Belleville’s Transit Advisory Committee has approved a plan to expand city transit service to Ward 2.
Committee chair Bill Sandison says if all goes well, bus service would be extended to that area as soon as May.
“It would be in the most heavily populated areas so we’ve got the four subdivisions north of the 401. We’ve got Settler’s Ridge, Canniff Mills, Heritage Park and Deerfield.”
A 2019 survey indicated there was sufficient demand for service in these areas.
The report approved at the committee’s meeting on Thursday shows funding for the first year of the service would mostly be covered by the city’s share of provincial gas tax funding.
Sandison says they would have to come up with a new operating plan for year two and beyond.
“We can either incorporate it into residential taxes as we do in Ward 1 currently, or, maybe create a two-tiered pricing system where maybe Ward 2 residents pay a little more for the service rather than have it incorporated in their property taxes.”
However he says that’s something they can decide at a later date.
Right now, Sandison says transit staff will prepare a report for council’s consideration during the 2021 Operating Budget discussion and final approval could come by the end of March.
The city has also purchased five new buses, three of which will replace older buses and the other will be used to expand service to Ward 2.
