Expanded transit options connecting key centres coming this summer

By Sharon Harrison
The County is launching a new summer transit enhancement program this year as it acknowledges transportation to, from, and within Prince Edward County continues to be a challenge for residents, visitors, workers and businesses alike.

The summer program, which will run on weekends only, has been co-designed and co-funded with private sector partners where the new service will expand geographic coverage, with the municipality’s share ($35,000) of the funding coming from a portion of the municipal accommodation tax (MAT).

The service will include a route connecting Bloomfield to Belleville on Friday evenings and weekends, and a second route linking Wellington, Bloomfield, Picton and Base31.

It is the first time County Transit has provided a fixed transit route to include Wellington, where stops will include Wellington beach and Wellington United Church (Main Street).

Further, the service will introduce a formalized on-request stop at Rossmore Plaza, placing a transit stop in Ameliasburgh ward for the first time through the program (this stop will be integrated into the weekday/year-round route as well.)

Council voted to approve the changes to the summer transit enhancement at Tuesday evening’s regular council meeting, which included approving changes to the public transit fares bylaw which establishes fares specific to the summer service (note: there is no increase in fares, just some re-wording of descriptions).

Last year, the municipality piloted the Picton summer loop, a weekend and evening transit service connecting Picton and Base31, and those findings of travel patterns and demand have resulted in this year’s expanded approach.

“These steps will enable the municipality to launch a flexible, co-funded transit service that supports residents, businesses, and tourism while contributing valuable data to the on-going transit strategy refresh,” notes Julianne Snepsts, programs supervisor with the community services, programs and initiatives department.

The municipality has worked with key partners to finalize the program, with confirmed partners to include: Base31, StayPEC, and a group of larger local hotels, as core sponsors and promoters, including the Royal Hotel, Wander the Resort, and The Eddie Hotel and Farm.

The Prince Edward County Chamber of Commerce’s participation includes supporting business outreach and promotion through its service agreement with the municipality, with Visit the County and the Picton Business Improvement Association contributing as promotional partners.

“The Regent Theatre, through its “10 to 10” summer initiative, will provide visitor information, public washrooms, and transit information and ticket sales.”

Snepsts notes that public and stakeholder consultation has been extensive with feedback strongly supportive, especially for weekend and evening service that provides a safe ride home from evening events and dining.

She said consultations helped refine the route and schedule, identify funding partners, and highlight other unmet transportation needs, such as access to Sandbanks Provincial Park and the Hillier wine region.

Along with Quinte Transit (to confirm route feasibility), public consultation included those residents without transportation (40-plus responded by survey), 25 small businesses (including transportation-related businesses, i.e. cycling and ride-hailing), 30 alcohol-serving businesses, transit consultants, and the four-season economy partnership.

Of the 40 or so residents without regular access to vehicles who answered a survey related to the transit strategy refresh, in an open-ended question, 22 percent indicated that an expansion in transit service days and hours would improve their ability to fully participate in work, school and/or social activities in the County.

The new summer transit enhancement service is scheduled to launch on June 27 and will run until September 7, where there is confirmed funding for 11 weeks of service.

“Staff and program partners continue to seek additional sponsorship revenue to be able to extend the service further into September,” added Snepsts.

The service will run Fridays (late afternoon to late evening), Saturdays (late morning to late evening), and Sundays (late morning to dinner time).

There will be two fixed route buses, one that travels between Wellington, Bloomfield and Picton, and another that travels between Belleville, Rossmore and Bloomfield.

“The two buses will meet in Bloomfield for riders to transfer between the north-south route, and the east-west route, and each route will repeat every 70 minutes.”

The goals of the enhanced summer transit service are to support residents, businesses and visitors.

“By offering a safe, reliable, and affordable transportation option that connects more communities, this service helps residents travel for work, shopping, recreation, and social events,” outlined Snepsts. “It also increases mobility for youth and seniors, enabling more independent travel across the County.”

The new services will also help local employers attract workers, including from Belleville, by providing a commuting option for those without personal vehicles. It also reduces parking demand in busy commercial areas, and supplements the taxi and ride-hailing services, making it easier for customers to access local businesses, notes the report.

The benefit to visitors and tourism enables a car-free travel option to, and within, the County for those who prefer not to drive.

“It connects key destinations like Wellington beach and Base31, reduces congestion in busy areas, and promotes a more sustainable and safe way for visitors to explore the County.”

With the municipality undertaking a transit strategy refresh, Snepsts said the data collected through this summer program (including ridership levels and rider feedback) will directly inform that work.

