The sun was shining on Monday’s (April 8) launch of the new regional transit service linking St. Thomas with London and Dorchester.
But ironically, it was the brief blocking of the sun in the afternoon that resulted in a busier than anticipated first day of operation.
St. Thomas Mayor Joe Preston was aboard the early morning bus to Dorchester and remained aboard for the return trip which offered a pleasant surprise.
“It was quite surprising to find 20 people standing at the White Oaks Mall bus stop to come to St. Thomas.
“A number of people coming out here to see the eclipse today thought a $5 bus ride was the way to do it.”
Operated by Voyago, the new route will run Monday through Saturday, offering commuters four round trips per day, with two in the morning and two in the afternoon.
Preston pointed out you can book your trip up to seven days in advance on the Blaise Transit app.
“Where you can book your trip, which is how we knew some people were at certain stops. There are already at least another 10 booked today for different rides in and back.”
The app also allows for live tracking of a particular bus.
“Inter-community transit sounds like a great idea, but people have to sort of commit to it. If you have your regular riders, that’s great. But you also have your casual riders and it could be used for multiple purposes.”
It’s part of a one-year pilot project managed through Middlesex County and funded by the province.
Anum Maqsood, Community Transportation Project Manager with the County of Middlesex added it is all about developing ‘a transit culture,’ something already established in St. Thomas.
“Ridership only increases with time. Because you are starting the culture.
“The good thing is St. Thomas already has a transit culture with their local transit (Railway City Transit). But, you’re also talking Dorchester and London has a transit culture.
“Inter-community transit sounds like a great idea, but people have to sort of commit to it.
“If you have your regular riders, that’s great. But you also have your casual riders and it could be used for multiple purposes.
“So we’re hoping the ridership will increase much faster on this route, but we can’t reach 100 per cent capacity overnight.”
“Only with time will we see what the ridership is like, who is using the bus and actually it is too early to make any predictions on that.”
She indicated the expectation is a steady growth in ridership over the coming months.
“We don’t expect the bus to be full overnight. We will see a gradual increase like we’ve seen on the other routes.
“Maybe this will be much faster than the other two. This is something people have been wanting for a while. This is a void that we’ve filled.
“So we’re hoping the ridership will increase much faster on this route, but we can’t reach 100 per cent capacity overnight.”
Route 1 connects Lucan with London.
Route 2 runs from Woodstock to London.
Route 3 is the St. Thomas service which starts at the FlightExec Centre in Dorchester, and proceeds through London with stops at the Wilton Grove Industrial Park and across from White Oaks Mall.
It will then continue down Wellington Road toward St. Thomas, stopping at Valleyview Home and the industrial area before reaching the Transit Hub in the city’s east end.
Fares for a one-way trip on all Middlesex County Connect routes, including the new route, are set at $5. Children aged 5 and under, veterans, and support persons ride free of charge.
Passengers can pay fares using cash or credit/debit payment on the bus.
A complete route schedule can be found at the link below.
Middlesex Connect Route 3 timetable
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POSITIVITY A PRETTY GOOD SELLING POINT
This week, St. Thomas Mayor Joe Preston announced a new city manager has been hired to replace outgoing manager Sandra Datars Bere who will fill the same position in London upon her departure at the end of the month.
Heading to St. Thomas is Michael Bradley, currently the Commissioner of Community Development with the City of Brantford.
Bradley has 25 years of leadership experience in both the municipal and broader public service sectors.
We spoke at the end of the week with Preston on the hiring process that will see Bradley assume the city manager duties here on May 15.
“We had over 70 candidates that applied and then we worked at short-listing it and then chose Michael out of this,” explained Preston.
“He really was a pretty good standout among the applicants.”
Prior to his current responsibilities, Bradley served for 11 years with the County of Brant, including a stint as Chief Administrative Officer from 2018 to 2023.
As to what Preston and the hiring team were looking for, the mayor advised, “Personal criteria was to look for someone who could be a manager of a city of our size from an administrative point of view.
“We said if we could find somebody with those abilities, could they have also seen rapid industrial growth in the past and know how to deal with it and we think Michael is going to fit every end of that.”
While at the County of Brant, Bradley was the driving force behind the development of the Brant 403 Business Park, encompassing over three million square feet of industrial development capacity.
In addition, he “initiated, developed and oversaw all activities of Brant Municipal Enterprises, Inc., an award-winning municipal services corporation,” according to the City of St. Thomas media release announcing the hiring of Bradley.
“I got a feeling in the interview with Michael, and I got it when we were interviewing Sandra. I don’t want to come in and change things. I want to come in here and keep the success going.”
Preston expressed no concerns regarding the three-week gap between Datars Bere’s departure and the arrival of Bradley.
“We’ve got a great director’s team and all can step in on a temporary basis and help us run the city and make sure all the other city functions work.
“It’s tricky sometimes when we are starting to attract new people to come to our city and the relationships with the county and Central Elgin around us.”
Bradley becomes the third city manager after Datars Bere and Wendell Graves, who retired at the end of February 2022.
The leadership role of the city manager position has evolved over that time, Preston agreed.
“It changed a lot from Wendell to Sandra. And, maybe as much as personality is what the city was doing differently.
