3 city councillors want better transit in west London

Three city councillors will look for political support next week to improve transit service in west London.

Ward 9 councillor Anna Hopkins, Ward 7 councillor Josh Morgan and Ward 8 councillor Steve Lehman are presenting a joint motion to the Strategic Priorities and Policy committee calling for a "higher order" transit service in the west end.

"We need a plan and I think this is an opportunity to get a report back from staff to look at options," Hopkins told CBC Radio's London Morning program on Friday.

The move follows city council's rejection of a full Bus Rapid Transit Plan last spring. That left the city's west end without new transit options, despite rapid growth in the area and increasing traffic congestion.

Hopkins is the only councillor among the three pushing for better service who voted in favour of BRT for West London. It would have provided direct service between downtown and the intersection of Oxford Street and Wonderland Road.

The joint motion requests staff to consider options such as:

• Extending bus service further west
• A park and ride program
• A quick start program that would give buses dedicated lanes at traffic signals
• Additional road design alternatives, including a review of lane configurations
• Examination of electric bus infrastructure

When council broke up the proposed BRT system into separate pieces it failed to capitalize on nearly $100 million transit projects.

Next year, the provincial government is expected to re-open an infrastructure program that distributes funding to municipalities and qualifies them for matching funding from the federal government.

Hopkins says it's important for the city have a west London transit plan in place when those funding windows open.