Fort Erie Transit is reverting back to one-way loop transit system after a significant drop in ridership.
Changes were made back to the transit system last year including expanded routes in Fort Erie, Ridgeway and Crystal Beach and connections to Niagara Falls, Brock University and Niagara College.
Officials say while the changes were meant to provide greater service, the new route times and schedules didn’t meet the needs of the overall ridership according to feedback they received.
“The data shows that our ridership has dropped significantly over the last two quarters when compared to last year’s averages. As soon as we saw that the numbers were starting to decline, we decided to take action. The riders were quite clear with their feedback – the two-directional routes and the timing of the buses no longer worked with their schedules,” said Mayor Wayne Redekop and TAC Member.
Moving forward the Transit Advisory Committee is recommending that the town should be moving back to a one-way loop system in order to put the buses back on a one-hour bus schedule.
A one-way loop system is when buses run continuously in the same direction whereas a two-way loop system means buses run continuously in opposite directions.
The recommendation will apply to the East, West and North routes.
In addition, TAC recommended that the Town continue with the current routes (rather than go back to the old routes) with the option to modify them as needed in the future.
Changes to the transit system are expected to be finalized by August 2018.