Despite potential for provincial funding, Perth County council stands by cancellation of PC Connect rural route

Though the Ontario minister of transportation recently welcomed an application from Perth County for funding through the Ontario Transit Investment Fund (OTIF) to support the PC Connect rural-route bus service set to be discontinued at the end of March, Perth County council is standing by its decision to end the bus service that connects rural communities within the county.

At the Feb. 6 county council meeting, county economic development officer Justin Dias informed council of a conversation between county delegates and transportation minister Prabmeet Sarkaria and senior ministry staff at the Rural Ontario Municipal Association (ROMA) conference on Jan. 20.

“Information about the forthcoming OTIF program was announced in early 2024 at the Ontario Transit Association Conference, and then in October of 2024, the actual OTIF guidelines were released, which included a number of eligibility criteria,” Dias said.

“The key point that was mentioned at that time was that OTIF … was not intended to support ongoing operations for the (Community Transportation Grant Program) funded pilot projects – PC Connect and others. Based on the criteria for OTIF, council led a delegation to the minister at ROMA and, based on that (conversation), though OTIF guidelines haven’t changed on the website, there was an openness from the minister to see an application come forward from Perth County.”

Until that conversation, the ministry had been advising recipients of Community Transportation funding that OTIF was not intended to provide operational funding for their projects, which informed county council’s decision on Dec. 5, 2024, to discontinue the PC Connect Rural Route service when the county’s $2.47-million Community Transportation grant funding agreement with the province ends on March 31. That funding agreement has been in place since the transit service launched in 2020.

At ROMA, the minister acknowledged that Perth County does, in fact, qualify for OTIF funding, which was a significant shift from previous guidance offered by MTO senior staff. When the program guidelines were released, OTIF was only intended to allocate a total of $5 million annually to support the development of safe, reliable and sustainable transit options in areas with limited transportation infrastructure. According to the guidelines, eligible projects included new bus services, on-demand shared rides and door-to-door transit services.

In follow-up conversations, MTO staff confirmed Perth County could apply for OTIF funding under a five-year plan with a structured funding decrease each year. A strong application would have to identify how OTIF funding would only be used to support existing operational funding in the short term with a fulsome plan for how the service would become sustainable over the long term.

Additionally, MTO staff emphasized the importance of securing financial partnerships to strengthen the application. Securing financial partnerships would be essential to reducing the financial impact to the county levy as OTIF funding decreases.

According to Dias’ report to council, in 2025, the OTIF funding would reduce the impact on the county’s tax levy from $225,103 without the funding to $22,705 with it. That funding would continue to decrease each year until 2030 when the cost of the rural-route bus service would once again fall fully on the shoulders of county taxpayers to the tune of nearly $530,000 annually.

“Is it too late to turn this thing around now?” Coun. Walter McKenzie asked, referring to whether county council could reverse its decision to discontinue PC Connect’s Rural Route service. “We’ve already cancelled the contract we had. … Is there any desire from this group to even look at it?”

While Dias said Voyago, the transit company that provides buses and drivers for PC Connect, indicated its buses and drivers are still available to continue the rural bus service after March 31, councillors voiced concerns around continuing the service.

“I can’t, in good conscience, support an investment for over $1.3 million over the next five years and, possibly, $2.6 million over five years (after that),” Coun. Bob Wilhelm said.

“By 2030, we’re back up to over half-a-million bucks again, and I think that to try to get some funds now; how long will that take to get those funds?” added Coun. Hugh McDermid. “And, in the end, they’re still not going to contribute a very big percentage over time of what we’re going to have to (pay). I think we have bigger hills to get over.”

PC Connect’s rural-route service will continue providing transit for riders between rural communities in Perth County including Stratford, Mitchell, Monkton, Atwood, Listowel, Newton, Milverton, Brunner and Gadshill until March 31. The cancellation of the rural-route service does not impact PC Connect Routes 1, 2 and 3 offering service between Stratford, St. Marys, London, Kitchener-Waterloo and North Perth.