Belleville Council discusses the closure of Route 9 and options going forward. Photo by Jordan Mills, QNet News
By Jordan Mills
BELLEVILLE – After 17 months of operation, the Belleville transit into Ward 2 will be discontinued following the Loyalist College exam period.
Residents made it clear that they no longer wanted the route, also known as Route 9, to continue, said Ward 2 Councillor Paul Carr. He said around 87 per cent of residents who voted were in favour of the proposed discontinuation. Ward 2 extends north of the 401 to Roslin and east to just past Point Anne.
Route 9 had around 3,600 passengers throughout 2022, or around three per cent of all Belleville transit riders. Residents of the area didn’t want to continue to pay for a route. Carr said at council how residents were frustrated seeing empty buses drive by day after day.
Initially, it was brought up by Councillor Kathryn Ann Brown of Ward 2. She said Loyalist College students living in Ward 2 will be the most affected. During the recent municipal election, she found many residents didn’t want to pay for the transit service when the student population were the major users, and they aren’t full-time residents.
The initial date to stop service was set to be March 31, but was amended to run to the end of the winter semester. The city will use the Covid Resilience Funding, a special government payment to cover COVID-related municipal costs, to fund the remaining time.
“We understand this is a stressful time for students, and we don’t want to contribute to any additional stress for them,” Carr said. “Those students that use Route 9 won’t have to worry about getting to and from their classes.”
The transit issue for students isn’t something new. As reported previously on QNetNews, Carr brought up that the bus shortage in the Belleville Ward 1 was partially due to having to send buses up to Ward 2.
“We have limited buses,” said Carr. “There are gaps in Ward 1, and they are under-serviced. Remember, those owners are paying for transit services in their taxes.”
Carr called upon Loyalist College to include transit into tuition costs.
“Most colleges and universities in Ontario have that built into the tuition. To me, if they are going to be heavy users, they should contribute,” he said.
He also called on the college to lobby the provincial government to help build additional residents and homes for students.
“They’re attracting students here, but they are finding it difficult to find a place to live and finding it difficult to transport them to school,” said Carr.
It was brought up that a transit pass included in tuition for Loyalist was an option, but it was shot down in a vote by students back in 2019.
Councillor Sean Kelly brought up the cost of several schools’ transit passes. Loyalist College students currently pay around $520/year, while other colleges and universities that have transit passes are much cheaper.
“Canadore College in North Bay is $246, Queens or St. Lawrence in Kingston is $190, Sir Sanford Fleming in Peterborough is $365,” listed Kelly. “If Kingston can do it for $190, why are we so high?”
QNet News has reached out to Loyalist College for comment, with no response at the time of publication..
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