Complaints about 'severe' incidents and perceived lack of safety at the downtown bus terminal continue to mount.
Collingwood OPP have patrolled up to 300 times in a month at the Pine St. Transit Terminal.
During council’s committee of the whole meeting on Jan. 13, Coun. Chris Potts raised the issue of safety at the terminal. Potts is currently serving as the council representative on the Collingwood Downtown BIA board while Coun. Brandon Houston is on a leave of absence.
“This is a topic that should be of the top of importance for Collingwood,” he said. As part of his work with the BIA, he said he received correspondence in December from members of the downtown business community, noting there had been some altercations at the terminal that were “severe.”
He said one of the business owners was Fawcett Funeral Home, on the opposite corner from the terminal at the corner of Pine and Second Streets.
“There’s been some interruptions during funeral services that don’t sit well,” said Potts. “The bus terminal, in general right now, is a concern for safety.”
Opened in 2018, the 600-square-foot Pine St. Transit Terminal building cost about $480,000. It is a fully-accessible building with vandalism-resistant panels, industrial-grade facilities, and design characteristics to meet heritage district specifics. The building includes a two washrooms, a water bottle refilling station, and a climate-controlled waiting area.
Complaints about people using the Pine St. transit terminal for purposes other than waiting for a bus have been ongoing since the pandemic. In 2021, the town opted to hire private security firm, Chime Security, through a pilot project to help keep an eye on the area, and Collingwood OPP increased their patrols. The security patrols have continued since.
In September 2024, the town switched security service providers, and contracted Secure Shield Security Inc. for the work.
In 2024, the town estimates they paid $61,000 for security at the Pine St. terminal. They have one security officer on site for 12 hours a day, seven days a week.
But it appears it isn’t enough.
“Our residents aren’t feeling safe to use our transit system,” said Potts. “The design of the building currently is not working. It’s not safe for the public to use the washrooms. It’s being used as a gathering space.”
Potts floated a few ideas to help improve safety, which included one suggestion to convert the terminal into another use altogether, such as a tourist information centre, offices for transit staff or the OPP’s mental health response unit or a space for outreach for vulnerable citizens.
He alluded to reports he’s heard of people being accosted in the area when walking home from work at night.
“Something needs to be done sooner rather than later. We have to clean that area up,” he said.
Potts said he didn’t have a specific notice of motion to put forward on this issue at this time, but may bring something back in the future.
The matter was also on the agenda for the Jan. 16 OPP Detachment Board Meeting. While the transit terminal is not an official warming centre – with the Collingwood Public Library and the Central Park Arena serving as official warming centres in Collingwood this year – that doesn’t prevent people from using it as such.
“It’s not an official warming centre, but the truth of the situation is, it’s used as a warming centre,” said Collingwood OPP detachment commander Insp. Loris Licharson. “When it’s cold out, people need a place to go.”
Following the meeting, Licharson shared that disturbances the Collingwood OPP has seen at the terminal include having open alcohol, drug use, or physical assaults.
“Honestly, I think there’s a lot that goes unreported,” he said. “We respond whenever we get a call and we investigate accordingly.”
Licharson said issues at the terminal have been ongoing. He said that at one point, Collingwood OPP had a cruiser at the Pine and Second St. intersection 300 times in one month. OPP focused patrols have increased in that area in response.
“There’s no policing solution to some of these issues we see. In the end, we deal with a lot of symptoms of greater issues,” he said, noting that often when people are displaced, they just move down the street and the issue remains.
“Any solution or strategy has to be multi-agency, (involve) multiple levels of government and (be) multi-faceted,” said Licharson.
- With files from Erika Engel
