Sarnia council is being asked to refer the proposed relocation of the Murphy Road Transit Terminal to the 2022 budget Monday.
A staff report shares the results of 161 surveys that were completed on the SpeakUp Sarnia portal.
Mayor Mike Bradley said while many respondents oppose the proposed move to Clearwater Arena, the concerns surrounded access to grocery stores or longer trips.
"The big concerns from the survey seemed to be that people thought they would lose their access to the shopping facilities where the present facility is," said Bradley. "That's not the case. There will still be a stop there and I think once that's addressed people will understand that, in general, I would say, it's a positive move."
Bradley said the Clearwater terminal would be mainly used to transfer to different routes.
"There are safety concerns around the area where the terminal is now. So, the idea is to move it and build this hub by the Clearwater Arena. It would make it safer for people using the system, safer for the drivers, and it allows us to realign the system."
Over 69 per cent of survey respondents wanted to keep the terminal where it is and when asked where the terminal should be relocated if it wasn't moved to Clearwater, there was no clear majority supporting a specific alternate location.
Bradley said moving the terminal to land the city already owns helps cut costs.
"It was a priority in our transportation master plan, so I think council should move forward on this, and we have a substantial amount of funding from the Federal government to do so. Our contribution would be in the range of about $800,000."
Staff believe the Clearwater location would also be ideal for incorporating electric bus infrastructure in the future.
If approved, staff will include a capital budget request for 2022 to build the new terminal.
If rejected, staff would likely monitor sites in the London Road commercial area for the next year or two and revisit the topic later.