Sudbury transit promoters use video to get politicians' attention

Several Sudbury groups are hoping to put a face to long-standing transit complaints.

At a meeting Wednesday night, the Coalition for a Liveable Sudbury and other groups collected videos of people telling stories about their transit woes. The hope the videos will help convince city council candidates that transit is an issue that directly affects people's lives.

if it's not convenient, then people won't use it.- Lily Noble, Coalition for a Liveable Sudbury

Coalition member Lily Noble suggested the city and major employers like Health Sciences North co-ordinate with each other to encourage workers to take buses.

This could be done by offering employee bus passes at a reduced rate or creating express buses to busy work buildings, she said.

“When it works, people will choose to take transit. But if it's not convenient, then people won't use it.”

In other cities, there are more incentives to use the transit service, Noble said.

The group plans to present the videos to city council candidates as municipal election campaigns get underway.

Noble said she hopes the videos will help convince city council candidates that transit is an issue that directly affects people's lives.

“We've had lists of issues, you know, it's kind of cut and dry, black-and-white on paper and it didn't seem to work so well,” she said.

“So we thought showing people discussing their real live issues might hit home better."

Transit in the city is not being used to its full potential, and it's negatively affecting people, particularly the poor, she said.