Meaford ends transit pilot

Meaford will end the conventional transit system under its Meaford Transit pilot program, but will continue to offer its specialized transit system.
Council passed a resolution Monday to end the conventional transit system as of June 30, but continue to operate the specialized system four days a week.
Mayor Barb Clumpus said the decision to discontinue the system was a difficult one, but it just wasn't sustainable with the average ridership working out to about one person per hour.
"It is disappointing because we are not able to get folks to where we wanted to," Clumpus said Friday. "But the accessibility transit system is still in place and is still very much viable, and that program will carry on."
Meaford introduced the public transit pilot back in October 2016 for one year, offering riders the ability to travel throughout the town to destinations such as the medical clinic, grocery store and six other stops at a cost of $4 for a one-way trip. At that time the conventional system ran in tandem with the specialized system.
Clumpus said the original pilot came about after the closing of the Foodland grocery store in the town's core. People needed to get to the Valu-mart plaza on the town's outskirts to do their shopping.
"That sparked the idea that maybe we could create an in-town transit system that would at least allow folks who lived in the downtown area to get to the only remaining grocery store we had," Clumpus said.
In March 2017, council approved cutting the one-way fare to $2 and changed up the route structure in response to public feedback.
Council then approved the extension of the conventional transit pilot through to the end of 2018, with the specialized transit system operating separately through a partnership with Home and Community Support Services.
In May 2018, council agreed to extend the conventional system, which currently includes 14 stops, to the end of June 2019.
But while ridership on the system has fluctuated since it was first introduced, it has always remained well below the 3.5 to seven riders per hour recorded for similar-sized systems. In 2017, the ridership for the combined system averaged 1.25 riders per hour, while in 2018 the ridership for an expanded conventional system was 0.98 riders per hour. Between Jan. 1 and April 30 of this year, there was a slight increase to 1.02 riders per hour, but still well below the usage for other similar sized programs.
Clumpus said that the determining factors for discontinuing the pilot was the low ridership along with the fact that the van being used for the service had surpassed its expected lifespan and would need to be repaired and eventually replaced in order to continue.
"It wasn't a function of this service paying for itself. We knew it would have to be heavily subsidized and we prepared for that," said Clumpus. "It was the ridership. It is a service that is not viable from a ridership point of view."
To help fund the service without it affecting the taxpayers of the municipality, Meaford has used funds from its provincial gas tax reserve. This year, in order to keep the net levy for the program at zero, just under $60,000 in gas tax funding and $2,600 in user fees were being used to offset the $62,250 in operating expenditures. The annualized expense to operate the conventional system would be between $110,000 and $120,000.
Clumpus said the funds from the additional gas tax rebate the municipality receives for having the specialized system in place can be diverted to other transit initiatives. Staff have been directed to notify Grey County of Meaford's interest in partnering or providing financial support to the development of a regional or inter-community transit feasibility study.
"There are conversations happening on many fronts in terms of collaborations with our neighbours, in terms of collaboration with the county, to get folks to where they need to go," said Clumpus.
"Rural communities have many, many challenges and certainly we are attracting a large seniors cohort here, many of whom who don't have their own vehicles or can't drive anymore. It is a challenge, but because of our distances and sparse population that creates an even bigger hurdle." Read More