Lack of funding, low ridership leads to suspension of private transit service to Haldimand County

A pilot project to add transit access to rural areas in southern Ontario has been suspended, less than three months after its launch, because of low ridership and a lack of government funding, the service provider says. 

Haldimand County resident Rae Rivard said he and his wife, Manisha, started the pilot in September under the company name Southern Ontario Transit (SOT). The route ran from Hamilton to smaller communities between approximately 25 and 50 kilometres away in Haldimand County, which Rivard said was the "ideal" place to first test the operating model.

The service cost around $10 a ride, with group, monthly and annual passes available. 

But Rivard — SOT's president and CEO — said there was a lack of financial support from the start, forcing the couple to use their own funds to get off the ground. The service was suspended effective Dec. 23.

"Initially with the pilot, due to lack of support, we only ran the route via Caledonia, Hagersville, Cayuga and Dunnville to start with," Rivard told CBC Hamilton.

"Unfortunately we've received zero assistance from anyone else, so it has just been exclusively my wife and I funding it, which is why we have to make the decision to suspend service, because at the end of the day it was starting to eat my wife and I's ability to even pay our own bills."

He said SOT has four buses "of varying sizes" and a 10-seater supervisor van to serve as a backup vehicle. But he said "because ridership in Haldimand has proven so low, we ended up just using the supervisor van." 

During the pilot SOT operated a daily service, Monday to Friday, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Even with the single 10-seater van in operation, Rivard said "we did not meet our quota."

"The people who have rode our bus, they said it's comfortable, they said it's reliable, but the primary concern that we got from our ridership was that buses didn't run early enough in the morning and late enough in the evening. And because there's no weekend service, that was also a bit of a barrier to greater usage," Rivard said.

Rivard was driving the van alongside other drivers they hired but with current funding, the company wasn't able to extend the hours, he said.

"So, if we were to come back, we would like to bring back a seven-day service or at least six-day service with no Sunday, and run earlier in the morning and later at night, which means that we would need a more full complement of staff and running a larger piece of equipment." 

People have been reacting on social media to the announced suspension with many saying they did not know the service existed.

"I had no clue this even started and I drive around Haldimand quite a bit and never seen the bus. I think they should give it a year at least and do more advertising and promoting," Roxx Miller wrote on Facebook.

Ash W. Lynn wrote: "I really hope the services keeps going. I know during seasonal season for the campground I'm at. I know people that couldn't visit, now can and excited to use the services. I just believe the services needs to advertise more so people know."

Donna Patterson shared: "I thought this was a great opportunity for people to find employment outside of their town when having trouble. I will share and hope that people start using it before it's too late!" 

Rivard said SOT has reached out to all levels of government for funding support, because he believes "every municipality should have the responsibility to make sure every one of its residents has accessible transportation."

"It doesn't matter if it's the federal government, the provincial government, or even the municipal government, but every community in this country should be obligated to provide some degree of public transportation service to everyone of its residents. And it has to be accessible, too," Rivard added.

Lidy Romanuk, Haldimand County's manager of economic development and tourism, said the county was aware of SOT's efforts.

"Over the past year, Haldimand County has continued to meet with the owners of Southern Ontario Transportation as well as other transportation services to gather information relative to future opportunities and to serve as support for any future decisionmaking, should transit become a county priority,"  Romanuk wrote in an email to CBC News.

CBC news also reached out to the Ontario government for comment but did not hear back before publication.