County Transit

Proposal to bring public transit to the County

The original Vital Signs Report of 2013 identified the lack of public transportation in Prince Edward County as a major concern. Since that time, Deseronto Transit has been providing a limited public service between Picton, Bloomfield and Belleville. Quinte Access has been providing a specialized transportation service for seniors and people with limited mobility. In addition, volunteer drivers and taxi services have been used by various organizations whose clients require transportation. A proposal is being prepared for presentation to County council that will see an integrated form of transit available throughout the County. This proposal is the culmination of a nearly year-long project by the Vital Signs Getting Around Group, in collaboration with County staff, to develop a transportation plan. Last Thursday, the group held an open house in Wellington and one in Picton to present the plan, and to solicit feedback prior to making a presentation to council in late May.

Neil Carbone, director of Community Development for the County, answers a question during an open house session in Wellington.

The proposal makes a sound business case to expand public transportation service in the County with a number of strategies to coordinate existing service providers, explore funding opportunities to mitigate costs, meet the needs of residents, and respond to forecasted demands. The open house sessions were led by Neil Carbone, director of Community Development. He said the key aims are to provide transportation options to all County residents, including the facility to make local trips; make use of existing transportation resources; provide a cost-effective service, and have the ability to service seasonal employment demands of the tourism industry.

The major stakeholders in the proposed system are Deseronto Transit, Quinte Access and Community Care for Seniors. Representatives of these groups were at the open house to answer questions or provide further details to those who attended. The proposed system would have Wellington, Bloomfield and Picton as hubs for Deseronto Transit trips to Belleville, where riders would transfer to the Belleville system. County residents would be able to get to the hubs via Quinte Access or through a subsidized taxi service. Initially, the County would be divided into three zones, with service provided one or two days a week for each zone. “Prince Edward County is a large geographic area. It is sparsely populated,” says Carbone. “A lot of people live in rural areas. We don’t have a lot of hubs—obvious places where a lot of our population can be in groups—so right from the get-go we knew it had to be affordable, because any transit system is going to cost public dollars.” According to Carbone, typical rural transportation systems recover about 25 per cent of the cost through fares. The proposed system for the County improves on that, working with existing resources so that about 40 per cent of the cost is covered by its users.

About 20 people attended the open house in Wellington. Ned Burgess came because his girlfriend intends to move to the County to work with a theatre group, and she will need the means to travel from Picton to Wellington. “Owning a car is too much of a financial stress,” he says. “If she has to go from Picton to Wellington, it would be nice if there was some sort of public transportation to do that, otherwise it might be impossible for her to come here, or it might be me getting up at 6 a.m. to drive her down here, which is not great.”

Diane Milan is a coordinator with the Vital Signs group and has been working on this proposal. “There’s a great need for transportation for getting to work, getting to school, to medical appointments.” she says. “One of the things we looked at as well was just social needs, being able to get out and do recreational things. It’s a complicated issue, and I think in particular this plan is a good place to start. It looks at some of the main problems we are facing, such as connecting people in the far reaches of the County to areas in Picton and Bloomfield where they can get the scheduled transportation. I’m excited about it. It’s a solid place to start, and it can be built on.”