
As of April 1st, TGO buses will no longer take people to Woodstock, Ingersoll and other local municipalities.
TILLSONBURG - You will no longer spot a TGO bus outside of Tillsonburg.
The Town has decided to cancel its inter-community bus service as of April 1st, so it will no longer take people Woodstock, Ingersoll to other local municipalities. The TGO routes within the Town of Tillsonburg will not be affected.
The program was funded by a provincial Community Transit grant. The Town was hoping that the ridership would grow and make the program more financially viable but that didn't happen.
Mayor Deb Gilvesy says the Town can run the program by itself.
"The province’s funding priorities have shifted somewhat. While the Ontario Transit Investment Fund is active, it has a funding pool of $5 million for all rural areas across Ontario. The grant also requires municipalities to work with other stakeholders and partners in teams in order to apply. It’s not a project Tillsonburg can take on alone."
Landon Chan, the Town's transit coordinator, says they kept the service running as long as they could.
"The Community Transit Grant was originally set to end in 2023 but was extended to 2025 due to COVID-19. Town staff developed several options to amend the routes in an effort to retain the service but there has been no financial buy-in from our County neighbours."
Tickets for the T-GO inter-community bus service will continue to be sold until March 31st. Unused tickets can be returned at the Tillsonburg Customer Service Centre on Lisgar Ave for a full refund.
Mayor Givesy says the Town is currently looking at other transit options. It has applied to the Rural Transit Solutions Fund, which would allow it create another transit solution if the application is approved.
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