Borden’s new transit system is up and running with constant improvements on the horizon
In April 2023, CFB Borden’s Base Transport implemented a local shuttle system to enable military members and their families to travel across the Base and into the neighbouring town of Angus, Ont. The Borden Citizen took a ride with some of the Inter-Base Shuttle Service (IBSS) commissionaires to learn about the route and the friendly faces who drive it every week.
To introduce me to the shuttle route and explain what it takes to be a shuttle driver, former Military Police member (MP) and Risk Management Specialist, Commissionaire Frank Johnson took me out in a Chrysler Pacifica; one of two vehicle models used to transport passengers with the other being a Ford Transit.
“We hit the spots at the times we’re supposed to be there,” said Johnson. “The key is that we’re always within a few minutes.”
According to Johnson, the IBSS sees between 450 and 300 people per week, with usage on Base fluctuating as training courses only last a few weeks or months before students and members are posted elsewhere.
Driving an IBSS shuttle requires a DND 404 permit or a “military drivers’ licence” as Commissionaire and former CAF member Mike Reynolds described it.
“The [Chrysler] Pacificas are fun to drive and they’re great on fuel too…” Reynolds said. “I have some regulars, like today for example I have my basketball players. I’ve got five of them I pick up first thing in the morning and they play basketball down by the high school [Nottawasaga Pines Secondary School] … They’re a wild group and they’re funny.”
Reynolds and his family are from Barrie, Ont. and have a strong military history with his father being a MP and grandfather serving in WWII. During his own CAF career, he was posted to Calgary for two years, but was medically released after losing 40 per cent of his hearing after an active firing exercise.
He then pursued an education and recently graduated from Georgian College with a diploma in graphic design which he has utilized to create the IBSS’s map and red shuttle signage along with many of his own personal projects.
It’s important for riders to remember that IBSS Commissionaires use their own discretion to determine if all potential passengers are accounted for. Shuttles won’t wait for passengers to arrive at a designated stop, but riders are expected to be present at the listed times.
The IBSS also connects to a Simcoe County LINX bus line which traverses to Angus daily from Barrie, Ont. and back.
Commissionaire Ben Zantingh said that the busiest time of day during the week is between 1530 and 1700 hrs as members and civilians often head home after their school or work day.
Zantingh is an amateur boxer who has been an IBSS Commissionaire for the last nine months, hailing from New Lowell, Ont. and fighting out of Collingwood, Ont. He aims to become a pro boxer in 2024.
On 1 April, 2024, the IBSS is introducing a new schedule that has been adapted over the past year to better suit the needs of its riders. To look at the new schedule and hours of operation, click here.
By: Caleb Hooper
