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3 · OAKVILLE BEAVER Friday, October 9, 2009 Lighting qualifies for home renovation tax credit RETAIL & WHOLESALE LIGHTING Table Lamp Sale LIESA KORTMANN / OAKVILLE BEAVER TAKING A NEW ROUTE: Oakville Transit has numerous service and facility improvements underway. Here, Barry Cole, director of Oakville Transit, speaks to a recent tour outlining some of the changes. 50 OFF % Final Week Featuring lighting from Trump Home · Troy · Hudson Valley · Stonegate Design · Heidle and much more All In Stock Lamps On Oakville's buses By David Lea OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Oakville's mayor and councillors took a ride on Oakville Transit recently to give various media groups an idea of what a recent $1.5million investment has done for the town's transit service. The tour began with an examination of one of the 100 buses in the Oakville Transit fleet. The Director of Transit Services, Barry Cole, stated the buses themselves have changed; every Oakville Transit bus is now equipped with bike racks, while around 90 per cent of the buses are now wheelchair accessible and ramp equipped. Cole also noted that Oakville Transit buses are in the process of being equipped with Presto, a fare card system currently being rolled out in the GTA. Further improvements were pointed out as the bus travelled up Trafalgar Road. "Trafalgar Road is now Route 1 on our new service. It is one of the six new grid routes that provide service to eight of the primary corridors through the Town of Oakville," said Cole. "This route, as all of the other grid routes, has been retrofitted with brand new bus shelters...we've also out- fitted every one of the stops throughout the town with a new bus stop sign, which is more recognizable, more aesthetically pleasing and visually recognizable. It's blue and gold. We shared the style with that of the TTC (Toronto Transit Commission), Brampton, Mississauga. Most of the other transit properties have this long rectangular design as opposed to the small square sign that was very difficult for people to notice." The next stop on the tour was at the Uptown Core Terminal, which is located near the southwest corner of Dundas Street and Trafalgar Road. Cole noted the terminal was constructed last year to initially accommodate only four buses, but has since been expanded to allow for nine. The terminal is equipped with multiple bus shelters for waiting commuters and will soon facilitate far smoother connections between the Oakville grid system and other regional transit services such as Mississauga Transit. Mississauga Transit Planner Alana Tyers spoke briefly about the implementation of Route 101, the Oakville Express, which will be available through Mississauga Transit at the Uptown Core Terminal as of Oct. 19. "It will be a limited stop express route that will service the Dundas corridor all the way from the Islington subway station in Toronto to the Uptown Core Terminal here in Oakville via the University of Toronto, Mississauga Campus," said Tyers. "The minimal stops essentially means fast travel time for our passengers and overall a more efficient route. Because it services the University of Toronto students living in Oakville now have a direct service to the university, which I am sure will make their commute much easier." GO Transit will also have the opportunity to run service in and out of the Uptown Core Terminal. Additional transit improvements were also under way at Sheridan College, the tour bus' next destination. A five bus bay transit terminal has been established on Ceremonial Drive, which means the buses now pick up students at the front of the college instead of at the college's rear, as was previously the case. Cole said this new terminal not only improves effi Oakville's Finest Lighting Store in the Oakville Home Improvement District ELEGANT www.conceptlighting.ca DISTINCTIVE 905.849.LITE (5483) OPEN SUNDAYS 243 Speers Road · Between Kerr & Dorval · Oakville, ON See Town page 8