By Katie Strachan
The Oshawa Express

It’s a major milestone in planning for the anticipated increase in transportation demands in the coming years.
Durham Region Transit (DRT) has completed its Long Term Transit Strategy, which was launched to help the region deal with the forthcoming demands in 2031 and beyond to 2056.
“I’m proud to announce that we have reached another major milestone in planning for the future of transit in Durham Region,” says Regional Chair Roger Anderson. 
“The successful completion of the Durham Region Transit Long Term Transit Strategy sets out a long term vision that will see improvements to the Hwy. 2 corridor, transit linkages with our neighbouring municipalities and transit improvements to northern parts of the region.”
The Long-Term Transit Strategy was aimed at developing a comprehensive plan to incorporate rapid transit into Durham Region. It was created to address growth, manage their operations better and deliver a better quality of service to customers, states the strategies website.
Information for the study was gathered through dozens of public workshops and meetings with local municipalities and key stakeholders, says DRT.
“We’ve received valuable comments from hundreds of residents and businesses throughout the year-long study,” says Deputy General Manager of Operations
Phil Meagher.
“We identified important changes within the Lakeshore Communities that will lead to the implementation of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and Light Rail Transit (LRT).”
The network plan involves three LRT corridors, along Hwy. 2, Taunton Road and Simcoe Street. 
In addition to the primary conventional and feeder buses, DRT says a combination of BRT and enhanced conventional buses will connect the major transportation routes. 
The Ministry of Transportation of Ontario and Transport Canada funded the Long Term Transit Strategy study. The money was funded through the FLOW Initiative, which is the Government of Canada and Ontario Provincial governments joint transportation action plan for the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). 
This initiative helps the region reduce traffic gridlock, operate in an environmentally sustainable manner and strengthen the economy in the GTA.