Editor:
Re: TransLink wasting money running empty Burnaby buses in dire times, NOW Letters
The writer might not be aware of all the transit cutbacks on bus routes in Burnaby that started on Sept. 7. Route 143 has been suspended until Sept. 2021. Routes 119 130 144 and R5 have their frequency reduced.
We need to have a basic bus service for the people living on Burnaby Mountain. Transit ridership is around 50% of the pre-COVID level and if service is cutback, it will take longer to get transit riders back.
The Memorandum of Understanding specifies that no layoff or changes to service levels should be implemented by TransLink. However, the layoff was implemented via attrition and cutbacks occurred on over 30 bus routes, over 50,000 daily trips have been cancelled over the last 6 months, more trips are cancelled every day making our system very unreliable.
Gondolas are built all over the world and Burnaby Mountain is not different than other mountains. I propose that a brand-new SkyTrain station be built at Lougheed Highway between Bell and Gagliardi, saving the cost of rebuilding Production Station and providing better service to residents north of Lougheed and Bell who have a long walk to the Lougheed Town Centre Station. This will make Lougheed similar to Brentwood and Metrotown that each have 3 stations around them.
With the provincial election on Oct. 24, we should fight to improve all bus services in Burnaby and to finally get the promised North Burnaby station for the West Coast Express train service.
Nathan Davidowicz, Burnaby
