WINDSOR, ON - Activate Transit Windsor Essex, a grassroots advocacy group advocating for a more accessible and sustainable transportation system in Windsor and Essex County, is responding to several of the Mayor’s comments in the media following Council on January 13th.

 

In a CBC article published shortly after Council concluded, the Mayor confirmed ATWE’s suspicions that the in-camera, undisclosed $1.4m reduction to the transit service would permanently close the tunnel bus service. Mayor Dilkens indicated this is being considered largely because of new federal legislation that allows transit drivers additional sick days. On the Dan MacDonald Show on January 16th, the Mayor expressed a willingness to listen to “community members”, but dismissed Council Delegations as Delegates were “people who were clearly not elected”.

 

“We were disappointed to hear the Mayor dismiss delegates while simultaneously asking for community input, particularly when this item was kept behind closed doors,” said Christine Fitzpatrick, a member of the ATWE Steering Committee, “ATWE proposed a number of alternatives such as on/off peak fare. It was surprising that the Mayor interpreted that as ‘run the bus at any cost’”

 

On January 13th, over a dozen written, in-person and remote delegations spoke against the elimination of the tunnel bus and school bus extras proposed within the Mayor’s budget - instead asking for further investments into a struggling city service.

 

Later, the Mayor posted online that the city has invested just over $5 million in transit over 12 years—an average of less than $500,000 per year. According to the Transit Master Plan, approved by Council in 2020, Transit Windsor should have seen a $9m increase in investments between 2019 and 2024 alone. 

 

ATWE demands that City Council implement the Transit Master Plan, and provide the necessary financial and material investments in Transit Windsor.