Essex County council will tap into its reserves to ensure that the Leamington to Windsor (LTW) bus route continues.
County council voted to dip $100,000 into the rate stabilization fund recently to keep the service going from April 1-Dec. 31.
The route is facing a deficit due to the fact that the province’s Community Transportation grant program is coming to an end on March 31. Leamington, which will put $56,000 towards keeping it going, has exhausted any possible financial avenues.
“The province has now taken a different approach in offering and supporting a transit program through the Ontario Transit Investment Fund,” reported the county’s director of infrastructure and planning services Allan Botham. “This new program will only support new or expanded transit services rendering existing services ineligible.”
Last year, 13,000 one-way rides were used on the route which includes stops in Essex and Kingsville. Those two towns have offered $20,000 each in support to keep it going for six months.
“A number of residents benefit from it. Regional transportation makes sense. We talk about growth and new homes,” said Kingsville Mayor Dennis Rogers.
The LTW route goes to St. Clair College in Windsor and passengers are allowed one free transfer.
Essex Deputy Mayor Rob Shepley inquired to whether or not the City of Windsor was going to financially support the LTW route to which Botham said, “no.”
“I find it a little troubling that we’re going to sit around here and ask everyone to contribute when the city does not,” said Shepley.
Council could have adjusted its 2025 budget to accommodate the request, however several councillors felt that that was not a good way to go at the present time and preferred going into reserves.
“I don’t want to go to the taxpayers and tell them we are going to ask for an increase. It would be a tough sell in Amherstburg,” said Amherstburg Mayor Michael Prue.
Prue said the bus route that goes from Windsor and through LaSalle and into Amherstburg is funded by the town through its gas tax.
“We are mindful that no one is subsidizing us. It goes through LaSalle,” said Prue.
Amherstburg Deputy Mayor Chris Gibb said that about 50 percent of those who take the bus out of that town to Windsor, are students.
“Amherstburg’s partnership with Transit Windsor has been, in my opinion, very successful,” noted Gibb.
LaSalle Mayor Crystal Meloche said currently the residents in that municipality pay $750,000 for its transit services. Although she was in agreement to going into reserves for the LTW route, like many others, she is in favour of looking at a county-wide regional transportation system.
“I can’t ask our residents to pay twice,” said Meloche of the option of adding the LTW service to the overall 2025 budget. “I think it’s a hard thing to pass on to our taxpayers.”
The only one of the seven municipalities that does not have public transit is Lakeshore, and Mayor Tracey Bailey spoke against any funding for the LTW and said as far as a regional system, there are too many unanswered questions.
Besides funding the LTW route for six months, the county has also agreed to look into the creation of a working group to see if a county-wide system is viable.
“We’ve been talking about this for 15-20 years and the cost isn’t there. There is a deficit. I support a working group,” said Tecumseh Deputy Mayor Joe Bachetti.
Prue supported looking into a regional approach and said it could be used to bring county residents to various events.
As part of its Strategic Plan, Essex County has been using the phrase, Regional Powerhouse’, to recognize its unity. However, comments made around the decision-making table last week prompted Warden and Leamington Mayor Hilda MacDonald to question the statement.
“I think Regional Powerhouse seems to be a word that we need to take out of our Strategic Plan because it is certainly not working around the horseshoe (council table),” she said.
By Fred Groves
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