Cochrane town councillor Jeff Toews completed his own transit survey on Oct. 18 and discovered that many in the community do want to see a transit service, but the amount they are willing to pay varies greatly.
In total, 45 of the 74 surveyed said they do want to see a local transit service by 2017. Those who said ‘yes’ to the questions were willing to pay $81.60 per household for a transit system, but the average of all respondents was $28.59, meaning residents who do not want the service were not willing to pay much, or anything at all.
“In order to make the correct decision on transit, I need to know what everyone would be willing to contribute,” Toews indicated in the release of his survey findings. “I think if we are going to have transit we need to see what people are comfortable with spending and build a service from that point if we can.”
On the commuter side of the coin, Toews’ survey shows residents split right down the middle, with 35 saying they want a service to Calgary and an equal amount not (four were undecided).
For this type of service, the numbers were very much the same when it came to what people were willing to pay on their taxes — all respondents would contribute an average of $23.50 per household a year, while those who want the commuter bus would pay much more, at $88.47.
One issue with regards to funding a transit system Toews voices concern with is the use of Municipal Sustainability Initiative (MSI) money.
“There has been talk that we can use MSI funding to fund transit,” said Toews. “This is true. But MSI funding can also be used for roads, pool, library, arts centre and general town infrastructure.”
Toews visited several locations throughout Cochrane, including the off-leash dog park, Spray Lake Sawmills Family Sports Centre and the downtown core.
“Not once did I offer my opinion or suggestions before the survey was put into my sealed box,” said Toews, who underscored his desire to stay completely neutral during the process.
“I fought extremely hard against the initial transit proposal, not because I am against transit, but because I believed what was presented was not accurate, would cost too much and not serve the citizens of this community in the best way.”
Toews has conducted several of his own surveys during the transit process.
