New BRT route possible from downtown to north London [Video]

More than five years after city council refused to fund a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) route between Downtown London, Western University, and Masonville Place mall, a new concept is being discussed openly at city hall.

On Tuesday, Mayor Josh Morgan and Deputy Mayor Shawn Lewis proposed a motion that would slam the door shut on a BRT route up Richmond Street (north of Oxford Street) by downgrading the Official Plan’s classification of the area from Rapid Transit Corridor to a Civic Boulevard.

At the same time, the mayor suggested a BRT route (and the associated high density residential developments) might be better suited along Wharncliffe Road and Western Road.

“We need to pull back on the Rapid Transit Corridor on Richmond Street north of [Oxford Street] and convert it back to a Civic Boulevard classification until we determine how transit will move from the central to the north part of …