Sarnia Transit is making a strong recovery from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and saw record ridership in 2023.
Transit Manager Michelle Carter said it was a rough couple of years, with 830,000 total riders in 2020 and a gradual rise to 1.32 million trips in 2022.
"Of course, we had a huge ridership increase especially from COVID," she said. "During COVID, everybody saw a decrease in ridership but we really bounced back. We surpassed all of our previous ridership. Our last highest ridership was in 2019, right before COVID. In 2023, we surpassed that by approximately 72,000 riders. We had about 1,779,000 riders in 2023."
Meanwhile, riders can expect a few more tweaks to some routes once the new terminal opens at Clearwater Arena.
Crews are putting the finishing touches on the nearly $3 million project, and an opening date has yet to be announced.
Carter said the majority of the scheduling changes have already been implemented but further adjustments might be necessary.
"We'll have limited impacts to our current routes," said Carter. "So, there may be a few extra turns here or there. But, we really wanted to keep them as minimal as possible for the final move. All of those will be announced and we will have maps and schedules for our riders well before we move. Everyone will have time to plan for when that day finally comes."
Carter said anticipation and excitement is building for the move.
"It's such a well laid out space for our customers," she said. "Our Murphy Road terminal, at the Superstore, obviously we outgrew that one quite some time ago. The safety aspects at the new terminal are going to be beneficial, as well as the community hub that we are building there with the new library and different upgrades. It's really exciting."
Meanwhile, Carter said feedback has been positive following the additions of new routes in September.
Those included a morning and afternoon north-end express route, a weekday Confederation-Wellington route, a weekday London Road express, and a Lambton College express.
"We've heard from drivers and ridership that they really like the new routes," said Carter. "It connects anybody coming from the north end at the Northgate Terminal. It eliminates the need for multiple transfers, so it's giving riders a direct route to where they're going. Whether it's the north-south with the route 16, or it's the London Road Express, people are able to go from the downtown terminal to the Lambton Mall in 15 minutes and 15 minutes back."
Further details about the opening of the new Clearwater Terminal will be announced at a later date.