Wonderful Waterloo Archive

Looking to demolish the “myth” that no one in the region wants Light Rail Transit, hundreds of people turned out to the Waterloo public square in support of rapid rails.

“What do we want?” event organizer Tim Mollison yelled to the crowd.

“LRT!” responded to the 200 assembled in front of Waterloo Town Square.

Residents from across the region gathered with students and politicians to call for an LRT system to be built.

They held signs that read “Tech Workers Love Trains” “Roads are not free” and “Buses are a band-aid solution.” The Region of Waterloo has proposed a rail system that will run from Conestoga Mall to Fairview Park Mall, mainly along King Street.

The estimated cost is $790 million. The federal and provincial governments have committed $565 million, leaving a $235- million tab for the region.

Face with growing opposition, many regional politicians distanced themselves from the plan during the October election.

Sunday’s rally was organized by Tri-Cities Transport Action Group, the website Wonderful Waterloo and the University of Waterloo Students Planning Advisory.

“(We) chose to organize the Rally for Rails to get over a lot of the fear, uncertainty and doubt that’s being spread by the opposition,” said Mollison, an executive member of the Tri-Cities Transport Action Group.

“We want to make sure that the lies about LRT are really righted.” T h o s e “ l i e s ” include the claim that rail transit is more expensive in the l o n g - r u n , Mo l l i s o n said.

“The most expensive alternative is to build more roads and to buy buses — the vehicles don’t last as long, you use more drivers to move the same amount of people,” he said.

“What you end up with is congestion.” According to pamphlets TriTAG handed out during the rally, the cost of building roads to accommodate the same number of motorists that the LRT hopes to get in ridership will cost a billion dollars more than the LRT system’s impact on regional taxpayers.

It’s part of a concerted effort to get rid of the perception that most people are opposed to LRT, said Andrew Hilliard of Wonderful Waterloo.

“After the election, there were a number of politicians who were questioning the cost of the system,” Hilliard said.

“We decided to hold a rally to show local councils there is support.” Support for the project is high among students, said Mackenzie Keast, president of the University of Waterloo Students Planning Advisory.

With the growth expected in the region, a rapid transit system will be vital, the fourth-year UW planning student said.

“We have 300,000 more people moving to this region before 2031,” Keast said.

Transit riders are already experiencing packed buses on the routes around the universities, he said.

“Can you imagine the No. 7 or the iXpress 10 years from now?” “If those people aren’t coming to the cores of our region, if economic development isn’t stimulated around a spine of LRT, they’re going to move out to the suburban areas.

“Twenty-five new Hespeler Roads are going to have to be built by 2031 if we don’t have LRT.” L o c a l politicians who support rapid transit also took the opportunity to push the LRT during the rally.

The LRT isn’t just about the state of the region right now, but the future, Seiling said.

“We took a look at what was going on around us in the GTA and we decided we wanted to leave a better legacy for our children,” Seiling said.

Kitchener Mayor Carl Zehr was more blunt.

“Light rail transit is coming,” he said.

That didn’t sit well with Waterloo city councillor Mark Whaley, who attended the rally.

“It took a lot of audacity for three Kitchener politicans to get up there and push the agenda,” Whaley said, referring to Kitchener MPP John Milloy, Kitchener regional councillor Jean Haalboom and Zehr. “It was quite a show.” The rally was little more than a PR stunt, Whaley contends.

“If I had to hazard a guess, there were more Region of Waterloo public relations staff at the rally than there were Waterloo ratepayers,” he said.

Whaley said he talked to 5,000 people on the campaign trail and not one person spoke in favour of LRT.

One Waterloo politician did speak in support of the LRT at the rally — city councillor Angela Vieth.

“I think it’s the best option for the environment,” she said.

Mayor Brenda Halloran did not attend the rally.

Regional council will hold open houses and public input sessions for the LRT in January.

“If I had to hazard a guess, there were more Region of Waterloo public relations staff at the rally than there were Waterloo ratepayers,” he said.