A C T U A L I T É S • N E W S ON-CALL PLAN CONTINUES FOR REGIONAL TRANSIT PROJECT
GREGG CHAMBERLAIN gregg.chamberlain@eap.on.ca
council last October. The report included results of two computer simulations of how a successful on-call regional transit system could work. The UCPR received a provincial trans- portation fund grant for a four-year pilot regional transit project. PR Transpo began operations in October 2019 but shut down in spring 2020 because of the pandemic. The regional transit system restarted in September and shut down again in October because of low ridership due to the second wave of the pandemic. The province will not let the UCPR use the transportation grant for any other purposes. An on-call transit service offers a way to maintain PR Transpo on a limited but cost- effective basis. “As a pilot project we can try anything to make it (PR Transpo) viable,” Lavigne said.
A new on-call regional transit service could be up and running before the end of the end if all goes well. Carole Lavigne, economic development and tourism director for the United Counties of Prescott-Russell (UCPR), received the support of UCPR council during its February 10 session for a key stage in the plan to transform the PR Transpo system into an on-call regional transit service. “We are now starting the process to change over to on-demand (calls),” said Lavigne during a later interview. “It would take about four to six months at least to implement this.” Lavigne presented a preliminary report on the on-call service proposal to UCPR
PR Transpo pourrait être transformé en service de transport public sur appel. Le service de développement économique des Comtés unis de Prescott de Russell est en train de mettre au point une plateforme qui permettrait aux résidents d’utiliser une application téléphonique ou un lien en ligne pour réserver une place dans un autobus. —photo d’archives
Lavigne noted that Leduc Bus Lines was contracted for the PR Transpo system when it first began operation and will continue as the contracted carrier for the on-call setup. There would not be a passenger link between PR Transpo and Ottawa’s OCTranspo. “This project is for inter-municipal only,” she said, “and we have a large region to serve.” Lavigne’s department is also working on a new user rates system for the on-call service
to present for UCPR council’s approval at a later date. Desoronto, a town in Hastings County, has an on-call transit service for its rural area. The town has the same population size and general geography as Prescott- Russell. An on-call bus service is not the same as an Uber or taxi service because it can serve many passengers at once with pre-determined individual stops for pickup and return service.
DICKINSON CREEK PROTECTION PROPOSAL GREGG CHAMBERLAIN gregg.chamberlain@eap.on.ca stronger legal protection for waterfowl and fish in the Dickinson Creek region.
Any future work in the creek area, Prévost indicated, would require written approval from the province, based on input from the South Nation Conservation Authority. He also noted that a provincial assess- ment of Dickinson Creek was done several years ago but no further action was ever taken on the file. The UCPR has to apply to the province for reactivation of the file to start the process to designate the area as a significant wetland. Since the creek is located within Alfred-Plantagenet a resolution of support from the township would help with the UCPR’s application. Council approved the resolution with a request for the UCPR to ask MNRF if it has files on any other areas within the town- ship that may qualify as significant wetland habitats.
A proposal to help protect the wetland area around Dickinson Creek has the support of Alfred-Plantagenet council. Louis Prévost, planning and forestry director for the United Counties of Prescott- Russell (UCPR), met with the township coun- cil during its February 2 session to explain a proposal that would help protect the creek’s wetland habitat. A report from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) indicates that the creek area may be eligible for designation as a “provincially significant wetland”. Prévost noted that some recent logging work in the area, including some illegal tree cutting, may have had some effect on the creek’s ecosystem and designation as a significant wetland area could provide
La zone du ruisseau Dickinson dans le canton d’Alfred-Plantagenet peut profiter d’une protection provinciale en tant qu’habitat de zone humide important. — photo tirée d’une banque d’images
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