Transit Windsor Preparing for Front Door Boarding
Front door boarding by Transit Windsor passengers will resume on Monday, October 19, after nearly seven months of rear-only boarding due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Protective barriers are being installed on all Transit Windsor busses to ensure employee safety while maintaining sightlines and visibility for drivers. Passengers will be asked to follow a one-way flow, boarding through the front of the vehicle and exiting through the rear doors. Exceptions will be made enabling customers with mobility issues to exit through the front of the bus.
Effective Monday, October 19, fare collection will also resume. Riders are encouraged to re-load Transit Windsor Smart Cards at either the Windsor International Transit Terminal (300 Chatham Street West) or Transit Centre (3700 North Service Road East) in the weeks ahead.
Following the best advice of public health experts, the mandatory mask policy will remain in effect indefinitely and capacity limitations will continue to allow for social distancing onboard. Transit Windsor will continue to operate on an enhanced Saturday service schedule, Monday through Saturday until ridership figures indicate additional service is required. Sunday service will continue on the Sunday schedule. Transit Windsor continuously monitors capacity on busses and high-frequency routes to add additional vehicles when required.
“I’m pleased that we are able to now balance the risks associated with COVID-19 with running Transit Windsor service across the City of Windsor. Municipalities across the country have taken significant losses, operating transit services without collecting fares for more than 6 months. We are counting on the Province of Ontario and Federal Government to help support Transit Windsor in the months ahead. In the meantime, we are restarting fare collection and continuing to offer services across our City and into the County.” – Drew Dilkens, Mayor, City of Windsor
Transit Windsor leadership has been participating in province-wide working groups and forums designed to implement industry-wide standards to support a return to front door boarding.
Over the course of the past several months, ridership numbers have remained significantly below pre-pandemic levels. Current ridership during September has been reduced by about 60% as compared to 2019.
In August, the Province of Ontario announced $6.3 million for Transit Windsor to help recover costs associated with pandemic operations and announced an application-based second round of public transit funding. Applications are due later this year and could provide additional funds to Transit Windsor for operational requirements associated with the public health emergency.
