Public transit activist launches petition to boost local service

Local public transit advocate Samuel Sweet wants the city to spend more money on GOVA Transit to improve service across the board.

The 16-year-old St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School student has set up a website and petition to that effect, which has already received 283 signatures.

The website and petition is available by clicking here.

His big push is for the city to spend approximately $3 million more on GOVA Transit per year to extend service hours into the early morning hours to 5 a.m. from its current 6 a.m., run buses more frequently and add service to unserviced or underserved areas.

He also wants to add bus shelters and remove the current holiday schedule in favour of the weekend schedule.

Although the petition has these specifics, his key goal is for the city to invest more in its public transit system to improve service.

“Basically everyone” would benefit, he said.

“Even if you drive you’re going to see benefits through reduced traffic congestion.”

Sweet said he plans on submitting his petition to Ward 5 Coun. Mike Parent later this year for consideration as part of 2026-27 budget deliberations.

It might be good timing, with city council members recently balking at electric buses to the net additional cost of $89.1 million by 2050 associated with making their 59-bus fleet fully electric.

“The whole purpose of this is to reduce our carbon footprint, to reduce our greenhouse gases, and I’d like us to explore alternatives to this particular proposal of electrification of our fleet,” Ward 9 Coun. Deb McIntosh said last month. 

“What I’d like to see us explore is improving our transit, investing in our transit further to further expand it, make it more efficient, make it more effective, make it more inviting for people to use.

“GOVA is really successful and we’re seeing increased ridership, and with increased ridership means sometimes the buses are full, and maybe we need to invest in more buses, get more people out of their cars.”

This was music to Sweet’s ears, with the young public transit enthusiast telling Sudbury.com that he supports this notion, in that the environmental impacts of taking cars off the road are significant.

A resident of Blezard Valley, Sweet said he is a regular GOVA Transit user who has experienced gaps in service firsthand in certain areas of the city which he believes discourage people from using public transportation.

It’s cheaper than owning and operating a vehicle, he said, and taking more vehicles off the road will help lessen wear and tear on the city’s continually degrading roads, which are currently underfunded by approximately $77.8 million annually.

Sweet is one of few people to regularly attend city council meetings in-person, which he told Sudbury.com he does out of interest in pursuing a career in either politics or urban planning.

Last month, city council members received a staff report on the implications of offering free bus passes for high school students, which Sweet had advocated for and Parent introduced a successful motion to request in August 2024.

Although city council members didn’t make any decisions on the matter last month, they didn’t shoot it down either.

“I think that this is a great idea,” McIntosh said last month, requesting that city staff bring forward additional information in a broader report on GOVA Transit to be presented to city council in September 2026. This report will also include options to reduce emissions as cost-effective alternatives to electric buses.

Sweet also played a role in establishing GOVA Transit training in three schools, wherein city staff visit schools with buses to teach students about public transit.

Effective Aug. 24, 2024, the city extended GOVA Transit’s annual service hours by 11,000 hours from its previous 178,000, including the reintroduction of Route 105B into The Valley, now called Route 106. In February, city council members voted to expand Route 106 with an additional westbound loop into Val Caron.

These changes prove that community advocacy can make a difference, Sweet said.

The community advocated for these changes, Sweet said, pointing to these additions as evidence that city council members are listening.

Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.