A New Way To PR: Tell The Truth
“I don’t want to minimize it. I think there will be some people who will have a longer commute or an extra transfer.”
Stittsville Councillor Glen Gower, chairman of the city transit committee
Well that’s a new way to bus.
But it’s nice to see some reality in this historic route reshuffling that Barrhaven East Councillor Wilson Lo, a former OC Transpo employee, says is a fancy publicity campaign masking service cuts for fiscally troubled Transpo.
This is politics, not transit. What’s wrong with telling the public the truth? According to Lo, who is in a position to know, Transpo is making this out to be an improvement. And it might be … fiscally.
But can’t the city be realistic. Forget the wasted money on the New Way To Bus publicity blitz, just tell the truth. Transpo has to cut back because it is not sound fiscally.
Historic Bus Route Rework Starts Sunday
Just tell the truth. No more “on-time and on-budget.” How about, “we’ve got to cut back so your taxes don’t skyrocket.” People understand that and give honest souls a break when it comes to public opinion and doing the right thing.
Residents will never forget or forgive the city staffers and politicians who mouthed on-time and on-budget for light-rail in 2019 when it was transparent the project was neither. Now six years later, people still remember that fateful lie and hope, some day, that line will be fixed.
What’s wrong with the truth? The city represents citizens who pay the bills. In a democracy, doesn’t the public deserve honesty when that same public is paying the freight? Instead those those citizens pay for public-relations types who spin the truth to the residents who fund those PR types.
Part of, if not most of, the New Way To Bus campaign is long walks or big delays. If that’s the new new, some people might want the old, old.
Give the public the facts so residents can arrive at an informed opinion.
Ken Gray
For You:
A New Way To Go Bust With Service Cuts
OC Transpo Offers 2-Day Free Service
OC Transpo’s ‘Abundance Of Caution’
Better Bus Service Or I’m Gone: READER
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“so that residents can arrive at an informed opinion” Sorry Ken, there is no bus heading that way. You’ll have to walk. Or bike.
I wonder how far back we would have to go at OC Transpo to find a leader who just told the truth.
All of them have had the eager support of the gang (and I use that word in the pejorative sense) over at Happy Town News who gladly aided and abetted each transit company GM in turn. With the ‘help’ of that crew, it would be surprising if anyone in or near City Hall actually knows what the truth is any more.
Then, of course, we have the political masters of those two divisions, many of whom have long put political manoeuvring and expediency ahead of the job they’re supposed to be doing. Some of them don’t know what the truth is because it’s been so long since they’ve seen it; others because they actively don’t want to know anything that gets in the way of their plans.
All-in-all, often the only connection between ‘truth’ and ‘transit’ in this City apparatus is that they both start with ‘tr’. After that, they diverge sharply. It’s refreshing to have someone like Councillor Lo around who seems to not only be acquainted with the truth but prepared to share it. Would that others could see their way to jumping on that bandwagon.
It may take some time to dig out from what’s piled deep and wide around the transit company but it can be done if people would just commit to the wonderfully simple concepts of honesty, openness and integrity. It’ll be a new experience for some but how hard could it be?
Perhaps it is time to stop work on the LRT. Clean up what is left, and then concentrate resources to working on building a bus system that will attract riders. Picking them up close to home and getting them to their destinations without multiple transfers. This New Ways to Bus plan is going to be a disaster; expect Uber to initiate surge pricing. Drivers haven’t been given the opportunity to learn or test drive the new routes and using the map on a phone while driving isn’t allowed. I’ll be working and keeping my car at home on Monday the April 28th.