Staff Report #12
October 27, 2025
To All Commissioners
Re: Draft 2026 Conventional Transit Service Plan
Recommendations
That the Commission:
i) APPROVE, in principle, the Draft 2026 Conventional Transit Service Plan;
ii) DIRECT administration to finalize and table the Final 2026 Service Plan report and recommendations at the Commission’s January 2026 meeting; and
iii) DIRECT administration to forward a copy of the draft service plan report to Members of Council for their information.
Background
At the June 26, 2024 meeting, the Commission approved the Five-Year Service Plan Framework document for service changes over the period of 2025-2029. The framework builds on the work that was completed through the 2020-2024 framework noting, not all proposed changes were implemented due to impacts from COVID-19 as well as changing ridership patterns.
Consistent with past practice, the 2026 draft service planning process takes direction from the recommendations in the 2025-2029 Service Plan Framework, but also includes assessments pertaining to:
- existing service performance issues and demands
- new growth areas
- customer contacts
- Operator, Inspector and Dispatcher feedback
London Transit receives Operator feedback through the established Scheduling and Planning Committee, made up of Operations staff and administration from Planning and Operations. The purpose of the committee is to identify and review issues associated with work assignments including relief points, schedules, service levels, routing etc. Feedback from the committee is assessed and any changes that are cost neutral in nature are implemented for the next signup period. Recommendations that require service hour and/or additional vehicles are reviewed through the annual service planning process and assessed in the same manner as requests from the public.
With the implementation of the 2025 service plan, London Transit has received numerous contacts with concerns regarding the changes made to Route 10, specifically related to the fact that the route was modified to no longer operate through Western University (implemented in conjunction with a new Route 127 providing additional frequency between Western campus and Oxford & Capulet).
The changes to Route 10 and the corresponding addition of Route 127 were recommended based on the system wide assessment that was undertaken as part of the Five-Year service plan review, as well as through a review of customer contacts and service requests. There has been a long-standing request from riders to have more of a grid structure to transit routes with single routes travelling the length of a corridor. In this case, the modifications to Route 10 allow for a single route to travel along the Wonderland corridor from Southdale to Fanshawe Park Road. While the modified route has only been in place since the beginning of September, ridership levels along the new section north of Sarnia on Route 10 have surpassed initial expectations over the first two months of implementation. Typically it is not expected for new service areas to see full ridership potential when a route is introduced (twelve to eighteen months following implementation). It is expected that there will be a continual increase in ridership on Wonderland between Sarnia and Fanshawe Park road over the coming months as travel patterns become more established. This change also provides consistent service to Masonville Place on Route 10, which was also a long-standing request from riders noting it previously only extended to the shopping area during limited time periods.
As with all service modifications, the changes are monitored over a twelve to eighteen month period to allow time for adjustment to the change and be able to get a true sense of the effectiveness of the modification. As this change has only been implemented for two months (and in a period when reduced frequencies are in place due to resource issues which may be exacerbating the issues being reported), the Planning Department will continue to monitor ridership, customer/Operator feedback and overall effectiveness of the route over the coming months before determining if further modifications are required.
As has been previously reported, the enrollment at Fanshawe College has declined significantly for the Fall 2025 semester, primarily as the result of the caps on international students. The Planning department has monitored ridership levels and patterns over the first month of fall service, and while there has been a noticeable decrease in ridership along routes travelling to Fanshawe College, they are still operating over capacity during certain periods. Ridership and travel patterns will continue to be monitored over the coming months to determine if modifications to frequency and/or routes serving Fanshawe need to be included as part of future service plans.
This report sets out the Draft 2026 Conventional Transit Service Plan process and resulting recommendations.
Draft 2026 Conventional Transit Service Plan Changes
2026 is the second year of the third Five-Year service Plan Framework (2025-2029). The draft 2026 Service Plan sets out the changes that are considered the highest priority, totalling approximately 24,000 hours on an annual basis and requiring four additional peak period buses. Given the 2026 budget, as approved by City Council as part of the multi-year budget process, includes the addition of 18,000 annualized hours, further assessment will be completed to prioritize changes consistent with budget allocations, which will be presented in the final recommended service plan.
Table I below sets out the summary of the draft 2026 Service Plan proposals, including a brief rationale and the source of the proposed change for each.
