COVID-19 pandemic means no free London Transit rides this New Year’s Eve

The London Transit Commission says a long-standing tradition will pause this New Year’s Eve, as the transit service will not be offering free rides on Dec. 31.

The LTC says it has been providing complimentary rides to Londoners on the last day of the year for 35 years in a row, “but this is yet another tradition that will not be going ahead as usual as a result of COVID-19.”

In fact, the LTC said it wants to encourage every to safely celebrate the end of 2020 by avoiding gatherings.

Regular LTC service will run on Dec. 31 for those who need to take public transit for essential reasons, the LTC said. The service will run on a holiday schedule and further information can be found online.

It’s the latest in a series of local holiday mainstays that have been scrapped or altered due to the pandemic.

The annual New Year’s Eve celebration in Victoria Park has been cancelled.

The annual lighting of the lights was also a quiet affair this year. While trees in Victoria Park have been illuminated, the flipping of the switch event was fairly small and intimate this year instead of the usual concert and large gathering.

While public skating rinks have opened, gathering limits have been imposed.

Currently, the Middlesex-London region is in the red tier of the province’s COVID-19 response framework. However, a provincewide shutdown comes into effect on Boxing Day.