Another poll on rapid transit has been released, this one finding that two in three residents want Waterloo Region to have a modern transportation system in ten years' time.
The Angus Reid survey commissioned by downtown Kitchener firm MFX Partners comes within days of an Ipsos-Reid poll that showed overwhelming support for a rapid transit referendum.
Alison De Muy of MFX Partners tells 570's Gary Doyle Show that their poll did not include a referendum question because the survey went out before Waterloo mayor Brenda Halloran put the idea of a referendum into the spotlight.
Among the findings in the Angus Reid poll is agreement among Waterloo Region residents that the community needs an updated public transit system to address population growth (73 percent), and 58 percent believe it would be better for Waterloo Region to pursue a transit option that includes LRT.
"A clear majority are in favour of an option that is just LRT or LRT and buses, so you put those two together and you've got a clear majority of people that are in favour of some transit plan that would include LRT in the mix," notes De Muy.
Further findings show 72 percent of residents believe that the impact of LRT would be positive for the Region, half believe that the LRT would help to ease traffic congestion, 58 percent believe the LRT is better for the environment than the current system and half report that their ridership would increase if the LRT is built.
And more than seven months after the municipal election, the poll suggests that the rapid transit debate is keeping voters very engaged in the political process.
"64 per cent of people said that they would vote again for a candidate because they supported the LRT," De Muy states. "And so we take from that that a referendum isn't needed (and) that people have put their faith in the people that we've elected to do their job and govern."
For a look at the detailed poll results,
click here