Table I – Draft 2026 Conventional Transit Service Plan
| Route | Description of Service Change | Annual Service Hours | Peak Buses | Rationale | Service Area Impacted | Recommendation Source |
| 4 | Weekday- frequency improvements during the Early AM period from 80 minutes to 60 minutes in the branches | 504 | Improve frequency | Weekday Early AM | 2025-2029 Service Plan- Proposed for implementation in 2026 | |
| 6 | Weekday- extend service to 1AM from midnight | 504 | Service Span | Weekday Late Evening | 2025-2029 Service Plan- Proposed for implementation in 2027 | |
| Weekday- increase frequency between 9PM and 12AM from 35 minutes to 25 minutes | 756 | |||||
| Saturday- extend service until 1AM from midnight | 104 | Service Span | Saturday Late Evening | 2025-2029 Service Plan- Proposed for implementation in 2027 | ||
| Sunday- start service 2 hours earlier at 7AM | 248 | Service Span | Sunday Early AM | 2025-2029 Service Plan- Proposed for implementation in 2027 | ||
| 24 | Sunday- extend service by 3 hours to 9PM | 372 | Service Span | Sunday Evening | Public Feedback | |
| 31 | Weekday- frequency improvements during the weekday Early AM from 48 minutes to 30 minutes | 378 | Bring route inline with frequency standards | Weekday Early AM | 2025-2029 Service Plan- Proposed for implementation in 2026 | |
| Weekday- increase weekday peak period frequency to 20 minutes from 30 minutes | 1,764 | 1 | Crowding | Weekday Peak Periods | Public Feedback | |
| Weekday- extend service until 1AM from 11PM | 1,008 | Service Span | Weekday Late Evening | 2025-2029 Service Plan- Proposed for implementation in 2026 | ||
| Saturday- start service 1 hours earlier at 7AM | 104 | Service Span | Saturday Early AM | 2025-2029 Service Plan- Proposed for implementation in 2026 | ||
| Saturday- extend service until 1AM from 11PM | 208 | Service Span | Saturday Late Evening | 2025-2029 Service Plan- Proposed for implementation in 2026 | ||
| Sunday- start service 1.5 hours earlier at 7AM | 248 | Service Span | Sunday Early AM | 2025-2029 Service Plan- Proposed for implementation in 2026 | ||
| 33 | Weekday- start service 1 hour earlier at 6AM | 564 | Service Span | Weekday Early AM | 2025-2029 Service Plan- Proposed for implementation in 2026 | |
| Weekday- extend service until 1AM from 10:30PM | 1,020 | Service Span | Weekday Late Evening | 2025-2029 Service Plan- Proposed for implementation in 2026 | ||
| 36 | Weekday- extend service between 7:30 and 10:30PM | 1,512 | Service Span | Weekday early evening | Public Feedback | |
| 90 | Weekday- add an additional bus between 7AM and 7PM to improve reliability | 2,772 | 1 | Reliability | Weekday Early AM to Early Evening | Scheduling and Planning Committee |
| 91 | Extend service to from Fanshawe College to Argyle Mall | 6,080 | 1 | Expansion of the Express Route network | All service periods | 2025-2029 Service Plan- Proposed for implementation in 2026 |
| 93 | Weekday- increase AM Peak frequency to 20 minutes from 30 minutes | 1,512 | Crowding | Weekday AM Peak | Public Feedback | |
| Weekday- increase PM peak frequency to 20 minutes from 30 minutes | 1,008 | 1 | Crowding | Weekday PM Peak | Public Feedback | |
| Weekday- increase Late Evening frequency to 25 minutes from 40 minutes | 756 | Crowding | Weekday Late Evening | Public Feedback | ||
| 102 | Weekday- start service 2.5 hours earlier at 6AM | 780 | Service Span | Weekday Early AM | 2025-2029 Service Plan- Proposed for implementation in 2026 | |
| Saturday- start service 4 hours earlier at 6AM | 170 | Service Span | Saturday Early AM | 2025-2029 Service Plan- Proposed for implementation in 2026 | ||
| Saturday- Increase frequency from 40 minutes to 20 minutes between 10 AM and 6PM | 374 | Frequency Improvements | Saturday Peak and Early Evening | 2025-2029 Service Plan- Proposed for implementation in 2026 | ||
| Sunday- Start service 4 hours earlier at 7AM | 136 | Service Span | Sunday Early AM | 2025-2029 Service Plan- Proposed for implementation in 2026 | ||
| Sunday- increase frequency from 40 minutes to 20 minutes between 9AM and 6PM | 306 | Frequency Improvements | Sunday AM and Peak | 2025-2029 Service Plan- Proposed for implementation in 2026 | ||
| 106 | Weekday- start service 1 hours earlier at 6AM | 156 | Service Span | Weekday Early AM | 2025-2029 Service Plan- Proposed for implementation in 2026 | |
| Saturday- start service 4 hours earlier at 6 AM | 170 | Service Span | Saturday Early AM | 2025-2029 Service Plan- Proposed for implementation in 2026 | ||
| Saturday- increase frequency from 40 minutes to 20 minutes between 10Am and 9PM | 374 | Frequency Improvements | Saturday Peak and Early Evening | 2025-2029 Service Plan- Proposed for implementation in 2026 | ||
| Sunday- start service 4 hours earlier at 7AM | 136 | Service Span | Sunday Early AM | 2025-2029 Service Plan- Proposed for implementation in 2026 | ||
| Sunday- increase frequency from 40 minutes to 20 minutes between 9AM and 6PM | 306 | Frequency Improvements | Sunday Base and Peak | 2025-2029 Service Plan- Proposed for implementation in 2026 | ||
| Total | 24,330 | 4 | ||||
A more detailed discussion of each of the proposed changes is provided in Enclosure I. The discussion includes high level consideration of budget implications and provides what is considered to be the most effective and efficient means to resolve each issue.
