Three important questions that need answers
1. How long will it take to get to the CR42 hospital location by bus, after waiting times are factored in?
The integration of a transit plan is a requirement of the hospital site selection process. Yet, this integration is not at all evident in the new transit plan – four years after selecting the CR42 site. Four new bus routes are dedicated to getting there in the new master plan:
- • Route 15: from the downtown Windsor International Transit Terminal via Devonshire Mall
- • Route 16: from the Hôtel-Dieu Grace Healthcare Tayfour Campus (HDGH) via E.C. Row Expressway
- • Route 160: from the East End Terminal at Tecumseh Mall
- • Route 200: a meandering route from HDGH via the University of Windsor and through LaSalle
The table below shows the time between buses in the new plan. There is no indication of the length of time these routes will take from start to finish.
Of the four hospital destination routes, no buses are scheduled more frequently than every 15 minutes.
- • Many bus transit users will need one or more transfers, adding time and complexity to their journey.
- • For trips originating at Tecumseh Mall in East Windsor via Route 160, bus frequency on weekdays is every 30 or 60 minutes. On weekends and holidays service is even less frequent: every 45 or 60 minutes.
How will this affect hospital workers and volunteers?
Many of Windsor Regional Hospital's 4,000+ healthcare workers and volunteers walk to work from neighbourhoods clustered around the existing hospital campuses.
The distance to the only direct bus route to CR42 from the neighbourhood around Met Campus is onerous, adding a lot of travel time.
For this reason, hospital employees and volunteers who live near Met Campus who don't wish to move to Sandwich South, will likely drive to work instead of choosing to take the bus.
A Costly Proposition: Flaws in Transit Windsor's New Master Plan Citizens for an Accountable Mega-hospital Planning Process