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Saugeen Mobility wants to provide service in township |
Huron-Kinloss council To Comment on this article Click Here |
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| Saugeen Mobility and Regional Transit (SMART) wants to expand into Huron-Kinloss Township. Manager Roger Cook came to township council Monday morning (March 1), and urged the municipality to join as a partner and provide its residents with a quality, affordable mobility service. SMART already operates in Arran-Elderslie, Brockton, Hanover and West Grey, he said, supported by the municipalities, user fees, donations and the province through the gas tax funding program. Formerly Bruce, Grey and Huron Disability, the company has been in business since 1977 and was restructured and renamed last fall. The company made a proposal last fall to the Southwest Local Health Integrated Network (LHIN) to be the broker agency for all mobility needs in the geographic area. The LHIN would fully fund non-emergency medical trips, while the municipalities would fund the non-emergency transportation needs, said Cook. He said that last year, SMART provided about 22,000 individual rides for citizens who otherwise would have a difficult time getting to appointments, shopping or social activities. A ride is a one-way trip, for example from Ripley to Kincardine. The user fee for one round trip from Ripley to Kincardine, said Cook, would be about $30. SMART would be looking for the township to support the service to the tune of about $20,000, he said. He noted that currently, 50 to 60 per cent of the trips are for medical purposes, while the rest are for social trips. Councillor Anne Eadie said she is concerned about the actual cost, given that another company, Huron-Bruce Transit, is operating in the Lucknow area, but ridership has decreased since 2006, and few people use it now. In addition, the LHIN and the Ontario health ministry are setting up a competing service, and it appears the Ontario transportation ministry is also considering a rural transit system, she said. |
"I'd say that duplicating a service is a poor use of public funds,"
said Cook, noting that the provincial services are not free to the user
either. Eadie said she would like to see this sorted out before the township supports any transit system. Cook said SMART cannot pick up any residents of Huron-Kinloss now until a partnership has been struck between the township and the transit company. Council agreed to consider Cook's request during budget talks. Cook said SMART has 10 vehicles: five adapted min-vans, one mini-van for ambulatory clients, one full-sized van, two mid-sized transit vehicles, and one full-sized school bus for group excursions. The company has five full-time drivers and four spares, most of whom have been working for SMART for many years. |
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