LETTER

STO: Riding the bus works! 

I’m a bus rider. I was lucky. I worked in Aylmer for all the years (25+) I was employed, so I could walk to work. When I retired, I bought a monthly pass -- $42, senior at the present time. This pass has given me unlimited travel to all parts of Gatineau/Ottawa. It’s easy to plan a trip by phoning the transit systems. 

My favourite transit story happened a couple of years ago. My plane from Winnipeg landed at 12:55 pm,  I got on OC Transpo bus 97 at 1:08, got off at Metcalfe Street, got STO bus 59, got off at Tim Hortons, crossed the street to the United Church at 2:22, just 22 minutes late for a 2pm meeting.       

Of course for casual travel, especially students/young people, bus travel can be expensive.  Surely something can be done to attract more users in off-peak time.  

Bus travel is safe and entertaining -- most bus drivers are polite and helpful. I’ve read countless books and talked to people I didn’t know and probably won’t see again.  And the buses in Aylmer (51, 52, 53) make it easier to go shopping, to the library, to the marina, just about everywhere, for a population getting older.  

Joy Ruttan

Aylmer / Gatineau