Activate Transit Windsor Essex is a grassroots advocacy group working for a more accessible and sustainable transportation system in Windsor and Essex County

About us

We are building a coalition of community leaders, transit riders and public transit advocates. Our goal is to amplify the voices of community members calling for a transportation system that works for everyone

Windsor was once a leader in public transit with the first electric streetcar in Canada

Windsor was once a leader in the country for public transit innovation. It was here that the 1st electric streetcar in Canada was installed to connect these communities. After World War II, Windsor developed as an auto-centric city and became known as the “Automotive Capital of Canada”. Public transit no longer plays the prominent role it once did: as of the 2016 census, only 3.3% of commuters in the Windsor CMA use public transit as their mode of getting to work, compared to 14.5% for Ontario.

After WW2, public transit was decimated for auto-centricity

There is a shift happening in our region and a growing recognition that public transit investment is necessary for the future of our region’s economic, environmental and community well-being. In 2019 the city of Windsor put out 2 ambitious plans that help address this need. Our goal is to hold leadership to account, to ensure public transit remains a priority for our region, and to organize citizen-led conversations about our collective vision for the future of public transit in Windsor

Community Mandate

In the fall of 2021, we engaged the community in an online survey to learn more about how people use public transit, what gaps and challenges they face with getting around the city, and what ideas they have for the future. 620 people, transit riders and non-transit riders alike from a broad diversity of backgrounds, participated in this survey. The results are summarized in an online dynamic report created by Ravel Insights. We look forward to the community drawing their own conclusions from these results. We present ours here.

Explore Community Mandate Data

In the News

Read articles and listen to interviews that ATWE has been involved in

January 22, 2025

The Dan MacDonald Show – Activate Transit Windsor Essex 2025 Budget

Media events

Josh Sankarlal of Activate Transit Windsor Essex speaks with Dan MacDonald about the City of Windsor 2025 Budget. Listen to the full interview here

January 17, 2025

Fate of Tunnel Bus, connecting Detroit, Windsor, up in air

Media events

A cross-border transit service that brings Canadians to Detroit and its sporting events and U.S. residents to the Windsor area might be discontinued. The Tunnel Bus, which is operated by Transit Windsor, could become a casualty of budget wrangling in Windsor. The Tunnel Bus operates on a one-hour schedule between […]

January 13, 2025

Residents take to council on tunnel bus, school transit ahead of 2025 budget deliberations

Media events

Windsor city councillors heard from the public on Monday, as many residents wrote into council or came to the meeting to speak to their thoughts, concerns and ideas for the 2025 city budget. Council will discuss the budget again on Jan. 27, but as the CBC’s Chris Ensing tells us, […]

January 13, 2025

Canada’s only international public transit service dominates Windsor’s 2025 budget talks

Media events

City council is being told to find a way to spend more money on Transit Windsor instead of a agreeing to a proposed service reduction. The topic dominated the city’s public delegation period focusing on the 2025 capital and operating budget. On Monday, Dilkens confirmed the item dealt with the […]

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