Opposition is being voiced to a proposal in Windsor's 2025 budget to eliminate a Transit Windsor service known as "school extras" that helps bus students to school.
The Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board and the Greater Essex County District School Board have issued a joint letter to council arguing the importance the buses provide in getting students to school.
The extra buses provide service to students at Vincent Massey and Riverside Secondary Schools and Holy Names and St. Joseph's Catholic High Schools.
The extras were designed to take pressure off regular routes during the school year, but the budget report calls it a "concierge-level of service for a small number of secondary school students."
The budget proposes eliminating the service and using the nine buses used for the school extras to provide necessary service improvements and expansion along other routes, including the Dougall 6, South Windsor 7, Walkersville 8, Parent 14, and Route 115.
The letter from the school boards raises concerns that eliminating the service would create additional vehicular traffic in areas already severely congested at schools such as Holy Names and Massey, and that without reliable transit, many students will face barriers that impact their attendance, performance, and overall opportunities.
Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens says they probably don't want to pick up some of the cost that's rightfully theirs.
"They've been getting a free ride, literally, paid for by the city taxpayers to provide this superior service that takes students right to the door, but only at certain high schools," he says.
Dilkens says The proposal in front of city council has a much broader look at how to deliver enhanced service, so it's actually a net investment in Transit Windsor to provide enhanced service.
"It would still allow folks to get to school, but they wouldn't have that special service only provided to certain high schools. It's not an equitable service to every high school," he says.
The school boards estimate around 650 students rely on the buses every school day.
Windsor's 2025 budget proposal calls for $1.4 million to be cut from Transit Windsor, which could also include the elimination of the tunnel bus between Windsor and Detroit.
What exactly will be cut has not been made public, as the proposed budget details it as an "in-camera item" to be discussed behind closed doors.
The proposed budget does include a 3.2 per cent fare hike, set to take effect on April 1, 2025.
There is also the potential for a 50 per cent increase in fares for the tunnel bus and special event services, raising the cost to $15 each way.
Council will discuss the proposed budget during a special meeting on Jan. 27.