The implementation of Belleville’s Transit Master Plan is being delayed.
The Transit Advisory Committee endorsed a request Monday to delay the scheduled start from January to late April or early May.
The city’s Operations Manager Joe Reid says they’ve encountered a few issues including with new fare boxes.
“Our fare boxes are delayed a little bit, they’ll be in within the next month. But that delay has kind of impacted our start times. And then not to mention the routing and the blocking that goes along with changes to schedules has impacted which takes a little bit more time.”
With a record 1.3 million passengers having used Belleville Transit by the end of October, Reid says they have to get it right.
“We want to minimize the negative impacts to our riders when it comes to route changes and design. So, we want to make sure the routes are designed properly. The blocks for the, you know, scheduling of drivers and so forth are done well and planned and you know, from there we need to also have bus stops changed to accommodate the route changes.”
One of the Transit Master Plan’s major updates will be the elimination of nighttime and off-peak on-demand service.
“While it was successful and, you know, it was a catalyst to really help our demand and analysis of what the demands are after hours and it’s exceeded, you know, its expectations and it’s helped us determine that hey, look at fixed routes is what we need to do in Belleville.”
The new plan has a goal of allowing people to make it across the city within 30 minutes.
Reid says the new plan was created with expansion in mind when the demand increases as the city grows.
There will be a major public education campaign to inform residents of the changes.
Delaying the start also means it won’t impact Loyalist College students in the middle of the school year.
