Windsor-Essex school boards sign joint letter, opposing elimination of school bus extras

Both English school boards in Windsor-Essex have sent a joint letter to city council, urging them to reject a proposed recommendation to eliminate "extra" transit routes for students as a cost-saving measure in the 2025 budget.

Windsor city council's first meeting of 2025 is underway, providing the public their first opportunity to voice concerns about the proposed 2.99 per cent tax increase.

One recommendation in the draft budget calls for a $1.4-million "service reduction" to Transit Windsor.

Specific details about the cut have not been shared with the public but Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens has previously said the Tunnel Bus could be on the chopping block.

The city's finance department has proposed eliminating school bus extras, which serve secondary school students and are designed "to take excess loads off of the regular routes," according to the City of Windsor's website.

Budget documents have described these routes as a "concierge level of service for a small number of secondary students."

"We can assure you that this statement could be nothing further from the truth," reads a joint letter from the Greater Essex County District School Board and the Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board.

"The document fails to mention any actual figures regarding student ridership on these extra buses, but we can assure you that they are extremely well utilized by our students."

The boards say six extra buses transport students to and from Holy Names Catholic High School daily, all of them "always full."

"At Vincent Massey Secondary School, there are also six very well utilized extra buses," the letter states.

At Riverside Secondary School and St. Joseph's Catholic High School, students rely on two extra buses per school, which the boards say are also consistently full.

"Based on a 40-seat capacity for the average Transit Windsor bus, that’s approximately 640 students who rely on this service every school day."

The school boards outlined several potential issues if the "extra" service is cut:

• Increased vehicular traffic as more parents drive their children, causing congestion, more pedestrian hazards and a decline in environmental quality.
• Longer travel times for students, as extra buses provide direct routes without requiring transfers.
• A loss of transportation for parents without other means to get their children to school, particularly affecting students from "lower socio-economic households."
• Existing routes may not cover the areas served by the extra buses.

The boards say they were not consulted before the recommendation was included in the budget and learned of it "through the local media."

"We would have been happy to work with the City and Transit Windsor officials on addressing issues they are currently facing," the letter reads, emphasizing that transportation supports educational inclusion.

"On behalf of our students and their families, we urge you to seriously reconsider the impact of eliminating these extra bus routes and commit to maintaining them as an essential service for the betterment of our community."

Dilkens acknowledged the concerns raised by the school boards and community members but emphasized the city's focus on fairness and sustainability in its transit services.

"They probably don't want to pick up some of the costs that are rightfully theirs," Dilkens said. "They've been getting a free ride, literally, paid for by the city taxpayers to provide this superior service, which basically takes students directly to the door, but only of certain high schools.”

He added the city's proposal aims to deliver enhanced services that are more equitable across all schools.

"What the proposal in front of city council has is a much broader look at how to deliver enhanced service," he said. "It's actually a net investment in Transit Windsor to provide enhanced service that would still allow folks to get to school, but they wouldn't have that special service that's provided only to certain high schools. It's not an equitable service for every high school."

Dilkens also addressed criticism of the city's investment in transit, pointing to recent funding increases.

"Anyone who says we're not investing in transit, just look at the facts," he said. "In the last 10 years, we've made a significant and substantial investment in the operating budget — that's new routes in the operating budget of Transit Windsor."

He said while some routes face stress due to high ridership, particularly from international students, the city is working with stakeholders to address these challenges.

"We've had one meeting with St. Clair College, and there'll be a meeting with the University of Windsor," Dilkens said. "We're trying to sort through this in a sensible way, and I hope we can come to a pathway that allows for the system to operate in an enhanced way, and certainly in a more efficient way."