The “Pickering Problem” — at least as far as local transit passengers are concerned — is a confusing network of too many routes each operating at various time of the week. The problem intensifies when passengers have to face buses that go in different directions along certain residential streets, depending on what time of of the day or what day of the week it is.

The problem doesn’t lie with GO Transit services, or the three Durham Region Transit regional routes serving Pickering, which provide service both ways along their routes seven days a week. Commuters don’t even have problems with Pickering’s four community bus routes.

The real source of confusion is DRT’s local service. Currently, buses serve 18 local routes in Pickering Mondays to Saturdays before 7 p.m. After 7 p.m. and all day Sundays and holidays, DRT combines those 18 routes into just four, but those routes have their own unique numbers and route names.

Starting Tuesday, September 4, DRT will make major changes to its routes in Pickering, reducing the number of local routes to just nine, establish consistent routing, increase evening and Saturday service and add about 16,000 more service hours.

It’s holding a public meeting to explain the changes to Pickering passengers.

The meeting takes place:

Wednesday, August 22,
From noon until 7:00 p.m.,
Pickering Town Center
North Entrance, Upper Level,
Kingston Road (Regional Highway 2) at Liverpool Road.

Pickering transit riders have not seen major change to local routes and services for many years. The current route structure originates from when Pickering operated its own transit system and has survived two amalgamations, merging first into the Ajax Pickering Transit Authority in 2001 and then into DRT in 2006.