AYLMER, QUEBEC | News that the Gatineau, Quebec, transit system, the STO, might be extended as far as Val des Monts in the MRC des Collines was not cheered unanimously. It may sound great to those in Val des Monts who would use the bus, but it doesnÕt to those who want better bus service within the city of Gatineau itself.

Right now north and west Aylmer, in particular, hardly have bus service. Residents there are Gatineau tax payers, thus subsidize the STO, yet they have one bus in the morning, one in the evening, to and from work, no matter if their hours correspond to the buses or not.

Others face rides that can last two hours and more merely to reach a central Ottawa or Hull location. Most of these people still drive cars. The drive takes fifteen minutes, off hours, and forty-five in the rush.

The STO says it cannot put on more runs, or routes, if the present ones are barely used. More runs would reduce the bus passengers from eight to, what, two Š per bus. ThatÕs hardly efficient. This chicken and egg situation has transit planning stalemated for many parts of Gatineau.

In this stalemate, adding routes further into the rural areas may be a very good idea. If those rural routes ended just inside city limits, so the rural passengers would have to pick up a city bus, this might supply the numbers of riders to the neighbourhoods near the city limits which are so poorly served now because of the lack of riders. Here come more riders. If the rural buses go down into the city, this advantage is lost completely.

This feeder system could be extended further and further, into the farm areas east of Buckingham and Masson and westward into the Pontiac.

These areas are not well served by any sort of bus service now and a link to the urban system with a few runs at different hours per day would do wonders in helping out the rural people and helping the STO get the riders it needs at the city limits zone.

This is a old and widespread concept in public transit.

In many countries, the large, central, urban public system is fed by a feeder system of privately-owned buses, mini-buses, and jitney cabs. Jitney cabs could be used to collect people in all parts of Gatineau and fed them into the central system, which would become faster (fewer stops), and more convenient (more runs).

Many people, especially university-trained planners, look down on jitneys as something from the undeveloped world, something uncontrollable and without regulations. But those pictures of Haitian or Jamaican jitneys with chickens or a goat on the roof are obviously not suited for our climate and temperament. We want safe, clean, licensed, jitneys.

When it comes to public transit, the developing world has many lessons to teach us, the rich world of automobile drivers who use our vehicles in part for display.

San Paolo, Brazil, has an incredibly fast and efficient bus system that moves millions of people per day, as does Bogot‡, Colombia, Caracas, Venezuela, and Mexico City. The developing world has developed buses that put our to shame in comfort, as well as safety and speed, at cheaper rates -- and they make money. All to say, we should use what we can from systems that work, since ours doesnÕt. Like feeder systems. With jitneys.

City buses to Val des Monts? Yes, sir!

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Copyright © 2008 Fred Ryan/Log Cabin Chronicles/01.08