Changes coming to regional transit
There will be some changes coming to Niagara Region Transit after Labour Day in the ongoing effort to expand the public transportation options.
Changes will include enhanced service on many routes starting on Sept. 3, Robert Salewytsch, Niagara Region’s program manager for transit, explained in a report to regional councillors.
The changes will result in standardized operating hours of 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday on almost all routes, the report said.
The report also said the work of consolidating routes to avoid duplication is all but complete with, Niagara Region Transit taking over two runs. The first takes riders from the downtown terminal in St. Catharines to Niagara College’s Glendale campus route and will replace a route covered by St. Catharines Transit. The second will operate from Niagara College’s Welland campus to Pelham’s Meridian Community Centre and Brock University. It replaces the Brock Link.
Among other changes after Labour Day:
The Port Colborne to Welland route will have extended service to 10 p.m. and eliminate a midday break;
The Niagara Falls to Niagara College Glendale campus express route will run continuously without the service break in the middle of the day;
The Niagara Falls to St. Catharines route will have extended operating hours Monday to Saturday.
The Niagara Falls to Welland route will run at 30-minute intervals Monday to Friday with two additional hours of service on Saturdays.
St. Catharines to Welland will run at 30-minute intervals Monday to Friday and addition of two hours of service on Saturdays.
A free transit app will be available for riders with schedules, fares and maps for both Android and IOS. It can also be downloaded from the regional transit website niagararegion.ca/transit. The app will also allow passengers in St. Catharines and Niagara Falls to track their bus in realtime.
Niagara Specialized Transit is adding a Hamilton transfer hub in Stoney Creek off Highway 8 on Sept. 1 among other changes for its riders.
The hub is at a Tim Hortons. It will connect Niagara Specialized Transit rider with its DARTS counterpart in Hamilton and will reduce the Niagara portion of the fare to $6 from $15, the report said. With the addition of a $3 DARTS fare, a trip total will be about $9, the report said. A Support Person Pass will be available directly to the client. The pass will allow different support people to accompany riders from one trip to the next for free. The pass will also be valid on all transit services, conventional and specialized, in Niagara.
The report said the Region extended the contract with its service provider, BTS Transportation Services out of Vaughan, with a provision that calls for an immediate improvement in on-time performance. The deal will also have the company compile a traceable log of all trip requests and subsequent changes. It also restricts bookings to 24 hours in advance, which staff hopes will give riders more flexibility, which will reduce cancellations.