CENTRE WELLINGTON — Centre Wellington will further investigate how to expand public transit services across the municipality in 2025.
In discussing the 2025 draft business plan at a Centre Wellington Committee of the Whole on Tuesday, several questions came up surrounding what the future of the Elora and Fergus Downtown Shuttle Program will look like if made permanent and whether it's possible to provide the service "year-round."
The idea was supported by Elora BIA chair Maclean Hann, who commented on the importance of the program and said the group has increased its annual financial contribution for the service with the hope it will cover an additional service day.
Using his staff as an example, Hann said the service makes staffing easier and, while "maybe not economically feasible immediately," requested it be considered in the future.
"This initiative to tie our two communities together via transit is a fantastic initiative and we are very excited to be a part of it and very excited to see what the future of transportation within our community will be," said Hann. "I really hope that this makes the case for some level of public transportation in our space."
Councillor Lisa MacDonald agreed, calling transportation between both towns "key" and saying she's received similar feedback from the shuttle that shows many residents were using the service to travel between communities for work.
In response, CAO Dan Wilson said it is currently planned to transition the shuttle program from a pilot to permanent in 2025 however, details are yet to be determined.
According to Wilson, staff has budgeted $60,000 for "status quo" service in 2025, with 30 per cent to be funded through taxpayers, representing the 30 per cent ridership by residents. The rest of the program is funded through community partnership contributions like the local BIA's and grants.
"The plan is to encourage further contributions to expand the scope, whether that's Fridays or expanding the hours, we're still working on that," said Wilson. "For now, we just want to make sure the shuttle program continues and then we can hopefully get financial support from other groups to make it expanded."
In 2024, the CW shuttle ran from Saturday, May 18 to Sunday, Sept. 8 – also operating on Mondays during long weekends.
Wilson also said there is a placeholder for a transit feasibility study in 2026 in the long-term plan, which is "just in case" they don't get the grant funding that has been applied for, which would allow the study to happen in 2025, pending council approval. If they don't get the grant, they've included funding in the 2026 budget.
When Coun. Bronwynne Wilton asked how changes to the shuttle program might impact Ride Well, Wilson said the county has been and will continue to be a part of discussions surrounding the future of transit.
Isabel Buckmaster is the Local Journalism Initiative reporter for GuelphToday. LJI is a federally-funded program.
