The increase to bus service within the Northeast is being welcomed by the Northern Ontario Service Deliverers Association.
The NOSDA released a statement this week regarding the Ontario Northland Transit Commission’s decision to improve transportation services within and between communities in the North.
NOSDA Chair Ian Angus says they are excited about the new Community Transportation Grant Stream that will provide funding for inner community transportation as well as connecting towns outside the main-line system through a locally operated service.
The ONTC plan laid out says $5.2 million will be invested to create a return service that will be offered five days a week between all communities serviced by them or private carriers.
Angus also says he is pleased with seeing Hearst and Hornepayne returned to the bus routes for ONTC after the service was cut in 2015 to Hearst, Kapuskasing, Cochrane, Timmins and Iroquois Falls following low ridership totals.
He says the NOSDA thanks the provincial government for recognizing the need to ensure proper community transportation across the North.
