Transit Windsor adding 20,000 new service hours, but east end riders still waiting

Transit Windsor is expanding its services, offering 20,000 additional hours. CTV Windsor’s Chris Campbell reports.

Transit Windsor riders are about to see a major expansion, with 20,000 new service hours being added across the system this year.

The changes include expanded Sunday service, reduced wait times, more frequent buses on high-demand routes, and new additions to the existing network.

Jelena Payne, deputy CAO and commissioner of economic development with the City of Windsor, said the investment will benefit riders across the city.

“We’ve got big changes and all good happening at Transit Windsor. As part of the 2025 budget, Council approved the addition of 20,000 new service hours and so as a result of that, riders are going to see expanded networks. They’re going to see new routes added to our currently existing system,” Payne said.

“We are going to be adding more hours to our Sunday service, and I think what riders are going to be most excited about is that we are reducing wait times for busses and increasing our frequency on weekends and during the week in our high frequency corridors.”

She added that the expansion comes alongside other changes in the system, like the end of the School Extra program and tunnel bus service.

“The addition of the 20,000 hours and some of the transition out of the other services, particularly the specialized School Extra program, they all go hand in hand,” Payne said.

The city hosted an open house Tuesday to share details of the changes, with another session scheduled for Wednesday at the Windsor Transit Terminal.

Transit advocates welcomed the improvements but said more needs to be done to deliver on long-promised east end upgrades.

“We’re overall pretty happy with these service changes. I think 20,000 hours is fantastic,” said Josh Sankarlal, director of advocacy and campaigns with Activate Transit Windsor Essex.

Still, Sankarlal noted that riders in Forest Glade and East Riverside have been waiting for improvements approved in the 2023 budget.

“Definitely those east end improvements are something that riders have been looking for a really long time, and they haven’t seen any updates on them,” Sankarlal said.

“And this is kind of a symptom of a larger problem that we’ve been talking about, which is that the transit master plan that was approved by city council in 2019 hasn’t seen any substantial updates or like progress reports from city council since it was approved,” Sankarlal said.

He added that advocates are calling for clear updates and timelines.

“Our big ask is just to have an update on the transit master plan that says what has been accomplished and what is going to be accomplished next, and give us a timeline to expect,” Sankarlal said.

“Those frequent reports that come out that give us something to hold Transit Windsor to and hold city council to is what we’re looking for. And it gives residents something to expect, which is what’s really missing here.”

Payne said the city has not yet been able to roll out the east end improvements because of infrastructure delays.

“In 2022/2023, Council actually approved the addition of 43,000 new service hours. That was monumental. However, some of those changes have not been implemented yet because we’re waiting for the east end terminal to be built,” said Payne.

“That work is currently underway, and construction should begin in the next little while. And so, with the addition of the east end terminal will then be able to implement those hours at council approved and probably within a year will see that we have almost 63,000 new hours in, across the entire system.”

Sankarlal said regular reporting would help build public confidence.

“It would be great to accomplish or to celebrate the current accomplishments and then also know what is coming next and when we can expect that,” he said.

“Because right now, everything’s very fragmented. And it’s been since 2019, and we haven’t had any update at six years of essentially silence on what progress has been made towards the transit master plan.”

The new service hours are scheduled to take effect by the end of the month.