More routes, more frequency needed for transit system, say Charlottetown residents

Liz Murnaghan says she has to walk too far to get to a bus route in Charlottetown.

"The system works really well if you are on University Avenue and you are an able bodied person. Otherwise I would say that it isn't doing what citizens should be able to expect from a transit system that is funded by the city and province in partnership with a private organization," she said.

Murnaghan was one of a handful of residents who attended an open house held Wednesday night at the Charlottetown Library. People spoke to consultants about improvements they'd like to see in the transit system. Residents who attended also wrote their suggestions down and stuck them to a board corresponding with specific routes.

Murnaghan lives in the Parkdale area. She has trouble seeing and with ice build up on sidewalks in the winter she is often "housebound" that time of the year because she doesn't want to slip enroute to a bus stop, she said.

"From my home I have to cross one major intersection that feeds into a traffic circle. I cut through some federal land, it's a nice walk but if I fell or if anything happened to me I doubt that anyone would find me for a while," she said.

Murnaghan said she believes the transit system is going through growing pains as the population of the city continues to grow.

"It should certainly look at putting more bus stops and more routes in more locations."

A consulting group is taking feedback on T3's transit system in Charlottetown, Cornwall and Stratford during a time when the province is seeing a surge in transit ridership.

Carlo Calderon thinks buses stop running too early in the city and routes need to be more frequent.

"Ending too early leaves a lot of people without bus routes," he said.

Sometimes Calderon takes the bus to get to work, but because the routes in his area run once an hour, he has to take an early bus to downtown Charlottetown and kill 40 minutes or so before his shift starts.

Calderon immigrated to P.E.I. from Peru. Often people immigrating to the province choose Charlottetown as their new home because transit routes aren't as good outside the city, he said.

"Houses that are far from town they don't want to go there because they don't have a car. They need transportation," Calderon said.

"How can we make these people go and live there when there are no buses when they need to get their groceries? When they need to just go to work or even take their kids to school?"