A step toward regional transit in Windsor-Essex.
We'll soon see Transit Windsor buses rolling through the Town of LaSalle.
Tuesday night, council unanimously approved entering into a five year agreement with Transit Windsor which will operate two looped routes stretching from Front Road to St. Clair College.
LaSalle's CAO Kevin Miller says the route serves about 75% of the households in the municipality with buses coming by every 45 minutes.
The town will buy two buses from Transit Windsor at a cost of about $1-million to be split up over the life of the agreement.
Miller says if this is the beginning of a regional transit network he's happy to be on board.
"Our objective was a system that was going to be beneficial for the residents of the Town of LaSalle. Fortunately our discussions with Transit Windsor worked, but we certainly looked at other options and we saw that there was a need for that. So it worked with Transit Windsor. It there's something larger at play, who knows?"
LaSalle Council voted unanimously to enter into a five year agreement with Transit Windsor (Photo by AM800's Zander Broeckel)
He says resident will be happy to know the agreement includes fare integration, meaning if you pay to ride in Windsor you can transfer in LaSalle or vice versa.
"The integrated fare where residents can pay one fare and then transfer seamlessly into the transit system was something we heard from the residents during the public consultation process. So I think it's an exciting project to move forward with."
LaSalle transit will be launched in early September to coincide with the beginning of the school year.
Free fares will be offered until December 31 to give residents a chance to give the service a try.
Year one will cost the town $750,000 due to start up costs, each year after will be just over $300,000.