“All the true city functions still have to happen. But the personality of the person and how much they allow their directors to manage their own stuff makes a huge difference.
“If you’re asking about one trait, it was his positivity. He said, ‘I really want to come to a city that’s really progressing forward, that is working well together and there’s not much to fix but there’s a whole lot to push forward.’ And I think that’s a pretty good selling point.”
“I’ve seen two of the best and I’m looking forward to another best, one who is stepping in and doing the job as well as it is already going.”
So what clinched the deal in Preston’s mind?
“I got a feeling in the interview with Michael, and I got it when we were interviewing Sandra. I don’t want to come in and change things. I want to come in here and keep the success going.”
Preston continued, “We did interview some people who said, ‘Look, I’m the world’s best city manager and I can make things better.’
“I’m not saying we’re not trying to be better, we really will get better. But we’ve got to have the city carry on in the great way that it is.”
That includes maintaining and upgrading essential services.
“You’ve got to have water coming out of the taps and the trash being picked up and the roads being paved. You have to count on the great experts you have at doing all that stuff well.
“Or, at the bare minimum, bringing great reports to council that say here’s what we’d like to do so let the team pick and choose.
“If we can keep the city manager and the director group in the city doing exactly the same thing along with recognizing council’s thoughts, it can’t be better than that.”
So what key ingredient does Bradley add to the mix?
“Resumes always tell a story about the past, and if he can mimic what he’s already done, that’s going to be great.
“If you’re asking about one trait, it was his positivity. He said, ‘I really want to come to a city that’s really progressing forward, that is working well together and there’s not much to fix but there’s a whole lot to push forward.’
“And I think that’s a pretty good selling point.”
In the city’s announcement, Bradley observed, “St. Thomas is a community with a historic past and an amazing future and significant opportunity for growth and development.
“I look forward to delivering on the city’s priorities to ensure continued opportunity for St. Thomas, the Elgin county community and the broader region.”
We have arranged to speak with Bradley when he comes aboard in St. Thomas.
ONE STORY WITH ONE ABUSER
Monday’s (April 15) city council package includes a letter from Jodi Marissen.
Her request to council is on behalf “of all the vulnerable women and children of the City of St. Thomas . . . on behalf of the abused women and children of the City of St. Thomas . . . on behalf of the women and children of the City of St. Thomas who have died at the hands of their abusers.”
She is urging council “to make a declaration of Intimate Partner Violence as an epidemic here in the City of St. Thomas.”
“Mayor Preston and members of council, I have a million and one recommendations for repairing this broken system, but at the very least just to start, we NEED your help in raising our voices and making a declaration of Intimate Partner Violence as an epidemic in the City of St. Thomas.”
She notes in 2019, the St. Thomas Police Service reported over 800 domestic violence incidents.
Marissen points out, “During the process of writing this letter, I have found out that if you want statistics from a police station about domestic violence, you have to file an application with the Freedom of Information Act . . . There is a huge issue at hand here and I am just one story with one abuser.”
She notes in her letter, “I have reached out to Victim Services Elgin for support and was granted $1,000 in funding for counselling, but that is it.
“When it runs out, there is no more. Most therapists worth their education charge $120-plus a session so that does not go far when it comes to trauma counselling.”
She concludes her letter with this plea.
“Mayor Preston and members of council, I have a million and one recommendations for repairing this broken system, but at the very least just to start, we NEED your help in raising our voices and making a declaration of Intimate Partner Violence as an epidemic in the City of St. Thomas.
“I implore you to take this opportunity and bring light to this worldwide issue, join in with the 72 municipalities in Ontario to make this declaration.
“Do this for the Keiras, the Tanyas, the women and children who no longer can lead this fight because their lives were tragically taken from them at the hands of their abusers.”
ANOTHER ONE HEADING NORTH
City manager Sandra Datars Bere has company as she embarks on the next chapter of her professional career in her hometown of London.
This past Wednesday (April 10) was communications manager Megan Cornwell’s final day with Southwestern Public Health.
She was the go-to person when seeking health-related information or processing interview requests as media types pursued a variety of story angles involving the health unit.
It could be demanding at times for Cornwell, particularly during the hectic three years of a pandemic.
On her departure, she forwarded a much-appreciated farewell “To our valued local journalists, ” reproduced below.
“Over the past five years, I have gotten to know so many of you. I’ve learned from you and grown professionally and personally during this time. Thank you for working with me to bring public health issues forward to the community we all serve.
“Never was your importance more obvious to me and my colleagues across public health than it was during the Covid-19 pandemic. Integrity, accuracy, timeliness . . . thank you for being relentless in your pursuit of excellence in journalism. I wish we had a dozen more of you across Oxford and Elgin counties.
“As for me, I’ll be moving on to the Manager of Corporate Communications role with Middlesex-London Health Unit. I’m eager to serve again in the community I live in – but I’ll sure miss this place and all of you.”
A class individual. We’ll miss you.
And thanks for tolerating our many requests for never-ending information and calls continually picking your brain about who we can speak to about such and such.
You are to be admired for your tolerance and patience.
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And a reminder, I can be heard weekday afternoons as news anchor and reporter on 94.1 myFM in St. Thomas. As always, your comments and input are appreciated.
