PC Connect is discontinuing its rural route.
At its Dec. 5 meeting, Perth County council made a decision to discontinue the PC Connect transit pilot project’s rural route service as of March 31, 2025.Â
Since its launch in November 2020, the program has been funded through Ontario’s Community Transportation Grant Program.
PC Connect Routes 1, 2 and 3 that include travel to and from Stratford, St. Marys, London, Kitchener-Waterloo and North Perth are not impacted by this discontinuation.
The Rural Route includes stops in Stratford, Gadshill, Brunner, Milverton, Millbank , Newton, Listowel, Atwood, Monkton and Mitchell. These will no longer be serviced from PC Connect beginning in April.
To date, PC Connect’s Rural Route has provided over 16,890 rides.
Perth County Warden Doug Kellum explained that the decision to cancel the route was due to the cost of revenue alone not recouping costs of operation for the route.
And with the county facing “budget pressures”, they could not continue the to fund the necessary level of service required to keep the route running.
In a report, staff explained that the continued operation of the route past the provincially funded pilot period would be an estimated $225,103 in 2025, with costs to increase in 2026 with the absence of grant funding and acquisition of new fleet vehicles.
In addition to the discontinuation, council also made an additional motion to continue advocacy for rural transit and for staff to report on available alternatives for transportation in the county.
