Bluewater Council Supports Lambton Shores Area Transit System

by Bob Montgomery

Bluewater council voted to continue to support Lambton Shores Area Transit at last night's meeting.

The Huron Shores Area Transit System operates an inter-community public transit service linking Lambton Shores, South Huron, North Middlesex, Bluewater and Kettle & Stony Point First Nation with each other and Sarnia, London, Goderich and Strathroy. The fully accessible service is made possible by a three-million dollar grant from the Government of Ontario Community Transportation Grant Program. That funding runs out at the end of March so the system is going to have to rely on all of it's member municipality's participation to keep it going.

Collectively, the service area has a population of 37,686 people and covers 1,519.5 km2. The geographical area served is more than twice the size of the City of Toronto, with just two 20-person buses and four fixed-route bus routes. Each bus accommodates two wheelchairs and two bikes.

The System will require the participation of all of its partners. The request from Bluewater is for $228,000 over 5 years, or an average annual contribution of $45,600 towards the Huron Shores Area Transit System. Bluewater voted to continue to support the system and Mayor Paul Klopp pointed out, for the system to continue increasing its riders, residents of Bluewater will have to use the system and the municipality will have to make sure residents know it's available.

Klopp says there are businesses along highway 21 that rely on the service to bring summer students who don't have transportation into work and there are also students from Bluewater who go to university in London and use the service to get home to their jobs on the weekend so he hopes that will continue.