Earlier in October, I got to meet Rae Rivard, owner-operator of Southern Ontario Transit (SOT), a new intercity transit operator currently serving Hamilton and Haldimand County. The route, which launched on September 16th, offers three weekday round trips between Downtown Hamilton and Dunnville, serving the communities of Caledonia, Hagersville, and Cayuga.
Haldimand County, along with the neighbouring Six Nations and Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation reserves, remained unserved by intercity or local bus services since the early 2000s; in 1990, United Trails operated a daily bus between Port Dover, Hagersville, Caledonia, and Hamilton. Cayuga and Dunnville were served by a Greyhound route on Highway 3 between Niagara and London. More recently, as Niagara Region was building a regional transit service and Norfolk County successfully applied for provincial funding for a new service between Simcoe and Brantford, Haldimand County refused to take part. Enter SOT.
SOT, which charges a $10 one-way fare, operates without the support of the municipal government, and is unable to put up bus stop signs or actively promote its service at municipal facilities such as libraries or community centres. For this reason, ridership remains low, despite growing populations in Caledonia and Hagersville and convenient links to Hamilton Airport, Mohawk College, St. Joseph’s Hospital, and to GO Transit and HSR services.
Rivard will tell you that “the primary challenge we face today is slow uptake. Due to a number of limitations and challenges currently out of our control, the number of regular and new riders trends up every week, but not as fast as we need to cover expenses…. Many of the limitations we are dealing with right now can easily be addressed at no expense, but these choices are out of our control.”
Rivard reached out to businesses and social service organizations, but was turned away, adding that “the entire operation has been entirely funded out of me and my wife’s savings, and we are really struggling to keep up with expenses at this rate.”
Without approved bus stop locations with curb access, SOT is not able to provide fully-accessible service, though it already has a wheelchair-accessible vehicle. The lack of physical bus stops and publicity has made it difficult to attract riders, though while riding with Rivard on a beautiful October afternoon, it was clear that a demand exists as several residents came up to the minibus to find out more information.
My hope is that word spreads about this unique and essential operation and that the local communities provide the needed support to make this service work. If this initial route succeeds, SOT would like to expand service in Haldimand and take on other gaps in the Ontario network.
I updated my Ontario Intercity Transport Map to add Southern Ontario Transit’s route. Commuter Connect in Northumberland County ended service not long after VIA Rail finally resumed its early morning train from Kingston to Toronto. East Zorra-Tavistock Transit in Oxford County did not last long either, and service there has ended.
Added to the map:
- Southern Ontario Transit between Hamilton, Caledonia, and Dunnville
- Red Arrow’s daily Toronto-Western University express, which replaces its Toronto-Niagara Falls run
- A new daily Flixbus route between Toronto, Hamilton, and St. Thomas
- A new OnexBus route between London, Goderich, and Port Elgin, operating Friday through Monday
- OnexBus’s London-Pearson Airport-Brampton route, which operates several trips a day
- Ourbus’s Toronto-Ottawa route
- Kasper’s daily Winnipeg-Kenora-Sioux Lookout service
- Revisions to on-demand services in Niagara Region
- Some revised routings and service levels across the province
Removed from the map:
- Commuter Connect in Northumberland County
- East Zorra-Tavistock Transit
- Kasper’s on-demand service to Red Lake/Balmerton
Though it is good to see Bruce County — particularly rapidly growing Saugeen Shores — get another link, that part of Ontario is still poorly served; there should be daily services between larger Bruce County communities like Saugeen Shores, Kincardine, and Walkerton at least to Owen Sound and Hanover. Lindsay is also left without any intercity services, after TOK ended service from Toronto to Haliburton last year. where a Peterborough-Lindsay-Pontypool service, perhaps extending to Durham College/Ontario Tech University in Oshawa could prove to be a very useful route.
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Sean Marshall 