WELLINGTON COUNTY — The number of riders and rides used through Ride Well, the rural transportation service, continued to increase in 2022. However, the grant funding Ride Well will end in 2025.
“The County on-demand Ride Well rural transit service that runs Monday to Friday from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., continued its ridership growth in 2022. The service is primarily funded through a provincial grant, which expires in 2025,” said an update to the county's Economic Development Committee Tuesday.
What will happen after the grant expires is currently being explored.
“A service review is currently underway with Dillon Consulting Ltd. to help determine how the programme will operate beyond its pilot phase,” as was stated in the agenda. The review will cost $22,000.
There are more people using the service more often.
In 2022, there were 5,776 rides completed, compared to 4,572 in 2021 and 2,248 in 2020. They are projecting 7,220 rides in 2023.
In 2022, there were 165 new riders, after 145 in 2021.
There are so many people using Ride Well that there are more rides requested than can be offered. So people are forced to abandon rides.
In 2022, there were 79 abandoned rides versus 15 in 2021, said the report.
The program is funded in part by a community transportation grant funding of $143,000 and passenger revenue (in 2022) of $55,000.
