A call for the city to extend service of the last of the Transit Windsor 'school extra' until the end of the school year to give advocates more time to find a solution to student busing in Windsor.
Community advocate Darcie Renaud addressed the city council Monday, as part of a long list of delegations speaking to the proposed 2026 budget, asking for a continuation of a Transit Windsor bus that was servicing students attending Vincent Massey Secondary School and Holy Names Catholic High School.
As part of the 2025 budget, city council eliminated the Transit Windsor 'school extras' that were designed to take pressure off regular routes during the school year, with an estimated 650 students relying on the designated buses going to the public school board's Riverside Secondary School and Massey, along with the Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board's St. Joseph's Catholic High School and Holy Names.
The nine buses used as part of the program were reassigned to provide service improvements and expansion along other routes, with impacted students now relying on the regular Transit Windsor bus service to get to school.
She says if the council answers their plea, they will put their energy into getting the message to the school boards.
"If we have to, we'll do another petition. We'll hand out flyers at the schools. We knocked on car windows at Massey and Holy Names, asking parents to use a QR code to sign our petitions. We're willing to do the exact same thing now if the city does answer our plea to make sure the message does get to the school board," she says.
Renaud says in a lot of cases across the province where students have to take public transit, the school boards pay for their passes.
"The county students get free yellow busing if they live a certain distance from school, and students in Windsor now have to pay to take regular transit service to get to school," she says. "There's an inequity there, and I know this has been the way it's been for many, many years, but it's time for them to revisit it."
Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens says they provided a year's notice on this move, but those concerned haven't had a conversation with the school boards, who don't seem interested.
"Ultimately, it's up to the city council to decide if they want to add more service and continue the expansion of route 1000," he says. "The school board has been very clear to us; they don't want to fund it, and they've been approached, and they've been told the city can continue to provide the service, and here's the cost, and they turned down that cost."
Council members, who have until the end of the month to submit an amendment to the budget, will debate the proposed 2026 budget on January 26.