The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

6 v bsmvsmiitfbutdoiti 1999 stouffvifle tribune a metroland community newspaper 37 sandiford dr suite 306 stouflville ont l4a 7x5 publisher- ian proudfoot general manager alvin brouwer opinion editorinchief brenda larson deputy editor debora kelly advertising director debra welter retail manager steve mathieu business manager classified manager margaret fleming staceyallen editor office manager alan shackleton vivian oneil distribution director barry goodyear letters school prayer should focus on common future in this world there are many things that we can find to tear us apart conflicts and differ ences of opinion arise everywhere rather than focus on those things that make each of us unique and yes different i would like to make a suggestion that school prayers reflect something we all share our common future it is important to remember that despite what goes on around us the most important thing in our lives should be our children and the world they will inherit when all is said and done after we are gone the future is all that remains i feel it is appropriate that those who will be living that future remember this fact in school kevin pickard markham anticar fanatics promote plan for high occupancy lanes regarding the possibility of a high occupancy vehicle hov lane on yonge street north of steeles avenue so york region has decided to further restrict an already overly congested traffic situ ation on yonge street for the vast majority of taxpaying citizens and businesses who use the road on a regular basis backed by the anticar environmentalist fanatics advocates of this plan seem to be say ing that people need to be persuaded forced out of their cars to relieve congestion and improve the environment they say that it is the private citizens and their cars that are responsible for congestion and that these lanes are the only way to solve the problem people who have traveled similar roads in toronto or who have looked at the facts know that these lanes do neither last year the rather liberalminded state of new jersey abandoned its policy of two or more passenger lanes and reopened them to all traffic why because after studying the actual use of these lanes they found that car pools using them averaged between 32 and 452 vehicles per hour far less than the 700 vehicles per hour which advocates had estimated and far less than the 1000 cars per hour the regular lanes carried additionally the thousands of cars and trucks crawling along in the regular lanes were actually causing an increase in vehicle emissions but do you think york regions politicians and bureaucrats have considered these facts there are several ridiculous and offensive the stouflville tribune welcomes your letters all submissions must be less than 400 words and must include a daytime telephone number name and address the stouffvilie tribune reserves the right to publish or not publish and to edit for clarity and space write letters to the editor 9 heritage rd markham ont l3p 1m3 email thetribeistarca best of nease aspects to this interest group promoting this hovplan for one thing virtually every rational per son outside of regional and municipal politics knows full well that road congestion is being caused by the massive increase in new resi dential and industrial developments with vir tually no road building or expansion taking place to blame taxpaying citizens for some kind of selfish use of our vehicles for the mess is repugnant also the idea of a government building hov lanes with taxpayers money then denying most taxpayers the use of those lanes is also profoundly wrong and offensive the real reason for hov lanes is to make citizens and businesses who drive their vehi cles on these roads suffer to spend endless hours per week in traffic jams while we watch those heavily taxpayer subsidized public tran sit users streak by these politicians and bureaucrats continue to ignore the vital need to invest in our increas ingly insufficient road system despite the high taxes and fees homeowners and businesses pay here in york region it is time our politi cians were reminded they were elected to do what is right for the majority they were not elected to kowtow to a few noisy and fanatical interest groups who are obsessed with getting us out of our cars and into governmentrun and controlled transportation at all cost frank gray unionville stoufrville mans transit trip takes more than three hours i have to admit that while i have always sat comfortably in the driver or passenger side of a car i never spared a thought for the poor people having to ride the go buses and trains but circumstances have changed recently my boyfriend decided to attend school in pickering transportation was not expected to be a problem since go buses and trains pass through his home town of stouffvilie he has to pay tuition rent and all the other bills which go along with living independently it is highly unlikely that anyone in this sce nario could afford a car and he is one who can not go transit was supposed to come to his rescue but instead he has had a door slammed in his face little did we realize that as ridiculous as it may seem there are no trains or buses that travel to the east at all whats the alternative thats simple enough wake up at 530 am to catch the early train down to union station 580 then wait for the next train to pickering station 430 and then change to the local bus 1 at 845 am a whopping three hours and 15 minutes later you will arrive in pickering which is no more than a 45minute drive by car away do not forget of course this trip will be taken twice a day for a total of 2220 per day and sixandahalfhours of travel time 20 days a month thats 444 a month and 130 hours of travel time i see a logical route in the cards pass through stouffvilie and then up to uxbridge before heading east into pickering one fare would mean less cost and a direct route would mean less travel time would it really be that difficult to add in one route im truly disappointed by this im sure there are many people who have faced the same problems as this one surely something can be done to help the paying travelers who use the go system kelly duncan stouffvilie debora kelly transit turf squabbles take us nowhere why dont they get it our regional councillors are embroiled in yet another tiresome interminable turf squabble the latest petty dispute arises over the issue of transit rather than consider a regional sys tem most councillors want an integrat ed system that would allow the munici palities to retain control local politicians know best the needs of their residents they insist hmm then why are most residents deeply unimpressed with the woefully inadequate service now available never mind the warnings of gridlock when the regions population reaches 11 million by 2021 were idling now with a population of 700000 this isnt about residents needs ifs about who keeps the most blocks in his corner the light of the day reveals this so- called concern for our needs for what it really is theres mayor lorna jackson nixing the idea of regional service because heaven forbid she should have to go cap in hand to a regional transit authority to beg for a bus for vaughan or theres markham mayor don cousens thinking that providing reli able efficient regional transit services could be taken by the province as a sign that regional council endorses amalga mation of the municipalities into gasp one city i was a teenybopper riding the ttc in the boonies of scarborough travel ling downtown on one seamless system long before the harris tories began banging the amalgamation drum if this isnt political posturing what is this isnt about residents needs its about who keeps the most blocks in his corner markhams gord landon is one of the few voices urging council to adapt the regional system it endorsed five years ago he knows residents dont give a hoot if the name of their town is on the side of the bus theyre riding yet most of our regional councillors are doing their best to ensure residents keep pace with them going nowhere fast stouffvifle tribune serving the community since 1888 the stouflville tribune published every tuesday thursday and saturday is one of the metroland printing publishing and distributing ltd group of newspapers which includes the ajaxpickering news advertiser alliston heraldcourier barrie advance bans bay this week bolton enterprise brampton guardian burlington shopping news burlington post city parent collingwoodwasaga connection east york mirror erin advocatecountry rouua etobicoke guardian fiamborough post georgetown independentacton free press kingston this week lindsay this week markham economist sun midlandpenetanguishene mirror milton canadian champion milton shopping news mississauga news newmarketaurora georgina erabanner northumberland news north vbrk mirror oakville beaver oakville shopping news orillia today oshawawhitbyclaringtonport perry this week peterborough this week richmond hillthomhillvaughan liberal scarborough mirror todays seniors uxbridge tribune and city of york guardian phone9056402100 fax 905 6405477 classified 18007433353 distribution 905 6402100 email thetribistarca subscription rata by null 1 ynt- 6955 ftumday only cwtdun pubocatkra mafl afraement nurntwr 1247 ontario press council canadian circulations audit board member