“Insights from this initiative will help staff and consultants make evidence-based recommendations to council about the future of weekend and evening transit service, a need that has been consistently raised by residents and businesses.”

With regard to the public transit fares bylaw, the municipality have attempted to align the pricing for the summer route with existing fares to ensure consistency between the weekday fares and the weekend fares, notes the report.

“With one exception [a fare decrease], staff are not proposing changes to the existing amounts that riders pay for trips on the weekday service. Rather, staff are proposing new names for the fare types, so that they can be inclusive of the new stop in Rossmore, and the stops in the Wellington area that are not part of the weekday fixed route,“ she confirmed.

The new fare types, one-way for adults (note: children age 13 and under will continue to ride free) are:

LONG DISTANCE – 20KM+ (formerly called Picton-Belleville)
Covers: Belleville/Rossmore and Picton, Bloomfield or Wellington
Cost: $10 ($7 for seniors, students, youth 14-18, disabled persons)

WITHIN THE COUNTY – 5-19KM (formerly called Picton-Bloomfield)
Covers: Picton-Bloomfield, Picton-Wellington, Bloomfield-Wellington
Cost: $5 ($4 for seniors, students, youth 14-18, disabled persons)

IN-TOWN/SHORT TRIP – LESS THAN 5KM (formerly called Within Picton)
Covers: Within Picton, within Wellington, Rossmore-Belleville
Cost: $3.50 ($2.50 for seniors, students, youth 14-18, disabled persons)

A new transit option available this summer provides unlimited single day travel on weekends (Fridays, Saturday, Sundays) in the form of a day pass:

WEEKEND EXPLORER DAY PASS (UNLIMITED)
Covers: East-west route (Wellington–Bloomfield–Picton–Base31)
Cost: $12 flat rate (no discount option)

Other fare options are available, such as a two-week pass, a monthly pass, and book of 10 tickets, and a two-system monthly pass. Also, scheduled on-demand services for specialized transit are charged according to the distance travelled.

Council also voted to delegate authority to the chief administrative officer to approve sponsorship agreements related to the transit program, valued at less than $50,000 and where no naming rights are involved.

Snepsts said in order to support the finances of the summer transit program, staff are actively engaging private sector partners to confirm sponsorship agreements.

“To respond quickly to partnership opportunities and finalize agreements in a timely manner, staff recommend that council delegate authority to the CAO to approve sponsorship agreements related to the transit program, provided the total value of the sponsorship is less than $50,000, and the agreement does not involve naming rights for municipal assets.”

Sponsorships currently under discussion range in value from a few hundred dollars to $15,000, notes the report.

She said benefits to sponsors may include transit passes, logo placement on promotional materials, and, for higher-value sponsors located along the route, the option to establish an on-request stop at their business.

With the municipality’s maximum contribution to the program of $35,000, Snepsts notes funding was approved as part of the 2025 Tourism Management Plan.

The program budget of $73,000 includes revenues from the Municipal Accommodations Tax (the municipality’s contribution), private sector sponsorships (committed sponsorships $25,000, projected additional sponsorships $5,000), and fare revenues ($8,000). Expenses include promotion, some signage updates and the service contract fees with Quinte Transit.

Councillor Janice Maynard asked if the municipality’s contribution of $35,000 from the MAT is to take it from the discounted rate up to the amount coming from the budget.

“As you stated, this is a program to support tourism, and I am wondering why this isn’t being supported by the $35,000 from the Visit the County, instead of the County’s own funds, because this is really a tourist…” said Maynard.

Snepsts confirmed there are certainly benefits to the tourism sector through the program.

“It does provide enhanced transit services when we have many more people in our community than we do throughout the rest of the year. It supports the hospitality businesses in supplementing things like taxis and ride-sharing to get people to restaurants, so they can order the bottle of wine instead of the glass of wine,” replied Snepsts.

“It does certainly have tourism benefits and then they have a safe ride home, but there are also a lot of benefits for residents in this program, including the ability for youth to travel throughout the County all day long on a $12 a day pass and explore all the towns and have a bit of freedom.”

“It provides a way for people to get to their summer jobs, or to connect up to Belleville for work or entertainment; it helps people get their groceries on the weekends, so there are lots of benefits for residents that are baked into this program.”

She said the biggest benefit to the program is it will help staff understand how people use expanded hours of transit service, and how people, particularly in Wellington, will use public transit.

“We are happy to test these ideas over the summer, and we hope to gain insights from the program that will inform the transit strategy refresh that we are currently undertaking,” added Snepsts.