Council officially bids farewell to north and west BRT routes – for now

It's official.

The City of London is moving ahead with three of five major bus rapid transit routes in its ask for funding from senior government.

On Tuesday, city councillors formalized their decision to pursue funding applications for the Wellington Road Gateway, East London Link and Downtown Loop routes outlined in the plan.

Council stuck by its decision to vote against applying for funding for north and west BRT connections.

There was a lot of perception in the community that this was the only decision we can possibly vote 'yes or no'. That is not true.- Josh Morgan, Councillor

"Those three components that were approved are all about jobs. It's going to get people to work and home in those industrial areas that are not appropriately serviced now," said Mayor Ed Holder.

"It's [been] ten long ... years on this issue and we've finally been able to take this to fruition but the work is not done."

Council will also seek funding for several smaller transit projects including intelligent traffic lights.

Councillors maintained their votes from Monday's marathon committee meeting. However, Coun. Steve Lehman, who voted against the north connection on Monday, announced a conflict of pecuniary interest on Tuesday. Lehman owns downtown businesses that would've been affected by the now axed route.

May not be the end

It's been a whirlwind of a week for Londoners who have followed as the BRT debate heated up.

Many turned to social media to express their concerns. Others turned to their councillors, including Coun. Phil Squire, who proposed more needs to be done to meet people's transit needs.

He told council that staffers should to consider alternative routes or new transit projects for the north and west areas that were rejected in the BRT plan.  

"I think with decisions to vote no on something comes a huge obligation to find an alternative or to find something that you think works better … leaving people with the impression that we just don't want to help in those areas … is certainly … the wrong message," he told council.

Squire is set to raise a motion about alternative transit projects at a future committee meeting.

Coun. Josh Morgan told CBC that the city has until 2025 to submit applications for transit funding.

"There is nothing that precludes us from forwarding a project in the future for consideration, whether it's similar or different from the ones contemplated in the BRT plan," said Morgan, who declared a conflict in relation to the north route vote due to his connection with Western University. 

"There was a lot of perception in the community that this was the only decision we can possibly vote yes or no. That is not true."

The city's transportation master plan suggests up to $1.3 billion in transportation spending by 2030.