The long awaited addition of a new Transit Windsor express route is set to launch next week.
The 418X Express will begin service Monday, June 26.
The new route will provide a direct link from the East End Terminal at Tecumseh Mall to the West End Terminal at Hôtel-Dieu Grace Healthcare while also providing service to the University of Windsor.
The express route was first proposed in 2020 but delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. City council approved funding for the route in its 2023 Budget.
There are 21 stops along the 418X route, which will run Monday to Friday from 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., with a 30-minute frequency along the Tecumseh-College-Sandwich corridor.
Tyson Cragg, Executive Director of Transit Windsor, says if you were take the 1C or Crosstown 2 and go to the West End Terminal, it would take you roughly double the time to get there.
"For people who are trying to make a more rapid connection, to get to point A to point B quicker or for example, if the ultimate destination is the university, that's another key thing for this route, it does not service the downtown terminal. It's strictly a Tecumseh Road corridor route, the intent is to have a much faster trip across the city," he says.
Cragg says they are starting this off slowly with just two buses per hour in each direction.
"Our minimum guideline now is 30-minute frequency on any new service we introduce, certainly trying to upgrade our existing routes to 30-minute frequency. It will have a significant impact to shoulder that burden on some of those other corridor routes. So I'm expecting ridership to be strong," he says.
Along with the service improvements, Transit is also increasing fares as of Sat., July 1.
As approved during the 2023 budget process, city service fares, as well as those for LaSalle (Route 25) service will increase by two per cent.
The increase will raise the cash fare to $3.25 as of July 1.
A full list of pricing can be found at TransitWindsor.ca.