The future of Huron Shores Area Transit (HSAT) remains unclear, but services will at least continue until the end of April, as provincial funding is set to expire on March 31.
The Municipality of Lambton Shores has agreed to provide up to $50,000 in additional funding to keep the service running until long-term solutions can be established.
The inter-community public transportation service launched in December 2020 and was funded through the Ontario Community Transit Grant Program.
"We're in the process of working hard with our partners to put together a plan that would hopefully ultimately result in some funding from the province through the Ontario Transit Investment Fund (OTIF)," said Lambton Shores CAO Steve McAuley. "That extra time allows us to get all of the documentation we need from our partners put together and get the application approved. There's no guarantee of that approval, but we're hopeful."
McAuley said while it was known the Ontario Community Transit funding would end this year, it was unclear what funding would replace it, if any.
"We didn't find out about the OTIF funding until late fall. That's the reason for the time crunch. We had the Christmas break in there, and we have to remember we also had an election," McAuley said. "During an election period, basically there are no announcements, everything is kind of frozen. All of those things kind of conspired to make that deadline hard."
McAuley said HSAT is funded through four different means: revenue generated through fares and advertising, grant funding, gas tax funding, and municipal contributions.
"If we're not successful for OTIF, that would have a pretty catastrophic impact on the whole system," he said. "The program is set up to fund -- it's a five-year commitment -- and they'll fund up to 50 per cent of the operations so it's a pretty big commitment."
Aside from the one month of additional funding, Lambton Shores council also committed to providing $72,244 annually for five years (through to March 31, 2030) during a special council meeting held last week.
The Municipality of Bluewater also committed to $45,601 per year for five years to keep the service running.
Kettle and Stony Point was asked to contribute $12,667 and South Huron was asked for $63,334.
McAuley said they're expecting to hear from South Huron's council next week.
"Our friends at Kettle and Stony Point have indicated that they are in a position to help us out," he said. "I don't know what that amount is yet. We'll try to get together with them this week."
The approved and anticipated funding commitments act as a testament to how neighbouring municipalities can work together.
"Hopefully, the province sees it and recognizes how much we're all putting into this at the municipal level and steps up to help us," McAuley said.
A report presented to Lambton Shores council also said HSAT could extend services to Plympton-Wyoming with a funding contribution and access to their Gas Tax Grant. A small amount of funding could also be secured from Goderich if an existing bus stop is moved to the other side of the road.
Funding commitments from Lucan Biddulph and North Middlesex were not anticipated.
McAuley said the transit system will run as is until the end of April but may be reevaluated later.
"We're still trying to figure out what we'll do with those routes," he said. "If we can run them, we will but by the looks of it, the route up through Parkhill, that one may have to cease operation. But we think the one up through Lucan, we can keep it going."
HSAT -- which services Lambton Shores, Kettle and Stony Point First Nation, Bluewater, South Huron, Bluewater, North Middlesex, and Lucan -- has become increasingly popular over the years.
Over 25,000 trips were recorded in 2024.
Poll results released last year also found that roughly 80 per cent of riders rely on the service to get around and 28 per cent of respondents use HSAT to get to work.