The updgrated CollTrans Bus Service has turned into an overnight success story. Collus Executive Director Ed Houghton told Collingwood Council on Monday, November 26th, that the service this year boasts 20,000 riders to date. Houghton told council that ridership is up 28 percent from the same time last year.

The new, fully accessible buses, arrived in Collingwood on July 20th, and the upgraded CollTrans buses hit the town streets just in time for the July 2007 Collingwood Elvis Festival. "New routes began on August 13th, and since that time we have had in excess of 20,000 riders which is a significant amount" Houghton told council. "What we're really pleased about is that our buses are all fitted with bike racks" Houghton reminded Council. "They are fueled by bio-deisel, currently B5, which is five percent bio-deisel" Houghton said, adding that the plan is to move this number up into the B20 range which is compatible with the town's alternative fuels initiative.

In 2003 when the user rate to ride a CollTrans bus was reduced, ridership increased by 48%. "We've had a steady increase to 140% basically to this point in 2007" Houghton said. "If you can look at the number of riders, it's going up significantly all the time" Houghton added, saying that the goal is to see another 15% ridership increase over the next year.

While the expanded CollTrans service has enjoyed early success, there is still work to be done to continue to grow ridership numbers. Collingwood Economic Development Officer Catherine Durrant is working with Ed Houghton and Town Staff to create a Marketing and Communications Strategy to expand public awareness of the Colltrans Service. "Our mandate is to heighten awareness of the Colltrans Service with the goal of increasing ridership across all demographic groups. We need to make sure that everyone is aware that we have a bus service" Durrant said, adding that they need to make the schedules and route maps available at a variety of locations including retailers, schools, the hospital and medical centres, community centres and nursing homes just to name a few. Durrant said new housing developments need to communicate to new residents that there is a bus service in Collingwood. "We need to expand into our accommodation sector with a need to talk regionally" Durrant added.

Forty-eight bus pads are now in place throughout Collingwood, representing 90 percent of the total number of pads to be created. The existing pads were poured the week of October 1, 2007. In addition, two new bus shelters have been installed on Second Street and on Pine Street. Houghton told council that the bus shelters have been constructed in a Victorian style in keeping with the Town's Downtown Heritage District designation as an Historic Place.