(Darren Brown, OBJ)

Support for Ottawa's proposed transit tunnel is dividing along urban boundaries.

Councillors outside the urban core are wincing at the tunnel's cost – estimated at $500 million to $1 billion – especially since their constituents won't see any direct benefit from the massive infrastructure project.

Suburban councillors Steve Desroches and Marianne Wilkinson are voicing opposition to a tunnel, questioning whether it should be the top priority in the city's new transportation plan.

Gloucester-South Nepean Coun. Desroches says a tunnel will take too long to complete and it makes more sense to have train links. Kanata North Coun. Wilkinson says a north-south O-Train would better reduce traffic congestion.

But Earl Stanley, former vice-chair of the city's business advisory committee, says councillors have to start thinking about the good of the city as a whole, not just their own wards.

"I can't comment on whether they're right or wrong," says Mr. Stanley, who is also a rural resident and a member of the city's rural issues advisory committee. "Naturally, (Mr.) Desroches wants transit to Riverside South. That's who he's representing. I think a lot of them have to wake up (and) realize they're representing the entire city, to be a city councillor, not a ward councillor."

Mr. Stanley runs an agro-tourist operation south of Ottawa and commutes daily from Kanata to the Olde Maple Lane Farm near Metcalfe. While a downtown tunnel won't benefit him directly, he says the tunnel is part of plan to improve overall traffic movement.

"If they don't do it now, they're never going to get it done. They should have probably done it 20 years ago. It's just at the point now where the longer they wait, the more expensive it's going to get."

Rural residents face park-and-ride hike

Not only could rural residents share in the cost of the tunnel, they're also being asked to pay for park-and-ride lots.

Last Wednesday, city staff recommended that rural residents contribute to transit park-and-ride facilities. The move angered rural residents already upset about the costs of a tunnel.

The average rural resident could pay between $70 and $100 for park-and-ride facilities, according to estimates.

There are 5,100 parking spots divided among 11 park-and-ride facilities across Ottawa. For the most part, it's free to use the park-and-ride spots, except at Jeanne d'Arc, Telesat (Blair) and Baseline stations.

The proposed tax hike for rural residents doesn't sit well with Osgoode Coun. Doug Thompson.

"This is one of the most flagrant violations of trust between city staff and rural residents in years," he says. "Rural residents in West Carleton, Rideau-Goulbourn, rural Cumberland and Osgoode ward could be charged $100-plus per household for park-and-ride costs that perhaps only a very few ever use."

While Mr. Stanley takes the larger view on the downtown tunnel, he draws the line with rural park-and-ride fees.

"The people who ride the bus should be paying (for park-and-ride)," says Mr. Stanley. "I'm more of a user-pay person. I'll pay for it because I want it now. I don't agree with asking someone else to pay."

Mr. Stanley acknowledges that rural transportation will continue to be a divisive issue.

As outlying communities such as Metcalfe, Greely and Vernon grow in population, there is more demand for commuter services.

The city already has a partnership for rural transportation. Nine bus companies shuttle residents of rural communities from as far away as Cornwall, Hawkesbury and Arnprior into the city each weekday.

Ted Moorhead manages Route 540, a daily Winchester-to-Ottawa route through Vernon Metcalfe and Greely. Rates vary from $5.50 for a single ride to $188 a month (which includes an OC Transpo bus pass).

"Business isn't too bad this year," says Mr. Moorhead, explaining his 48-passenger school bus shuttles some 40 passengers daily. "More people are moving out (of the city). It could be the winter too. The bad weather, the roads . . . we've only had to cancel two mornings this year."

None of the eight private rural bus lines are subsidized by the City of Ottawa, says Pat Scrimgeour, a program manager in transit services. It's a mutually beneficial relationship, he said.

"We promote them on the website, we provide printed schedules because it costs us only marginally more to do that, we offer them access to the Transitway if it works for them, we've offered them fare integration – whatever it takes to get more cars off the road and more people using transit," he says.