Rebuilding ridership priority for Huron Shores Area Transit

Huron Shores Area Transit logo

By John Miner

With funding secured for the next five years, Huron Shores Area Transit (HSAT) aims to rebuild ridership, install more bus stop shelters and improve the efficiency of the service.

In a presentation to South Huron council, HSAT transit coordinator Susan Mills reported that ridership on the bus service dropped by 17.8 per cent in 2025 compared to 2024.

Mills attributed the decline to the federal government’s reduction of international students and an eight-month suspension of marketing promotion due to uncertainty over funding.

“We have lost a little bit of traction,” Mills said.

Despite the drop in ridership from 25,587 in 2024 to 21,028 in 2025, Mills said ridership remained strong and in line with other rural bus services.

Launched in December 2020, Huron Shores Area Transit runs three routes connecting South Huron, Lambton Shores, Bluewater, Plympton-Wyoming and Kettle and Stony Point First Nation with London, Sarnia and Goderich.

There are three bus stops in Exeter, along with stops in Dashwood, Huron Park, Centralia and Grand Bend.

HSAT discontinued a route in 2025 that ran from Grand Bend to Strathroy through North Middlesex after North Middlesex withdrew from the service.

South Huron, along with the other partner municipalities and First Nation, have committed to supporting the service for the next five years with a total contribution of $969,232.

HSAT has also secured funding of $969,232 from the Ontario Transit Investment Fund, and $1.3 million from the Ontario Gas Tax for Transit program. Fare and advertising revenue is expected to provide another $1.5 million.

“There is definitely enough money coming in to sustain the service. Thank you for that,” Mills said.

All transit systems in the province receive subsidies, including both small rural operations and large urban ones, she said. The average cost to the system per ride in 2025 was $44.24.

HSAT increased fares in 2025 with the local cash fare increasing from $5 to $6 and the long-distance cash fare increasing from $10 to $12. Monthly passes were upped from $120 to $140.

Seniors and veterans receive a 20 per cent discount while CNIB cardholders are free. Individuals with proven low-income status are eligible for a 95 per cent fare discount.

Passengers interested in the discounts must apply and live within a transit partner jurisdiction.

“That’s not open to everyone. It’s just open to our residents and they also must qualify for that.”

HSAT planned to use a grant from the federal Rural Transit Solutions Fund to upgrade 23 bus stops with improvements such as cement pads, bus shelters, advertising panels, benches and bike racks. With inflation increasing product costs, the number has been trimmed to 13.

Mills said she is having discussions with Voyago, the bus company operator, about what it would cost to add an early morning route from London, arriving in Exeter around 7 a.m.