Langford Mayor Stew Young says the Langtoria Greenline’s failure to attract riders has given him pause about the West Shore’s eagerness for commuter rail.
“I would excercise a bit more caution when we’re talking about what we’re going to do on that corridor,” he said, calling the Langtoria a good experiment. “It wasn’t the result that’s going to make me do a ‘110 per cent this is for sure going to happen’ on the E&N.”
While Young said the reports he has received regarding the rail corridor do “look promising,” he stressed that the various stakeholders involved will have to “move cautiously.”
For the longtime mayor, the fact that the Langtoria coach bus remained stagnant at 18 riders six months into its operation – despite offering various comforts such as WiFi and coffee – shows that commuters are simply reluctant to leave their cars.
“It tells me that politicians should be listening to people in their cars that are taking too long to get in and maybe we need to find a way to get the cars in faster,” he said.
“I see a widening a bit more of the road into town where people are driving now…(for) an HOV lane and a bus lane combined.”
The Langtoria is due to make its last trip on June 30, but Young wouldn’t rule out a re-upping of the service if the line sees an unexpected surge in ridership.
“If all of a sudden people sign up and then there’s 50 (riders) then we’ll carry on. The people get to vote by using it.”
joel.tansey@goldstreamgazette.com
Twitter: @joelgazette