WELLINGTON NORTH – Guelph-to-Owen Sound inter-community transit (GOST) buses will continue running through Wellington North for the next two years after a new agreement was recently inked.
Signed by the township and Owen Sound, the agreement ensures riders can access buses in Wellington North until at least August, 2025.
The current agreement expires at the end of August.
Buses will continue stopping at the parking lot behind the Foodland grocery story in Mount Forest, and a parking lot behind TD Bank in Arthur.
The province fully funds the transportation program, which is administered by Owen Sound, with private transportation company Voyago contracted to operate it.
According to an Owen Sound staff report, the province is shelling out $818,354 in taxpayer dollars to fund the service from 2023 to 2025.
Over the course of the program’s entire seven-year term, from 2018 to 2025, the province will provide a total of $2.26 million to keep the buses running seven days a week along the 140km route.
According to Owen Sound environmental services supervisor Heidi Jennen, there were 5,642 riders who accessed the service last year.
Riders are counted as they get on and off a bus with an electronic tracker, she explained.
“Between January 1, 2022, and December 31, 2022, there were 2,799 riders who boarded the morning run and 2,843 riders who boarded the afternoon run,” Jennen wrote in an email to the Advertiser.
Those are total numbers for the entire Owen Sound-to-Guelph trip. Jennen was unable to immediately provide Wellington North-specific ridership data.
Buses travel between Owen Sound and Guelph twice a day, with the exception of Christmas Day.
They can transport 19 passengers, have digital route displays, announce stop information, have mobility ramps and designated seating for riders with limitations, and can accommodate two wheelchairs.
A one-way ride from Mount Forest to Guelph rings in at $10, and from Arthur it’s $5.
Travelling north to Owen Sound from Mount Forest or Arthur will cost a rider $15.
Cash fares are accepted, but change cannot be given.
Stops in Mount Forest, heading to Guelph, are at 8:32am and 3:32pm. And in Arthur, they’re at 8:52am and 3:52pm.
Travelling north-bound from Guelph to Owen Sound, morning stops in Arthur and Mount Forest are at 11:35 and 11:55am, respectively.
And in the afternoon they’re at 6:27pm in Arthur, and 6:47pm in Mount Forest.
There are also stops along the way in Fergus, at the Centre Wellington Community Sportsplex, and in Elora, beside the LCBO.
Ride Well, Wellington County’s door-to-door ride-sharing service, can also be used to compliment GOST service.
“A person can book a ride from anywhere in Wellington County to a GOST location, and then transfer onto the GOST service at a lower cost to complete their journey,” county economic development officer James Vaclavek stated in an email.
Ride Well users can access a coupon code when using the ride-share to travel to GOST stops, which are labelled within the Ride Well booking platform, Vaclavek said.
“In each of our Ride Well vehicles we have printouts with information about GOST, including its schedule and locations, so passengers can learn more about the other service as an option while taking Ride Well,” Vaclavek added.
For information on GOST, click or tap here, and for more information on Ride Well, click or tap here.
