’t have cars, also wish they had a bus service that could reach them as well. This is especially true on days when the cold, snow, and blowing wind make travel by foot to and from destinations not an easy thing to accomplish.
Frank Doyle
Chatham
