Somewhat buried within a City of Windsor press release about ongoing operations at Transit Windsor is the line, “without additional pandemic-related operating support to cover the balance of 2021 pressures due to COVID, the City of Windsor may have to review ongoing transit operations and schedules.”
The sentence highlights ongoing challenges at Transit Windsor as the service grapples with an 86 per cent drop in ridership.
Since public transit restarted last spring following the shutdown, ridership has consistently been at just 14 per cent of pre-COVID levels.
Back then, it was averaging 184,000 passengers a week. This year, it has ranged from 25,031 the week of January 18 to 27,300 last week.
In 2019, Windsor City Council provided Transit Windsor with $13.6-milion in funding, but this year’s municipal budget estimates the service will need $21.1-million to offset the drop in ridership, lower fares, and higher, pandemic-related costs.
Transit Windsor has received $19-million in provincial and federal funding in Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the Safe Restart Agreement. The money is to support operations up to March 31. After that, councillors may have to make some hard decisions.
“We’ve continued to operate the transit system at a significant loss,” said Mayor Drew Dilkens. “To help fund the continued operations at Transit Windsor, the annual operating subsidy has increased by 40 per cent, and this is simply not sustainable.”
Dilkens wants senior governments to come to the table with financial support for public transit beyond the first quarter of 2021.
It is not the first time Dilkens has made the plea. On February 5, the mayor introduced a 2021 municipal budget with a zero per cent increase in the municipal levy. Windsor is eyeing a $38-million shortfall, but Dilkens is confident provincial and federal governments will agree to cover some of those losses. Should they refuse, Dilkens admitted tough decisions could be in the city’s future.
