With the Memorial Cup just around the corner, Windsor's nine business improvement areas are looking to get in on the action.
A shuttle service is being developed to transport patrons between the different neighbourhoods and the WFCU Centre.
City Councillor Rino Bortolin says the BIA's want to play a bigger part in hosting major events like the Memorial Cup and believes this pilot project will be a success. "You stay, you have dinner, hop on a shuttle bus, go to the game. You're parked at the BIA. You take the shuttle bus back. No issues with parking. You had an enjoyable evening in the BIA while enjoying the game. So it's the first one, so we'll see how it goes, but it lays a groundwork for further opportunities when and if we do larger events."
"It's all about increasing foot traffic in core areas," says Bortolin. "The idea is that when we have these events not to, just people drive there, go the game or go to and from the hotel and not have an impact on the city. So sometimes they'll have shuttles or things that go to the malls or the outlet stores. We wanted to try to bring it to the main streets, to the different BIA's, to the mom and pop shops and have an impact directly."
In addition to the shuttle service, several of the BIA's will also be putting up new signage to help patrons find their way around.
The Memorial Cup hockey tournament takes place at the WFCU Centre May 19th to the 28th.