Sarnia is eyeing a new bus route to make it easier for seniors and people with disabilities to get around the city.
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A community bus pilot project, coming to city council for consideration Sept. 9, would run hourly Monday to Friday, connecting with nursing homes, community services like the city’s Strangway Center, shopping areas and health-care facilities like pharmacies and the hospital, said transit manager Michelle Carter.
The idea is aimed at people who can’t as easily make transfers on the city’s conventional system, and as a backstop for the busy Care-A-Van program, she said.
It’s in response to feedback about those issues from system users and the city’s accessibility committee, she said.
Six Care-A-Van buses provide door-to-door services by appointment for people with mobility issues, but times fill up fast, Carter said, noting booking sometimes takes up to two weeks for particular time slots.
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“So it’ll just open up flexibility,” she said about the community bus idea that, with council approval, could start in October.
The concept has worked in other communities, Carter said.
It would also be open to everyone, not just people with mobility challenges, she said, noting plans are to start with a smaller bus and, if the demand is there, move to a standard-size, conventional 40-footer.
Run times would be flexible, but likely in the 10 am to 5 pm window, when demand peaks, she said.
“We’ll be collecting a lot of data and feedback to bring to council” around March, she said, where the question would be whether to make the program permanent.
Green community bus signs would go at route stops, Carter said in a report.
Cost for the pilot would be “minimal” as there are funds for existing Care-A-Van service to implement the trial, her report says.
Meanwhile, Carter said, the location for bus transfers downtown is shifting south starting Tuesday, as work on a $1.2-million new transit terminal begins at George and Vidal streets.
Buses will instead park one block away, at Vidal and Cromwell streets, while the project is underway, she said.
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