Perth Wellington MPP Randy Pettapiece has presented a proposal to improve transportation in southwestern Ontario to the transportation minister.
The Network Southwest plan was unveiled in St. Marys earlier this month. The plan addresses integrated transportation needs in an area stretching from Windsor to Niagara Falls, and to Owen Sound.
Network Southwest will need a $400-million investment over five years to buy modern, Ontario-built trains, and make safety and capacity improvements to the railway network.
The plan also includes establishing a network of bus routes to reconnect dozens of communities that have lost bus service since 2009.
Pettapiece also presented 86 signed postcards supporting the plan.
The postcards state: “High quality intercity transportation, based on rail and bus, is a necessity of any modern nation. Southwestern Ontario has a particular need, due to high road congestion, population density and diverse economic activity.”
They also call for a definitive study on the concept plan as outlined by Network Southwest.
Last year the MPP took the extra step of submitting an Order Paper question on the premier’s stated intention of extending GO transit service to our riding. Pettapiece was not pleased by the response, which made no mention of rural transportation challenges, focusing instead on the government’s promises for the Greater Toronto-Hamilton area.
“No one is questioning the need for better transit in the GTA, but we often need to remind the government that we in southwestern Ontario must not be left out of the discussion,” Pettapiece later said. “I will not let that happen.”