Transit linking Barrie, Angus and CFB Borden

Transit linking Barrie, Angus and CFB Borden may soon be a reality

ESSA TWP. - Next stop: Angus? 

Residents of Barrie, Angus and CFB Borden may soon have another option when it comes to travel between the three communities.

A bus route linking them is being considered and Essa Township Mayor Terry Dowdall is thrilled with the idea.

“We’re doing studies to see what the ridership could possibly be (and) looking for a funding model,” he said, Thursday. “It’s an exciting time. Both communities are growing and it would be good for everybody. It gives everyone options and hopefully gets some of the cars off Highway 90,” he said. “It’s a win, win, win for all three parties, but it’s up to people if they embrace it. Ridership will determine the service.

“The goal is for Jan. 1, 2013. We’re hopeful,” he added.

The initial idea is to provide a limited service — peak periods during the morning and afternoon rush hour only — and potentially one or two trips in the middle of the day as well, according to Barrie Mayor Jeff Lehman. He said the idea was originally raised by former Base Commander, Gen. Louis Meloche, when he and Lehman got together during an introductory meeting early last year. Dowdall was quickly on board and there have been informal discussions with county staff.

Essa, Barrie and the base have contributed to an internal draft service plan and the Barrie mayor expects it will be part of a council report once the plan is finalized.

“Barrie council identified service partnerships with neighbouring municipalities as a priority in December 2010, in the first week of the (new) term, so the suggestion was perfectly in line with our priorities as a council,” Lehman said, adding there are 900 permanent base personnel who live in Barrie, and hundreds more military personnel who are on rotation in various training programs at the base.

“Borden is Canada’s largest training base so it has a large population of personnel who live in our area while taking training programs of varying lengths at the base,” he said. “So we know there are at least 1,000 people every day going from Barrie to Borden. Also, there is a lot of traffic between Angus and Barrie, which could provide additional potential riders for the service.”

Lehman said the service would use Barrie Transit buses, although part of the project cost may be to lease two new or used buses for the pilot project.

“We’re still working on that aspect of it. Our service provider, First Canada, has been very supportive of this idea. There are a surprising amount of details to work out, such as special licenses and insurance, etc. to operate a bus outside of the municipality itself. But we are working through the details.”

The ‘Borden Rocket’, as Lehman has dubbed the proposed service, would give military personnel an option for travel to and from Barrie that they currently lack and it could help build ridership on the city’s transit system, as many of the riders on the Borden-Essa route may transfer onto other parts of the system, or buy monthly passes.

“It can help make travel between Angus and Barrie less expensive and easier, particularly for students, people coming to medical appointments at RVH or elsewhere, and so forth. It may also provide a boost to businesses in Angus and in the Dunlop Street West corridor as it can provide a new source of customers and a way to work for employees.”

Lehman said this kind of partnership is a good opportunity for Barrie to work with its neighbours, “something we haven’t always been good at. I think it recognizes that the economy doesn’t care about municipal boundaries.

“Lots of people live in one municipality and work in another and if there’s a strong commuter flow between two areas, transit across boundaries makes sense.”

Municipalities can and should work together to provide services to support residents and their employers, he added.

“It’s actually my hope that this pilot project, if successful, would be the first of potentially a few other similar routes serving neighbouring areas that have strong commuter flows to and from Barrie,” he said. “But this is the first time we’ve tried this, so we would need to see if it works first. And before we get there, we need to finalize a solid plan and propose it to each respective council. I hope that can happen this fall.”

Courtesy Barrie Examiner