Belleville, Ontario

opportunity to be able to play sports. In addition, right next door to it, we have a fully accessible playground to allow children who may not be participating in the games to be able to play with their whole family. It’s a big service for our residents, but it will also bring in tournaments and other groups from all over Ontario.” In addition to services offered by Belleville Transit, there is also a regularly scheduled commercial transit system that runs between Oshawa and Kingston, a service that is very popular especially with students attending Loyalist College. Although this year has been different in terms of ridership, the city continues to invest in transit. With the aid of both Federal and Provincial funding, Belleville has purchased five new buses to expand their services. Along with new vehicles, the city is working to improve their transit system in other ways. “We have been very innovative,” reports Mayor Panciuk, “with an app that allows residents to hail buses on demand. We have a very good system that active transportation links, so we’re developing our overall network to include the whole city, both sides of the 401.” Plans are also underway to expand The Kiwanis Bayshore Trail, a 2.75-kilometer paved pedestrian and biking path bordering the beautiful Bay of Quinte. Another recently completed pathway project connects Loyalist College to other parts of the community on a newly paved, well-lit trail, through a city- owned right of way. The City of Belleville also provided the college with $100,000 to build a bridge which will allow walking and biking to the east side of the campus. Unique to Eastern Ontario, The Field of Ability, a project organized through the Challenger Baseball Program offers an accessible park and playground. The area consists of a barrier-free baseball field with rubberized turf, allowing an inclusive space for children and adults of varying abilities to participate in sports. “It’s the only type of its kind between Ottawa and Toronto,” says Panciuk. “It will give all our kids an