By: Tony Wentzell, Chairperson for TCRC, Ontario Northland Motor Coach Operators
On March 23rd, 2012 the Provincial Liberals announced that the Northlander passenger train service would cease, and be replaced with enhanced bus service in the north.
Now the Ontario Northland will be reducing some bus service in Northern Ontario effective Nov 15th, likely with more reductions to follow in the near future. Saying one thing doing another.
When the Northlander ceased operation, the train stations along the line remained. These stations were funded by the Northlander train. The Northland Buses used those stations and paid the normal ticket commission rate to the Northlander. The Province cut the Northlander train and downloaded the cost of the Northlander Train stations to ONTC Bus Line to assume, and then tells the Bus Line we must be sustainable.
The demise of intercity transportation in Northern Ontario is almost here and every service cut brings us closer. Since the Liberals cut the Northlander Train and promised Enhanced Bus Service in the north, just a few short years ago there have been many losses on intercity transit in Northern Ontario, leaving Northerners fewer and fewer options to travel and further isolating communities and individuals across the north.
September 28, 2012- The last Northlander Train leaves Toronto for Northern Ontario
March 20, 2015- Caribou Coach lines a private carrier based out of Thunder Bay ceased service into Hearst Ontario where they connected with Ontario Northland and provided an east west link for passengers travelling between north eastern Ontario and western Ontario and the rest of western Canada. Caribou Coach now only goes as far as Longlac about 215kms west of Hearst.
May 22, 2015- Ontario Northland closes two stations (Matheson, Englehart) and reduces hours and days of operation at three more stations (New Liskeard, Kirkland Lake, Sudbury) also lays off eight ticket staff at affected stations.
September 20, 2015- Greyhound cuts its service in half between Toronto-Sudbury and Ottawa to the Manitoba Border effectively cutting 4800 kilometres of east/west service per day across northern Ontario, subsequently laying off about 14 drivers in Sudbury.
November 15, 2015- Ontario Northland reduces service west of Kapuskasing to Hearst to three days a week, and cuts service in half between Timmins- Cochrane- Iroquois falls and Matheson.
The Province owns and operates two Bus Lines in Ontario. GO in southern Ontario and ONTC in Northern Ontario. GO is operated under Metrolinx (Ministry of Transportation) and receives funding and subsidies in the billions to operate and invest in infrastructure in the south. The ONTC Motor Coach in the North is operated under the Ministry of Northern Development & Mines and told we have to be sustainable. ONTC is a transportation agency, we should fall under the Ministry of Transportation where public transit is their business not a mining Ministry where it’s just a sideline.
In order to try to meet the Provinces mandate of sustainability ONTC has recently increased fares by 6%, closed ONTC bus terminals in Matheson and Englehart, greatly reduced hours of operation in Kirkland Lake, Sudbury and New Liskeard, and is now beginning to cut service in the North. Low ridership is given as the reason for service cuts?? The purpose of the ONTC was to provide transportation service in low population areas. Why does the government subsidize transit service in the most populated area of the province, where there are many transportation options, and sit idly by while transit services in the Northern less populated area of the Province are failing. With fewer transportation services or options, northern communities need intercity transit as much if not more than the south.
This Union has asked the Provincial Liberals for a bit of a break, some help to be sustainable and provide transportation services in the north. The ONTC spends nearly a half a million dollars annually in the south of the Province for terminal costs so our seven daily trips north have agency representation. In all southern communities we operate out of, GO Bus, our sister company also operates terminals where hundreds of trips daily depart. We asked could we utilize those terminals at no cost to help us keep bus service in the north alive. The response was NO, Ontario Northland is responsible for paying a fee for the use of these facilities. All things being equal no problem but GO gets heavily subsidized by the Province and ONTC has to close stations, cut service in smaller or more remote communities, reduce hours in remaining stations, just so we can pay those fee’s to GO, another Provincial agency.
I believe the only plans the Provincial Liberals have for the ONTC and intercity bus transportation in the north is death by design, or through Provincial indifference to Northern issues. With recent Greyhound service cuts and now ONTC beginning service cuts, public transit in the north is rapidly disappearing. Yet there is no concern from our government. Residents of the north should be very concerned. Many residents have their own vehicles but I often see passengers who have suffered a recent illness or injury, or have just aged and do not feel secure travelling northern highways any longer and now need our service. Northern transit service needs to be in place for residents now and in the future.
The only thing standing in the way of having reasonable transportation levels in Northern Ontario is the lack of political will to recognise and change the double standard in place between the North (ONTC) and South (GO). There is differential treatment by the Province when it comes to public transit in Northern Vs. Southern Ontario, that is evident just by the fact the Ontario Northland a transportation agency does not fall under the Ministry of Transportation.
Ontario Northland transports about 270,000 passengers a year, we just increased our fares by 6%
GO, according to their website transports 65 million passengers a year.
If every GO passenger paid an extra penny on their fare, not an extra 1 percent just one lousy penny towards a northern transportation initiative. That would bring $650,000 to the ONTC which would mean Hearst, Timmins, Cochrane, Matheson could keep their same level of service, perhaps we could even expand hours so northern bus passengers have better access to a waiting room out of the weather, and bathrooms. All for a penny!
If every GO passenger paid an extra dime on their fare, ONTC could expand service to Longlac to reconnect with Caribou Coach opening the door to western Ontario and all of western Canada. We could create a service between Ottawa and possibly as far west as Thunder Bay to augment the existing service Greyhound has in place and then be there just in case Greyhound which is only one cut away from not existing in Northern Ontario makes further service reductions in the future. The ONTC could resume normal hours in all their stations; possibly look at establishing new service into areas that have very limited access to transit. Provide employment and help meet the transportation needs of Ontarians in the north.
The question for the Provincial Liberals “IS INTERCITY TRANSIT IN THE NORTH WORTH A DIME?”
Editor's note: the letter is in response to this news release issued by the ONTC.
Motor Coach Schedule Changes in November
(North Bay) As of November 15th, 2015, Ontario Northland will be changing its motor coach service schedules on some routes, which have experienced low ridership. The changes are as follows:
- The Cochrane to Iroquois Falls/Matheson route will now have daily service once a day (previously twice a day);
- The Cochrane to Timmins route will now have daily service twice a day (previously three times a day);
- The Timmins to Cochrane route will now have daily service twice a day (previously three times a day); and
- The Hearst to Kapuskasing route will no longer have daily service, but will instead have Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday departures from Hearst.
- Departure from Timmins to Sudbury will be at 9:15 a.m. instead of 11:30 a.m.
- Departure from North Bay to Timmins will be at 7:00 a.m. instead of 5:00 a.m.
Please consult our website for complete details on our new schedules for Hearst, Kapuskasing, Cochrane, Timmins, Iroquois Falls and North Bay.
“Ontario Northland continuously reviews our motor coach services and makes adjustments as operationally required and in response to customer demands,” said Tracy MacPhee, Director of Passenger Services. “Today’s announced service changes are necessary to streamline our services in order for Ontario Northland to be sustainable in the long term. We are working with our employees, community leaders, passengers and bus parcel express customers to ensure a successful transition.”
This is all part of the necessary transformation to ensure sustainable employment, continued economic growth, and a strong transportation network in Northeastern Ontario. Our motor coach services are vital to Northern Ontario and we need to streamline our services in order to be sustainable.
