RIDE WELL program may be a victim of its own success

WELLINGTON – The future of the county's pilot RIDE WELL program remains uncertain despite annual user and ridesharing numbers continuing to rise.

A hot topic during the county's Economic Development Committee meeting Tuesday morning, some councillors argued RIDE WELL's continued success will only make it harder for the county to foot the bill when provincial funding runs out in March 2025. 

In 2023, the county's ridesharing pilot project completed 8,861 rides which marks a 35 per cent increase from the 5,776 rides serviced in 2022. 

New registrations increased by almost 50 per cent to 949 and the service averaged 35 rides a day compared to 23 in 2022.

"We just can't be in the position where the more successful we are, the more money it is," said County Coun. Doug Breen, who led the discussion. "And I don't know how we fix that." 

In Breen's mind, there are two "very distinct" sets of residents using RIDE WELL: those who need the service and those who are using it for convenience and could "probably afford to pay closer to what the service costs." 

He believes the county will ultimately have to find a way to charge those two groups differently to afford the program's future. 

However County Coun. Diane Ballantyne disagreed with the idea of "means testing" residents for a public service when the county doesn't for others. 

"(These numbers) show the importance of supporting rural transportation," said Ballantyne. "That may or may not look like RIDE WELL exactly but the idea that rural transportation is an incredible need in our county is demonstrated by these statistics." 

According to the report, the program's service model operated "more efficiently" and serviced "more rides with a limited pool of drivers" last year which reflected in a "significant increase" in the average rate of ridesharing. 

The average rate of ridesharing in 2023 was 26 per cent, up from 19 per cent in 2022. 

The county's ongoing rural transportation survey will also be included in the county's future RIDE WELL discussions. 

"We're fortunate the rideshare numbers are back up (because it) generates a (higher) cost recovery," said committee chair and County Coun. Jeff Duncan. "But we know those fares have to go up (and) that will have an impact on the (10-year forecast) depending on which way county council decides to go with it." 

The county's 10-year forecast currently reflects the program ending in March 2025. 

Isabel Buckmaster is the Local Journalism Initiative reporter for GuelphToday. LJI is a federally-funded program.