Provincial bus plan 'huge' for northwestern Ontario, says Common Voice Northwest

The Ontario government's plan to expand bus service between communities throughout northern Ontario means very good things for the region and its residents, according to the chair of Common Voice Northwest's transportation task force.

"This is huge," said Gary Woodbeck. "From Sault Ste. Marie to the Manitoba border, we don't have a regular scheduled bus service to service the whole area."

"It's not going to be serviced by air and it's not going to be serviced by train, so this is the only way we can connect all the communities in northwestern Ontario."

Common Voice Northwest has long advocated for better bus service in the region. In 2015, the group released a policy paper on the subject and Woodbeck said much of that was incorporated into the provincial program.

"It covers almost everything that we've asked," he said. "I'm thrilled to see that they've adopted our proposals."

5-day-a-week service

The province said Friday the expanded bus service will be operated by the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission — a provincial Crown agency that provides transportation services in the northeast — who will partner with existing private carriers in the northwest.

There will be a five-day-a-week, return bus service running between communities, the province said.

Woodbeck said having a scheduled, regular return service is critical, especially for people who need to travel for medical reasons and don't have access to a vehicle.

Currently, day trips by bus aren't available within the region.

"Sioux Lookout has a hospital that people up in Red Lake can't access unless they take some other mode of transportation," he said. "We've heard scary stories of people taking cabs from Atikokan to Thunder Bay for medical reasons."

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While ridership in the region is down, that's the result of a lack of options for passengers, Woodbeck said.

"If you only offer service in, say, Fort Frances once a week, why would people take that? That would mean they'd have to come to Thunder Bay and stay a whole week before they could go back."

"You offer service five days a week, we're hoping that the ridership will ... go up," Woodbeck continued. "We know how many people come to the hospitals, we know how many people come from the outlying areas, and the ridership should be there."

Grants for new terminals

Another part of the province's plan is to introduce grants to help municipalities develop long-distance, inter-community bus services as well as transportation hubs. There are further grants for Indigenous communities and organizations as well

Woodbeck said new transportation terminals and hubs are key.

"Another major problem with the bus system is, not every stop has got some type of sheltered place that you can get picked up in," he said. "There's some places that use garages, gas stations."

"In the northwest, you know, we have issues with weather," Woodbeck said. "To have people standing on the side of the road for half an hour waiting for a bus to come along isn't safe, and isn't comfortable."

One lingering concern for Woodbeck is the cost of tickets, as that hasn't been addressed by the government yet.

"We're just concerned about what the subsidy will be per-ticket," he said. "It needs to be attractive for people to use the system."