GUELPH/WELLINGTON– Ridership continues to increase for Wellington County’s Ride Well rideshare program, with December 2020 reported as the best month the service has had to date.
A report to the County of Wellington’s economic development committee shows December surpassed the pre-pandemic peak reached in February of the same year.
“Ride Well ridership continues to increase, in November there were 256 rides and in December, there were 272 rides,” writes Crystal Ellis, director of economic development, in the report.
This is compared with 260 rides in February, previously the highest total of riders. Data from economic development shows ridership in general has been steadily increasing since hitting a low in April.
The report notes there was an increase in rides to social services in December as a volunteer driver program that would normally offer this was unable to operate under restrictions.
The most common pick-up or drop-off municipalities are along the Highway 6 corridor with Wellington North (Arthur), Centre Wellington (Fergus and Elora) and the City of Guelph accounting for a majority of rides.
“The main reasons for this appear to be for work commuting, shopping and medical appointments on a daily or weekly basis,” Ellis writes in the report.
The economic development team has also completed consultation with 32 large employers in the county.
In a previous interview with GuelphToday, county economic development had said they were looking into a partnership with employers for designated staff pick-up points.
The report says all businesses interviewed have said there is no need for this as of now.
“Many businesses stated that they have not had a transit option for years, so they have developed ways to work around it,” the report says.
However, the report notes some businesses expressed interest in using Ride Well as a recruitment tool for hiring new employees and would consider a partnership when it makes sense.
