Heather Wright/The Independent

Before there was money to bring a bus into Wyoming, Susan Mills was answering questions from residents about a new rural transit system.

The Town of Plympton-Wyoming became a partner in the rural transit system called Huron Shores Area Transit earlier this spring. But service didn’t begin immediately. Lambton Shores, which runs the system, and its partners, Bluewater, South Huron and the Kettle and Stony Point First Nations, were waiting to hear about long-term provincial funding. Mayor Doug Cook says it ran out at the end of March and Lambton Shores has been footing the bill while waiting for the provincial decision.

But the wait is over. Thursday, Lisa Thompson, the Minister of Rural Affairs, and Lambton-Kent-Middlesex MPP Steve Pinsonneault handed over $969,231 to run the system for the next five years.

Thompson lauded the transit system which runs buses between Sarnia, Grand Bend and Goderich saying it is a “demonstration that small, rural municipalities know how to get it done, and they know the value of what it means to truly work together.

“This is a perfect project that demonstrates …transit in rural Ontario can work if you have the right partners together.”

Thompson says the province approved the project after reviewing its success. The buses began running the roads of North Lambton in 2020, taking residents into Sarnia for school and medical appointments and bringing workers to jobs in communities such as Grand Bend. Last year, over 25,000 people used Huron Shores Transit.

“There’s a need. There’s a need to support business. There’s a need to support students. There’s a need to support families.”

The new funding will also allow Huron Shores Transit to expand its service into Plympton-Wyoming starting Monday, June 23.

Mayor Gary Atkinson says people have been asking for rural transit in the community. “Now that we’ve got it, everything’s been very positive and our residents are looking forward to taking advantage of it.”

Transit Coordinator Susan Mills says the bus will stop six times a day at the south side of the intersection of Erie and Toronto Street at McKay Park. She expects the transit system will be used a lot by the seniors living at Royaleigh Apartments.

“I’ve already had a resident from there contact me and ask me questions,” she says.

Mills says while the service can take some time to get to the different locations – the whole Sarnia to Grand Bend loop can take two hours – it has been a “lifesaver” particularly for seniors.

“There’s a gentleman who lives up here in Northville, his wife is in long term nursing care in Sarnia. He goes three times a week to go and visit her, right? That’s a big separation for them as an elderly couple. And he’s legally blind, so he can’t drive. He can’t get there by himself.”

Mills says the transit system is looking at many different ways to provide transportation to the rural areas including working with the possibility of working with existing transportation groups such as Lambton Elderly Outreach.

Mayor Doug Cook says the stable funding will allow Huron Shores Transit to explore new options. “We also have the momentum to innovate expand in the years ahead, saying that the county of Lambton just authorized a feasibility study for funding transit system throughout rural Lambton County, which may benefit Huron Shores Transit System in the future.”

And MPP Pinsonneault says he sees the Lambton Shores project as “a pilot project that we can use for the rest of the province” for rural transit.

The cost per trip to use the rural transit system in Lambton and Huron is $5 to $10.