Transit Windsor ridership drops 18% in 2025 amid fewer students and route detours

A Transit Windsor bus near St. Clair College's downtown Windsor campus. (AM800 News)

Transit Windsor saw an 18 per cent drop in total ridership in 2025, according to a report presented Wednesday at the city’s Environment, Transportation and Public Safety Standing Committee.

The report says total ridership fell to 7,951,000 trips in 2025, down from 9,671,000 trips in 2024.

The decrease is being attributed to a significant drop in post‑secondary student enrollment following a federal cap on international students at the University of Windsor and St. Clair College, along with an increase in bus detours throughout the city.

As a result of those detours, an additional 171,000 kilometres were added to the route system. The most significant detours were related to construction on Howard Avenue and University Avenue.

Despite the overall decline, ridership among youth and adults increased over the year. Adult ridership rose 13 per cent, while youth ridership was up 22 per cent compared with 2024.

The increase in youth ridership is being linked to the elimination of school bus extras for high school students.

While most routes saw a decline in boardings per hour, many are now operating closer to expected capacity levels rather than consistently exceeding them, resulting in less overcrowding and fewer missed buses.

Ward 9 Coun. Kieran McKenzie, chair of the committee, said people are continuing to use public transit despite the drop.

“Even within that cohort of international students, I know we don’t have hard data, my strong suspicion — and I think it’s shared by leadership at Transit Windsor as well — is that the international students who are here are utilizing Transit Windsor to the same extent as before,” McKenzie said. “It’s just that there are fewer of them in the community now.”

McKenzie said youth ridership has increased significantly since the elimination of school bus extras.

“People are riding the bus in southeast Windsor, and they’re riding the bus because those services and service levels are a direct consequence of the elimination of the school bus extra program,” he said. “We now have new routes that have been implemented in southeast Windsor, and many people who live in that part of the city are young families or young people in their 20s living at home, and they’re transit users.”

McKenzie said further ridership growth will depend on continued investment in the transit system and improved data collection.

“I think that’s a really positive thing so that when we are making investments and bringing new capacities, or adjusting service levels, we’re doing it in a way that’s meeting the demand we have in the community,” he said. “We have a fairly good sense of it, but refining that decision‑making process is important, especially under tight budgetary circumstances.”

In September 2025, Transit Windsor implemented route modifications aligned with the Transit Master Plan’s goal of improving service. The changes included eliminating the Dougall 6, South Windsor 7, Walkerville 8 and Parent 14 routes, and introducing four new routes — 135, 205, 240 and 315 — designed to simplify the network.

McKenzie said public consultation is expected to begin in the coming months as the city seeks input on potential new routes ahead of the Transit Master Plan’s expiration in 2028.