Bike Train

The City of North Bay is being singled out to be involved in many Pilot programs. The fact that we continue to be selected certainly says something about the quality of our work and our ability to get things done.

North Bay has been chosen as a pilot community for the expansion of the Bike Train initiative. This project will take place this coming summer on the August 7-10 weekend. We’ll see over 50 cyclists hop on the Northlander train in Toronto and head to North Bay. While they are here they’ll ride our cycling routes and tour the city’s attractions, as they stay over for 3 nights.

The Bike Train is a new sustainable transportation and tourism initiative introducing bike racks onboard select passenger rail trains to destinations across Ontario. It encourages low impact tourism and healthy lifestyles. This service combines two sustainable modes of transportation – bikes and trains – allowing passengers to reduce their carbon footprint, and have fun too!

They start off in Toronto where Bike Train staff will load their bikes onto a special rail car. The cyclists will be seated together along with Ontario Northland staff and North Bay community ambassadors, who will provide them with all the info they need about our trails and tourist attractions. Once in North Bay, the cyclists will be on their own for 3 days, and will all meet up again for the return train ride to Toronto. Sounds like fun!

Eco-Mobility

We are very proud of the environmental advances we have made within our Transit department. Everything from our No-Idling Policy, using environmentally-friendly cleaning products in the bus wash, modernization of the fleet, and our Smart-Driver Program, contribute to the success.

Now we are embarking on another energy-saving venture – the Eco-Mobility Program.
The purpose is to encourage high school students who drive to school, or are driven by a parent, to take the bus! This all started with the City’s Youth Action Team. They did surveys about mental well-being, athletics, arts, academics, culture, music, leisure, and community involvement. One result was us recognizing a problem with their perception of transit, which resulted in their relying on private transportation to get to school.

So we have developed a Transit Youth Outreach Program, which will have our transit folks heading to the high schools to arm the students with the information and tools to show them how our transit is the best way for them to get to school. We believe their travel patterns can be shifted to public transportation, which would enhance our ridership, relieve congestion on the roadways, and reduce harmful emissions.

The marketing package that will go to the students will be creative, informative, and very useful to the students. Plus we will provide them 5 complimentary trip tickets to try out the system. We know that once they try the bus, they’ll be convinced this is the best way to go!

Immigration

North Bay has been chosen as a pilot community for the CIRRO project, which stands for Community Immigrant Retention in Rural Ontario. We were chosen as we have become a true model in Ontario for the attraction and retention of immigrants.

The pilot project was recently launched by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs to create a list of best practices for small communities welcoming immigrants. North Bay, Brockville, and Chatham are the three communities involved in the project, which seeks to attract more immigrants to smaller Ontario communities. The 3 communities are at varying stages in their immigration strategies, with North Bay being well-ahead in the strategy and implementation process.

Our goals in North Bay include the development and implementation of a referral mechanism between urban settlement organizations and North Bay, with a focus on recruitment of immigrants with specific skill sets based on our market needs. We believe matching immigrant intake with available jobs is a sure way to keep them here.

Our administration made a conscious decision in 2004 to aggressively pursue immigration. As North Bay is already considered a ‘model’ to follow provincially, part of the program will develop materials highlighting the steps undertaken in North Bay to develop an immigration and retention program, for use in a tool kit to be shared with other communities.