City staff have talked about it, city councillors have voted on it, but it wasn’t until Wednesday night that Londoners were given the floor in the debate over a proposed $880-million rapid transit system. Here’s what’s on their mind.

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"It’s too early for light rail. We don’t have enough population. They should continue with the planning but they shouldn’t do any physical (construction) until we’re at least half-a-million.”

Harry Reynolds, 80

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"Based on the size of the rail line they’ve outlined, I think it’s a good start. I pay my tax dollars happily and I’d love to see them go toward something like this."

Ryan Doherty, 37

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“I like the idea of starting off with bus (rapid transit, no rail). It gives us a chance to operate it for a few years and see how it works."

Mike Bloxam, 33

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"One of the problems London has is going from London south directly up to Western (along Wharncliffe Road). This doesn’t solve that. It pulls everybody to downtown, which is great for the merchants but it’s not necessary for everybody to go downtown.”

Marg Hermann

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“My belief is it should be bus-only, not light rail. It’s flexible . . . You should look at growing public transit gradually, increasing ridership. And you go where the heavy (vehicle) traffic is.”

Bill Brock

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“It’s necessary for the future growth of the city. We used to have streetcars in the city — because I remember them, I was born in 1927 — and I think by modernizing them and making them faster, it’s going to really work.”

Marnie Sherritt

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“It’s about time for the city to look at getting into the 21st century. The (bus-light rail) hybrid approach is probably the most logical way to do it, if we can get the funding.”

Rod Morley

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"It’s a very thorough and inclusive process that they’re going through. I’m hopeful that we’re long-sighted in terms of the benefits that other communities have shown qualitatively in term of light rail as opposed to the bus.”

Rob Campbell

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"I like the light rail. The city of London has been stagnant for so long and it’s just going to explode with all the revitalization of the streets, the buildings . . . it’s (going to be) booming.”

Pauline Levasseur

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“I lived in Vancouver for 25 years and I don’t see that London has a need for (light rail). There’s other things they could be spending money on – they need more affordable housing, that type of thing.”

Teresa Eldridge

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“I don’t want the new system to ruin what I already have (a direct bus from the east end to downtown). It (London Transit) is good for me because my bus runs seven days a week.”

Sandra Colbert

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“I think it (the high price of light rail) is a necessary evil. I can’t take the bus right now because I can’t afford to wait. Right now I can’t afford to wait 20 m inutes to wait for the bus intervals.”

Sorin Marinescu

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“I’ve lived all over the country and I think if the city’s only on the hook for $125 million (of the total cost), the city needs to get over its fear of new things and go for . . . full light rail. Other smaller cities . . . they’re years ahead of us on this.”

Michael O’Keefe

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THE PLAN

City hall’s preferred early option:

Hybrid fast bus/light rail system

13.2 km of light rail running north and east from downtown

10.6 km of rapid bus service running south and west from downtown

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THE DETAILS

For city hall’s preferred early option:

$880 million to build; city share would be $125 million, mainly from development charges

If approved, construction could start in 2017; could be done by 2027

Final decision likely next month; funding from Ottawa and Queen’s Park still needed

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3 OTHER OPTIONS

Each would still require $125 million from city hall, but the rest of the tab, required from Ottawa and Queen’s Park would be either larger or smaller than council’s hybrid preference. All would run along the same L- and 7-shaped corridors bisecting the city, with downtown as the fulcrum:

“Base” bus rapid transit, which would mean buses travelling in mixed traffic in many areas ($260-$280 million).

“Full” bus rapid transit, which calls for dedicated bus lines throughout the corridors and a tunnel under train tracks crossing Richmond Street near Oxford Street ($475-$525 million).

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WHAT’S NEXT

Wednesday night’s statutory public meeting was part of the ongoing environmental assessment of the rapid transit system’s feasibility. City council is expected to officially select its option in early 2016, possibly as soon as January. City hall still needs to secure hundreds of millions of dollars of funding from other levels of government.