Thunder Bay to get Ontario Northland bus service

The Ontario Northland Transportation Commission (ONTC) will start providing bus service to Thunder Bay in the spring of 2020,Greg Rickford, the provincial minister of energy, northern development and mines, announced Wednesday inthe city.

The new route will connect Thunder Bay to eastern Ontario, including stops in Sudbury, Sault Ste Marie, Wawa and White River.

Affordable transportation forpeople in northern Ontariois a priority for the provincial government, said Rickford.

"I called on ONTC a little over a year and a half ago to start taking a look at the prospect for expansion in northwestern Ontario," he said. "I firmly believe that this is a tax payer funded bus service that if it is going to be called Ontario Northland, it should serve Ontario North."

The new, six days-a-week schedule for service to Thunder Bay will begin in April 2020, and willinclude stops in the city such as Lakehead University and the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre.

The buses will provide some modern services for users, said Corina Moore, ONTCpresident and chief executive officer.

"We are providing essential connections for passengers, helping to better connect the north with the rest of the province," she stated in a written release Wednesday. "Our friendly drivers, free WiFi, on-board washrooms and new coaches are just a few reasons passengers will be amazed at their experience on an Ontario Northland Motor Coach."

In 2018, Ontario Northland extended service to Espanola, Sault Ste. Marie,Wawa and White River.

Greyhound bus lines discontinued bus service west of Sudbury in October of 2018.