Simcoe County LINX

LINX is Simcoe County's inter-community regional transit service which began operations in 2018. It serves a number of communities throughout the county, as well as the cities of Barrie and Orillia. It connects to a number of lower-order local bus services, namely Barrie Transit, Orillia Transit, Midland Penetanguishene Transit, Colltrans (Collingwood), and Wasaga Beach Transit. From its position in Central Ontario, it also connects to higher-order inter-regional transit services that operate within Ontario, including Southern Ontario's GO Transit (the Barrie line and GO bus Route 68) and Northern Ontario's Ontario Northland Sudbury-to-Toronto motor coach route through Barrie and Orillia. It does not have a direct connection to Via Rail, Canada's national passenger railway, whose nearest service is at Washago station in the far north end of the county, which is a stop on the Canadian, Via Rail's transcontinental passenger service.

A paratransit service, called LINX+, is also available. While regular LINX buses are already accessible, LINX+ paratransit vehicles are designed to accommodate a larger variety of mobility devices or wheelchairs, and the service follows a more flexible, door-to-door model which is typical for paratransit services.[5]

In 2017, the Simcoe County Council approved a 5-year, $5 million plan to create a regional transit service, which would connect existing, but fragmented, local transit services in the county, as well as communities with no existing transit service. The five proposed routes were scheduled to begin service in staggered fashion, with roughly one new route being added per year.[6]

Detailed plans for the service occurred around the time of a 2018 conference held by the county to help decide on factors like whether or not to use a zone-based fare system, which routes to prioritize, and whether or not to implement Wi-Fi services on the buses. By this time, there were 5 proposed routes, which correspond roughly to the currently existing and planned routes, with the exception that Routes 2 and 4 were at the time planned to be a single Route 2, which would stretch from Collingwood to Barrie. The plan was based primarily around connecting pre-existing hub areas: Collingwood-Wasaga Beach, Penetanguishene-Midland, Barrie-Midhurst, and Orillia. This would allow riders to transfer to another LINX route at a hub, or to local or intercity transit.[3]

During its first year of service, ridership on Route 1 averaged 700–800 passengers per five-day service week.[7]

In August 2019, Routes 2 and 3 were introduced, while the already-existing Route 4 was brought under the LINX banner. This was a slightly accelerated service rollout compared to what was projected in 2017 and 2018.[3] These routes were remarked on as useful for commuters and intercity travellers entering or exiting the region, with new destinations such Napoleon Home Comfort (which employs over 700 people)[8] and the Allandale Waterfront GO Station, Barrie's primary intercity transit station which serves as the northern terminus for the GO Barrie line, as well as a stop for the Route 68 GO bus. The Orillia–Barrie route has a number of connection points for Orillia Transit, Barrie Transit, GO Transit, and Ontario Northland motor coach service. To encourage ridership on the new routes, free service was introduced on them from August 6 to September 2.[9]

LINX uses a zone-based fare system, resulting in cash fares of $2, $4, or $6 depending on the number of zones travelled through.[8] Riders who use the reloadable LINX Card have an automatic 10% discount applied to their fare for adults, or 15% for students and seniors (65+). Children 5 and younger are allowed to ride for free.[10]

As of November 2020, LINX operates along the following routes:[2]

• Route 1 – Penetanguishene / Midland to Barrie - Royal Victoria Hospital (RVH)
• Route 2 – Wasaga Beach to Barrie
• Route 3 – Orillia to Barrie
• Route 4 – Collingwood to Wasaga Beach
• Route 5 – Alliston to Bradford West Gwillimbury

An additional route is planned:

• Route 6 – Midland to Orillia

The LINX fleet is composed of diesel buses from a variety of manufacturers, almost all of which were purchased through the Metrolinx Transit Procurement Initiative, through which Metrolinx, Ontario's provincial public transportation agency for the Golden Horseshoe region, coordinates procurement of transit vehicles for smaller rural and suburban transit agencies to reduce their procurement costs.[11] The LINX fleet procurement strategy was based around a need for smaller vehicles to reflect its lower-population areas of operation, as well as the higher need for paratransit vehicles.

The fleet planned for the LINX soft service launch in August 2018 was four Grande West Vicinity midibuses, a Canadian-designed version of the fuel-efficient, mid-sized bus type often used for rural and suburban routes in Europe. The Vicinity's capacity is 25 passengers, and it can accommodate a maximum of two wheelchairs. Two Dodge Ram ProMaster cargo vans, adapted for paratransit service and rebranded as the Creative Carriage CS-2 (Community Shuttle 2), were also purchased for the start of full revenue service in September 2018. These adapted ProMasters are able to carry 7 passengers, including 3 wheelchairs. In total, 14 conventional buses and 8 specialized buses were planned to be purchased in 2018 over the 4 years to follow.[3]

In its second procurement stage in 2019, LINX received several Alexander Dennis Enviro200 midibuses, a model common in the United Kingdom. It also received additional ProMaster/CS-2 specialized paratransit units.