Today the Free Press reported the latest in the rapid transit saga, and I quote:

The second leg of the Southwest Rapid Transit Corridor may wind around Fort Garry residential neighbourhoods instead of running parallel to Pembina Highway as originally planned.

The latest twist in Winnipeg's long-running rapid-transit saga has city officials considering a less direct bus or rail link between Jubilee Avenue and the University of Manitoba, using undeveloped land in the Parker neighbourhood and a Manitoba Hydro corridor.

Winnipeg Free Press - Detour for rapid transit?

In my humble opinion, this seems downright bizarre. Originally I thought rapid transit was designed to take buses off of Pembina highway, allowing them to move faster while still providing similar service. Placing the transit corridor next to Pembina highway makes sense since it allows the route to go through the major population centers in the area.

Now we hear that transit is supposed to encourage development and should be placed not where the people are, but where we want the people to be. This newest route runs between an industrial park, some greyfield land, and an aging neighborhood. Not exactly the area that I would choose to live in. It's also worth mentioning that most people who can afford to live in a new development don't ride public transit.

Looking back at Pembina for a minute, the section of Pembina highway between Jubilee and McGillivray is not exactly inspiring. Why don't we build alongside Pembina highway to encourage the re-development of Pembina highway? It would be great to see some more high density residential development and the corresponding commercial development along this stretch of road. It seems like city hall is blind to the fact that progress is not only measured in new development.

I think it would do more good for the city to focus on improving the neighborhoods that we have instead of focusing on just constructing new ones.