On an ordinary Sunday, the first ripple of change can slip beneath the surface of a city almost unnoticed—unless you happen to be waiting at an empty bus stop, phone in hand, wondering if your neighbourhood finally made the map. This June, Barrie residents in the city’s south won’t have to wonder much longer.
Barrie Transit’s expansion of its Transit ON Demand (ToD) service marks more than just a technical tweak; it rewrites how entire communities connect to the pulse of the city. For those in Wards 7, 9, and 10—where the city’s growth has often outpaced its bus routes—the announcement signals a deliberate effort to correct the imbalance. These are places where new streets have emerged faster than transit schedules could adapt, and where waiting for a bus sometimes felt more like wishful thinking than public service.
As of June 8, the city introduces three new ToD zones in the southeast and southwest: Zone E for Lally Terrace and Terry Fox Drive, Zone F for Madelaine Drive and Lockhart/Saunders, and Zone H for Mabern, Sundew, and King. Each name, a shorthand for the families and workers who rely on transit not as a luxury, but as a lifeline—be it for a Monday morning shift or a midweek trip for groceries.
ToD stands apart from traditional bus service by refusing to be bound to the tyranny of the timetable. Riders book trips through an app, online, or by phone, choosing their start and end points within each zone. No more chasing fixed schedules or trekking long distances to a static route. The city’s approach is, at its heart, an answer to the persistent call for access—especially from those whose voices are too often lost in the shuffle of urban growth.
In a city where the lines on the map have real consequences for daily life, these changes are more than bureaucratic reshuffling. They represent a promise: that Barrie’s newest neighbourhoods will not be left behind, that the city is listening, and that public transit can be both flexible and fair. The benefits will be measured in minutes saved, in opportunities gained, and in the quiet reassurance that the bus will come.
References:
Barrie Transit launches new Transit ON Demand zones in south Barrie
