The controversial Belleville Transit Route 9, which runs through the developed part of Thurlow ward north of Highway 401, was back up for discussion Monday.
The Transit Operations Committee was told that while ridership had been growing, the total number of people boarding buses on the route was just 35,856 last year. That was 3% of the system’s total ridership of 1.96 million.
Belleville Transit has 11 routes and the average ridership was almost 109,000 per route for 2022.
Two of the 32 stops, at the Quinte Mall and Walmart, account for 58% of the riders. A couple of the stops had fewer than 100 people boarding the bus over the year.
For example Thurlow Drive had 42 for the year and McDougall Drive 92.
Busier stops were Kipling Drive with 2,912, Chestnut Drive with 2,685, and Laurel Street with 2,488.
Belleville council will be discussing the future of Route 9 at a meeting next month. The route’s gas tax funding is running out at the end of March and in a survey over 80% of respondents in Thurlow said they did not want to pay for the service.
Transit Committee Chair and Thurlow ward councillor Kathryn Brown said she expected a motion would be brought forward at council asking that Route 9 be disbanded.