Outstanding Service Requests
In addition to the proposed changes noted above, London Transit still has over 300,000 hours of outstanding service requests outside of the allocated annual budget (see Enclosure II). Every year, additional requests are received and have to be assessed and prioritized for implementation based on approved budget, proposals included in the 2025-2029 Five Year Service Plan Framework as well as previously requested changes to determine which changes should be prioritized for a given year. Set out below are two areas that have received a number of requests for additional service; however, given other competing demands for service have not been prioritized as part of the 2026 Draft Service Plan.
Service to King’s University College
King’s University College student council reached out to London Transit to request the addition of bus service closer to campus along Waterloo and Epworth Ave. Currently the closest stops to King’s are Huron at Waterloo and University Drive at Richmond which are approximately 552 meters and 572 meters respectively. While this distance is outside of LTC’s travel distance guidelines of 400 metres to a transit stop, there are some operational limitations with providing service to King’s.
As there are no traffic signals at the Richmond and Epworth intersection, King’s University College would only be able to be served in the eastbound direction. Due to the volume of traffic on Richmond and the tight corner to turn off Epworth it is not operationally feasible to make an uncontrolled left turn from Epworth to Richmond when travelling in the westbound direction. As there are already traffic signals at the Richmond and University Drive intersection, it would be too close in proximity to add another set of lights at Epworth. Providing service in a single direction is not ideal as passengers either only have access to transit in one direction or are forced to ride around the route, significantly increasing travel times.
Consideration was also given to looping the route around the Epworth and Huron area to then travel back into Main campus. While this option is more operationally feasible as far as removing the concerns with an uncontrolled left turn, it is not an efficient transit route design as the route doubles back on itself.
Through the evaluation of the operational concerns, paired with the other requests for service, it was determined that adding service to King’s University College would not be prioritized as part of the 2026 Service Plan Review. Based on the current schedule on Route 27, an additional bus would need to be added to extend the service to King’s College without impacting the reliability of the service. This comes at a cost of 5,787 annualized service hours to provide service to King’s in the eastbound direction only, during all the current operating periods on Route 27. Further assessments will be completed as part of future service plan review processes.
Public Engagement
Following the presentation of the Draft 2026 Conventional Transit Service Plan to the Commission, a public engagement period is held for approximately two months to allow passengers and residents potentially impacted by the changes to provide feedback and comment on the proposals, noting that many of the proposed changes in the 2026 Service Plan have recently been shared through the development of the 2025-2029 Five-Year Service Plan.
The engagement period consists of in-person public information sessions traditionally targeted at neighbourhoods where new service implementation is proposed. Given that the proposed changes for 2026 are more city-wide in nature, a central location has been selected for the in-person drop-in sessions. There are also proposed changes that impact routes serving Western and Fanshawe and as such additional sessions will be scheduled at each school.
| Central Public Library
This session will also serve as the Commission’s Annual Drop-In |
Thursday November 6, 2025
2:00 – 4:00 pm and 6:00 -8:00 pm |
| Western University | Date/Time to be Determined |
| Fanshawe College | Date/Time to be Determined |
In addition to the public information sessions, an online survey will be available beginning in November to collect feedback on all of the proposed service changes. Comments and feedback can also be made by emailing or phoning the customer service line or arranging for a phone meeting with a member of the Planning Department.
Next Steps
London Transit will be promoting the draft service plan, public information drop-ins and online survey through the corporate website, social media, onboard posters and stop level notices in affected areas.
Over the coming months, staff will further assess the identified priorities and refine the recommended service changes to be included in the final 2026 Service Plan.
As referenced, the final recommendations respecting the 2026 Conventional Service Plan will be presented to the Commission for approval at the January 2026 meeting, and will be consistent with the allocated 18,000 annualized service hours available.
Consistent with the recommendations, this report will be shared with all Members of Council.
Enclosures
I – Draft 2026 Conventional Transit Service Plan Changes
II – Conventional Transit Service – Outstanding Improvements
Recommended by:
Katie Burns, Director of Planning
Concurred in by:
Kelly S. Paleczny, General Manager