A new inter-community bus route linking Dorchester, London, and St. Thomas will begin rolling Monday morning.
Middlesex County Warden Aina DeViet, St. Thomas Mayor Joe Preston, and Ontario Voyago Vice President Jason Keillor will be among the passengers on the maiden trip of the new service when it departs from the Railway City Transit Hub in St. Thomas at 7:10 a.m.
It will make stops in London and Dorchester before turning around and returning to St. Thomas.
Operated by Voyago and Middlesex County Connect, the new service will offer commuters four round trips daily, with two in the morning and two in the afternoon Monday to Saturday. The route will include stops at the St. Thomas Transit Hub, the local industrial area, Valleyview Home, White Oaks Mall and the Wilton Grove Industrial Park in London, and the FlightExec Centre in Dorchester. The bus will feature 16 seats, with 2 wheelchair-accessible spots and is equipped with a wheelchair lift.
"The introduction of this new transit route marks a significant milestone in our ongoing efforts to enhance transportation options for our residents," Cindy Howard, Middlesex's general manager of finance and community services, previously said of the new service. “It expands access to important employment centres and connects residential areas with essential services and transit hubs that were not previously accessible by existing routes."
Middlesex County Connect, which launched in 2020, has two other routes in service. One travels from Lucan, Ilderton, Arva, London, and back and the other goes from Woodstock, Ingersoll, Putnam, Dorchester, London, and back. The cost for a one-way trip on any of the three routes is $5. Children five and under accompanied by an adult, veterans, and support persons ride free of charge. Passengers can pre-book and live track bus arrival through the free Blaise Transit app.
The inter-community bus service is funded by the province's community transportation grant program.
