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Transit Windsor has been working on a master plan for a number of years and, after presenting it to council, was recently asked to complete a phased report. As part of that effort, Transit Windsor received $10.2 million last year. Transit Windsor executive director Pat Delmore said that money is being used to “revitalize” the system, with 24 new buses purchased and 120 new bus shelters to be installed throughout the city as well as investments being made in updating bus facility and maintenance areas.

“No definitive decisions have been made, but we do have a lot of ideas and plans,” Delmore said of the new funds just announced. “We are doing a service delivery review right now which we expect to be our road map to the future over the next 10 years.”

The review is taking an in-depth look at the system, focusing on things like bus routes and highlighting areas that are currently under-serviced as well as looking at the future growth of the city.

Marra said the funding will help Transit Windsor to improve its system while investing in technology that will provide riders with things like real-time access to information, for example informing riders about bus arrival times. He said there has been some significant recent improvements in ridership with an agreement with the University of Windsor and by expanding service into LaSalle.

Photo by Dan Janisse / Windsor Star

“This allows us to start making a case for a regional transit system because the resources are now going to be available,” Marra said. “It’s exciting for a number of reasons. And I think for the Windsor Essex area this truly could be a game-changing investment because it allows us to do a number of things and do it over a short period of time.”