Tag Archives: CASO station

03.21.26
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The road ahead for Railway City Transit: Ensuring you will be able to promptly get there from here

Less than 18 months after a consultant’s report called for an aggressive shift to sustainable travel modes in St. Thomas, the city is undertaking a ‘Railway City Transit Plan for Growth.’

Before delving into the latest exercise in putting the city’s transit system under the microscope, let’s recap some of the findings of the Transportation Master Plan refresh project compiled by Paradigm Transportation Solutions.

Kevin Jones of Paradigm recommended an aggressive shift in the operation of Railway City Transit that would see a six-fold increase in annual service hours involving 26 buses in service operating 17 hours every weekday.

These figures are based on a city population of 79,500, a couple of decades distant.

Jones went on to note, there is a “need to fund transit that provides an affordable alternative, enables access to all areas of the city and gives residents choice in how they travel.”

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03.14.26
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The future of the Elgin County Railway Museum: ‘Looking outside of what the building currently is, what could it be’

It was an evening not for decision-making but for sharing information.
A public information meeting to update the community on the current state of the Elgin County Railway Museum building and an exciting look at what the future could hold.
A well-attended session on Thursday at the CASO station to present an overview of the current condition of the building, with a discussion of the challenges and opportunities for the structure.
The takeaway was quite stark. The museum will be closed to the public for an extended period of time to allow the roof to be removed, along with the walls, to determine the structural integrity and undertake remedial action.
And then put all the pieces back together again.
Friday morning, we spoke with Scott Sleightholm, President of Railworks Coalition, to compare notes on what transpired the previous evening.

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05.04.24
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Modular housing: Part of the solution to put the ‘missing middle’ into homes they can afford while building equity

city_scope_logo-cmykOntario plans to move ahead with its plan to build more modular homes including on government surplus lands.
That was the message from Elgin-Middlesex-London MPP and Associate Minister of Housing in the province’s effort to cut red tape when it comes to increasing the housing supply.
We talked with Flack shortly after the media release went out to delve deeper into the concept of modular homes and their role in the future.
He advised a housing forum was held in Toronto last November where various housing stakeholders got together for a day to identify deliverables needed to speed up homebuilding in the province.
Among those attending was St. Thomas homebuilder Doug Tarry.
“And one of the pieces is modular or factory-built homes and so we’ve been working on getting this market sounding out.
“There are all types of modular homebuilders in Ontario. Big scale ones down to smaller ones.”

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03.16.24
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Regional transit to become a reality for St. Thomas: ‘Our goal is to make sure that we can get individuals on to transit’ – Cindy Howard, Middlesex County

city_scope_logo-cmykThe two cities are but 20 minutes apart, but without public transit, getting from St. Thomas to south London without a personal vehicle can be a daunting challenge.
Yes, you can ride share or cab it to the Forest City at a hefty $50 to $60 one way.
It wasn’t always this way. Several operators have offered a service between the two centres including Aboutown Transportation, Grey Bruce Air Bus, the iconic Greyhound and best of all, the London & Port Stanley Railway.

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03.02.24
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Rapid development and expansion prove Element 5 is not out of its element after locating in St. Thomas

city_scope_logo-cmykWith little in the way of fanfare, Element 5 has become a significant regional success story less than four years after constructing its $50 million plant on 40 acres of land on Dennis Road in the city’s north end.
Even more impressive is the fact the company itself has been in existence for less than a decade.
It was founded in 2015 when it purchased a small cross-laminated timber (CLT)manufacturing company in Ripon, Quebec and began production.
Its St. Thomas facility, completed in 2020, is the most highly automated, state-of-the-art mass timber plant in North America.
It can annually produce 45,000 cubic metres of CLT and 5,000 cubic metres of glulam (glued-laminated timber).
A second shift was added in 2021 and last year, expansion of the existing plant began.

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01.25.20
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Does preserving railway heritage in St. Thomas merit property tax relief?

city_scope_logo-cmykWith the observation, “Our assets are the strongest link to the new city branding,” a pair of St. Thomas railway-based entities are seeking an exemption from paying municipal property taxes.
Matt Janes of The Railworks Coalition – representing the Elgin County Railway Museum (ECRM), the CASO station and, in the near future, the St. Thomas Elevated Park – made a pitch to city council at Monday’s (Jan. 20) reference committee meeting requesting tax relief.
While no decision was made at the meeting, there was no shortage of questions and comments from members of council combined with a healthy dose of skepticism from several quarters.
In an email to City Scope on Tuesday, Janes outlined three objectives behind the deputation to council.
Topping the list was the need to, “Stress how important the Railworks’ assets (ECRM, CASO Station and Elevated Park) are to “The Railway City” brand, and the economic activity generated by our organizations.”

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11.23.19
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St. Thomas Transit strategic plan: ‘Any change is better than what we have now’

city_scope_logo-cmykThe city’s much-maligned transit system may very well become a greatly relied upon people mover if council endorses the recommendations of the soon-to-be-released Strategic Transit Plan.
The proposed changes would involve route and schedule adjustments, the introduction of demand-responsive transit (DRT), the possibility of larger buses and electric bus technology and a pilot project to explore regional bus service.
At Monday’s (Nov. 18) reference committee meeting, Brian Putre of Stantec Consulting and city engineer Justin Lawrence presented an overview of recommendations to members of city council.
The plan, which is 95 per cent complete, drew favourable comments from all of council, including the stark observation from Coun. Joan Rymal that “any change is better than what we have now.”

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11.24.18
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St. Thomas Elevated Park . . . ‘There’s something happening up there’

city_scope_logo-cmykAs Canada’s first elevated park, it is already an ambitious undertaking. However, at a ceremony held Thursday (Nov. 22) at the CASO station, a bold new step forward in the design of the St. Thomas Elevated Park was unveiled. An enhanced vision that could see the entire length of the Michigan Central Railway bridge open to the public next summer.
This week’s event formalized a $100,000 investment by Doug Tarry Homes Ltd., along with a commitment to reach out to the region’s business community with a Doug Tarry Challenge, a fundraising campaign by the St. Thomas homebuilder.
The Doug Tarry Homes End-To-End Challenge has a goal of raising $500,000, which is enough to construct and install the remaining railings and decks required to span the entire bridge, end to end.
“The generous donation by Doug Tarry Homes gave us a unique opportunity to rethink our original plans and set a more ambitious timetable for opening,” says Matt Janes, vice-president of the On Track St. Thomas board of directors and a co-chair of the Doug Tarry Challenge.

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10.13.18
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Is it correct to say St. Thomas mayoral race now features just three contenders?

city_scope_logo-cmykThe St. Thomas mayoral contest was a four-way race, however at the all-candidates meeting Thursday (Oct. 11) you couldn’t help but feel one of the hopefuls had all but conceded.
In front of a gathering numbering about 100 at the Knights of Columbus hall, Malichi Male used his allotted five minutes to talk not about himself but, instead, praised his three opponents.
“The rest of the candidates are amazing,” he observed.
“Heather (Jackson) has stood strong,” he added.
Turning his attention to Joe Preston, Male noted “Joe creates something out of nothing. Joe cares.” Continue reading →