A transportation consultant study for the LINX transit system in Simcoe County has driven on to the radar of Tay Township politicians.
At the recent Simcoe County committee of the whole meeting, a recommendation was approved for a county transit strategy update to be prepared by a to-be-determined consultant, with consultation from municipalities, transit providers, and Metrolinx.
Tay Township discussed the decision at their own committee of the whole meeting when Deputy Mayor Barry Norris brought up the topic.
“Basically, they’re going to do a full review that would bring in all transit systems like Orilllia, Barrie, Midland, and Collingwood,” said Norris. “That’ll be over, probably, the next… 12 to 18 months. Everyone will have that to look forward to; it will be ratified, probably, at the upcoming council meeting.”
Coun. Sylvia Bumstead pressed Norris for more details on the county discussion. “I don’t suppose you got into a lot of detail about mentioning a stop in Port McNicoll with the LINX transport?”
Norris replied: “That’s where public consultation will be — that’s what part of this report will be. It’ll be involving all the municipalities for comments and everything else; that’s where everybody will be able to provide a comment.”
The LINX transit system was launched in 2018, recently surpassed one million riders, and operates throughout Simcoe County on six routes including a route from Midland to Orillia and a route from Penetanguishene and Midland to Barrie.
A 2024 column from MidlandToday titled ‘Wheels on the county bus prove for 'pleasant, cost-effective' road trip’ described the LINX experience, noting that “poor Port McNicoll can’t seem to catch a break” while visiting Victoria Harbour and Waubaushene on the journey.
At the county meeting, Springwater Township Deputy Mayor George Cabral shared an anecdote of assisting a Barrie resident who normally utilized the LINX transit for $16 to travel to Midland for work, but an instance of being unable to take the LINX instead cost roughly $100 for a taxi fare.
Midland Mayor Bill Gordon thanked Cabral for helping that resident arrive in regards to the town’s struggling manufacturing sector, and expressed relief that the transit study recommendation included the ‘feasibility of amalgamating transit services in Simcoe County into a single county-wide system to improve customer experience and service connectivity."
“Midland has been operating a transit system in our small urban municipality since back in the ‘50s, and since then in order to keep it sustainable and improve services to our community we partnered with Penetanguishene and we’ve grown the scope of that service," said Gordon.
Gordon said that while core service costs rise, keeping taxes at bay meant looking at scaling back on other controllable municipal services “so we’re not forcing our residents into homelessness.”
Noting that residents of rural municipalities not on the transit route utilized seasonal trails for e-bike or snowmobile transportation to work in Midland, Gordon stated that the amalgamation point in the study recommendation resonated.
“I’d like to believe that it will percolate to the top and let’s look at bringing these services all under the county umbrella as we collectively in this house start to talk about fixing other things that are crippling us, like our fire and water/wastewater and policing," said Gordon.
Anticipated to be discussed for ratification at an upcoming county council meeting, the Simcoe County report regarding the LINX transit update, including a request for proposal to retain a consultant for a transit strategy update study, is available on the county website.
Tay council meets for committee of the whole meetings every second Wednesday of the month, and regular council meetings every fourth Wednesday of the month. Archives and livestreams of council meetings are available through the Tay Township YouTube channel.
