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.”
Tag Archives: regional transit
Southwestern Public Health raises a red flag over the province’s move to expand alcohol sales, a step it calls ‘an all-encompassing community health concern’
Southwestern Public Health is airing its concerns as the province moves to expand alcohol sales.
The health unit wants to ensure “the province takes a stronger commitment to the health and well-being” of Ontario residents.
In a conversation this week with SWPH board chair Bernia Martin, she explained, “We originally received a report from staff on alcohol-related harms on our community back in October (of last year).
“And at that time, the board took the recommendations and one of those recommendations was to reply to the province outlining our concerns.”
Other recommendations included a request for the provincial and federal governments to beef up advertising regulations, increase taxes and improve access to treatment.
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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
The 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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Amazon opening this fall is another employment safeguard in ‘recession-proofing’ St. Thomas and beyond
While the economic news this spring and summer has been dominated by site preparation work for the Volkswagen/PowerCo EV battery plant in St. Thomas, YXU-1 is back in the news.
You would be correct in pointing out when was YXU-1 ever in the news.
Perhaps you know it better as the Amazon fulfillment centre located on the site of the former Ford Canada St. Thomas Assembly Plant, which closed in 2011 after 44 years of production.
YXU by the way is the three-letter identifying code for London International Airport, even though the plant is situated in Southwold Township.
The facility was expected to begin operations early this year and then it was suggested a 2024 opening may be more in line.
Well, this week Amazon Canada announced the centre north of Talbotville will open on Oct. 1.
Hiring for the two-million-square-foot facility will begin in September.
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Mayor Joe Preston is starting to feel ‘very comfortable’ about the prospect of a regional transit pilot project for St. Thomas
The Rural Ontario Municipal Association (ROMA) conference wrapped up Tuesday in Toronto. The city sent a delegation to the event with Mayor Joe Preston, Coun. Gary Clarke and city manager Sandra Datars Bere in attendance.
The city’s delegation had confirmed meetings with the Ministry of Transportation and the Ministry of the Attorney General.
We’ll deal with the former off the top as it was to address regional transit and accessible transit options, priorities for the city with the opening of the Amazon facility and the Maple Leaf Foods processing plant this year.
In a conversation with Preston following the conference, he indicated he felt “very comfortable” with the time spent with Associate Minister of Transportation Stan Cho.
Sitting in on the discussion was Elgin-Middlesex-London MPP Rob Flack.
Preston zeroed in on the city’s pilot project which would see some form of transit between St. Thomas and the regional hub in the south end of London at White Oaks Mall.
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Estimated meter readings are water torture for some St. Thomas customers
How’s that water bill of yours? Are you going to have to dip into your savings or line of credit to pay the latest bill?
Some city residents have received much higher bills than normal and we contacted Jim Hogan, president and CEO of Entegrus. The city of St. Thomas contracts out meter reading to the utility who, we find out, subcontracts it to a third party.
According to Hogan, the bills have been estimated readings only for several months and those estimates do not necessarily jive with actual usage.
“It’s kind of a catch-up and a balancing between some of the estimates may be a little high and some were a little low and we’re working hard to get out there to do the actual reads, to verify the actual reads.”
The money collected is then paid to the city on a contractual basis.
According to the formal agreement between the city and Ascent/St. Thomas Energy signed in April 2014, St. Thomas Energy “will pay to the municipality the water and wastewater charges billed to the customers by the end of the month following the date of invoicing.”
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C.J. Allen delegation to St. Thomas council Monday to focus on “bureaucratic and redundant red tape and restrictive bylaws”
The agenda for Monday’s (Jan. 16) council meeting reveals what should prove to be a no-punches-pulled deputation from C.J. Allen.
He is the chair of the Good Vibes Community Association (GVCA)board of governors.
If you are not familiar with the GVCA, it was the producer of last year’s inaugural Summer Harvest Festival held in Pinafore Park.
A well-attended event that is to become an annual attraction in the park.
Allen has outlined four areas of discussion and with deputations limited to 10 minutes, he’s going to have to move quickly through his presentation.
First up is GVCA’s experience and feedback concerning the city’s special event process and the interaction with city departments, specifically in relation to last year’s festival.
Next up is a look at the city’s strategic plan and specifically Commitment 1 under the Vibrant Community banner.
This area of the plan has a mandate to “Enhance opportunities for connection and development to promote growth for people and businesses in the city.”
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Leaving ‘bookmarks as to how we can move forward’ – St. Thomas Mayor Joe Preston
After a much-enjoyed two-week Christmas hiatus, City Scope returns eager to document what transpires in the new year and what got us to this point over the past 365 days.
When looking back at 2022 – the fourth and final year for the previous municipal council – St. Thomas Mayor Joe Preston lists housing as the top story. And Preston is quick to add growth in the city is not going to stop any time soon.
“We’re excited with what we’ve been able to accomplish on housing and have left bookmarks as to how we can move forward.
“Yes, it’s probably the Number 1 story across Ontario and we feel very comfortable with St. Thomas at all ranges, from the homeless side to the single-family homes side, have made incredible progress.”
Preston goes on to note the work undertaken in the past four years paves the way for what needs to be accomplished on the housing front by the recently elected council.
In reflecting on other accomplishments of city council in the past year, Preston turns to the acquisition of 800 acres of farmland east of Highbury Avenue.
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Poverty to possibility: ensuring affordable and supportive housing is on the radar of EML candidates in the June provincial vote
The first Elgin-Middlesex-London candidate forum for the June 2 provincial election was held this past Tuesday at the St. Thomas Public Library.
Hosted by the Elgin-St. Thomas Coalition to End Poverty, the two-hour session featured 10 questions from coalition members relating to poverty, homelessness, a living wage and mental health issues.
The three hopefuls present were PC candidate Rob Flack, Liberal candidate Heather Jackson and NDP candidate Andy Kroeker.
Moderated by the myFM news team featuring Kennedy Freeman and myself, the event kicked off what will be a hectic 28-day runup to the election itself.
Not present for the forum but who have now declared their candidacy are Matt Millar from the New Blue Party of Ontario, Brigitte Belton of the Ontario Party and Amanda Stark of the Green Party of Ontario.
Ian's City Scope 