The City of Timmins announced that it is purchasing a new Handy Transit bus in order to provide quality service to more of the city’s residents.
During recent council meetings, the City approved the $104,000 spend on a new bus to increase the number of fleet vehicles to six. Competing bids came in at lower rates; however, they were unable to offer important elements like after-sales service as well as warranty and safety features.
The new bus will require graphic design work to ensure it looks like the current fleet of vehicles.
Last winter, council discussed expanding the Handy Trans service to a wider area of the city. During the discussion, Mark Jensen, city community and development services director, cautioned that in order to provide a wider service, an additional vehicle would be necessary. For a variety of reasons, including cost, council decided not to expand the service at that time.
A few months later, the issue was brought up again by another councillor, Joe Campbell, who was convinced of the need for the expanded service. The expanded service areas include Moneta Road, Gold Mine Road, McDonald Hill and Buffalo Ankerite.
As part of its 10-year capital plan, the city will consider purchasing more busses between now and 2018 to begin replacing the current fleet.
