Transit ridership up in northeastern Ontario's 3 largest cities due to international students

Transit ridership is up in Sudbury, North Bay and Sault Ste. Marie thanks in part to use by students, and especially international students.

In Sudbury, northeastern Ontario's largest city, the city expects to see around 6.2 million transit riders by the end of the year. That represents a 19 per cent increase over the previous year.

"We are seeing an increase across post secondary institutions such as Cambrian College, Collège Boréal and Laurentian University," said Laura Gilbert, Sudbury's acting director of transit services.

"Their student enrolment numbers have risen, and with that, public transportation numbers have risen as well."

Gilbert said in addition to students, newcomers to the city have also contributed to the increase in ridership.

Coinciding with the news that ridership is up in 2024, the federal government announced on Thursday that it's providing more than $14 million in funding over 10 years for Sudbury to improve its GOVA public transit system.

The money comes from the baseline funding stream of the Canada Public Transit Fund.

"Our announcement today is one such example that will not only improve existing services for those travelling within Greater Sudbury but will also allow GOVA to expand and meet the growing needs in their community," Sudbury MP Viviane Lapointe said in a news release.

In North Bay, transit ridership is also up, thanks to post-secondary students, and is almost at pre-pandemic levels.

Drew Poeta, the city's transit manager, said ridership reached 1.1 million trips by the end of November.

"Students are a big portion of our ridership since COVID and during this recovery, a large driver has been student ridership from the post-secondary institutions in North Bay, both Nipissing University and Canadore College," he said.

Poeta said ridership from Canadore College, in particular, has been up thanks to use by international students.

But, he added that the city expects that number to go down next year because of a new cap on international student permits, imposed by the federal government.

Nicole Maione, the director of community services for Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., said the city is on track to surpass 1.9 transit rides by the end of the year.

"The transit ridership on Sault Ste. Marie for this year has been fantastic," she said.

Maione said the city has had "quite a significant increase" in students, including many international students, using the city's public transit.

"It's always a good problem to have when the buses are full," she said.

"Now we're going to be about to undergo a transit optimization study to make sure that we're providing the best service for our entire community."