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Green party candidate defends free downtown bus rides proposal
Posted by Roger Snyder | July 5, 2007
By BRENDAN WEDLEY/Examiner Municipal Writer
Federal Green party candidate Joel Parkes tried to convince city council Tuesday night that it wouldn’t cost the city anything to give people a free bus ride home if they spend money downtown. Council has asked city staff to provide a report on the Green candidate’s idea, but Parkes tried to head off any concerns about the cost of the proposal. The city has to take a leadership role and nudge the project into the private sector, Parkes told council. ”Don’t worry, I don’t think it’s going to cost anything,” he said. “I don’t think it will cost a dime.”
Parkes argues the initiative would help the environment by encouraging more people to use public transit while at the same time providing an incentive to shop downtown. Coun. Shirley Eggleton said if the city offers a free ride for people who shop downtown, it should provide the same service across the city.
Coun. Len Vass, the transportation chairman, supports providing the program city-wide for all merchants to utilize. Vass has suggested merchants could buy the $2 tokens for $1 and give them out to customers. The business community wants to jump on board with this program, Parkes said. ”You’ll get business people fighting over who can buy more of these deep discount passes,” he said. Staff are expected to tell council how much the program would cost the city in lost revenue.
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