Thunder Bay Transit gets 'smarter' with route changes

In a bid to make city transit more efficient, Thunder Bay has unveiled a series of proposed changes to transit routes that primarily serve the south side of town.

Some of the changes which would start at the end of August include ending the Crosstown and Memorial services at Confederation College and city hall respectively.

New routes would then go from those locations to Westfort, Northwood and to the airport.

Transit planning and marketing analyst Jon Hendel said changes are also coming to the East End route.

"We've heard from East Enders. It's probably one of the largest cries that we've heard is, 'we want another transfer point,' right now all they have is city hall. So we said, 'OK, let's connect it up with Intercity Shopping Centre.'"

Hendel went over some of the proposed changes at Thursday's open house at city hall.

"We're introducing all-day, everyday service into Westfort," he said.

"We've really heard that from our passengers that they're looking to make direct connections to the hospital and that whole area, and now they can do that."

Hendel said the changes won't cost the city any more money, but some transit users, like Jim Campbell, said money is what's needed.

"I don't think the council is going to be able to get away with not spending any more money on the busses," he said.

"They need more busses ... you've got to spend money to make this thing work."

The city's transit master plan calls for more money to go to bus service, but Hendel said he doesn't know when the plan will be fully implemented.

'Smarter' transit

This year's changes "set the stage," for the master plan's proposed route network, Hendel said, adding that the city has been taking feedback on bus routes since 2012.

"We've heard nothing but positive feedback on that proposed route network," he said. "Because this is now a taste of what's going to come, passengers are very excited."

Additional proposed changes this year include:

• New access to the expanded Hogarth Riverview Manor on Lillie Street.
• Changing some routes to provide two-way access on the same street (in some cases, busses go outbound on one street and inbound on a nearby, parallel street).
• Eliminating part of the Crosstown route that runs along Victoria Avenue, which will be now served in both directions by one of the new routes coming from city hall.
• Creating a new route from Confederation College to city hall.
• All-day, every-day service to Confederation College's Aviation Centre.
• Eliminating East End route service west of Vickers Street. Most of that part of the route will be served by the new route between Confederation College and city hall.

"What we're doing is putting some logic into the system," Hendel continued.

"These are all changes that just make sense, and we've heard it from passengers, and now we're putting it in place."