The City of Owen Sound has found its new transit provider.
At its regular meeting on Monday, council directed staff to enter into a five-year contract with Voyago, following a struggle recently that saw huge increases in transit service costs with current provider, First Student, whose contract expires at the end of August.
The value of the deal is $4.94M for 30-minute fixed-route transit, and another $1.24M for mobility transit, leading to a reduction in transportation costs of approximately $225,000 in 2022.
Voyago currently operates Guelph Owen Sound Transit, a daily bus service running between Owen Sound and Guelph.
Coun. John Tamming was the lone councillor to vote against the proposal, saying "I can't support a five-year extension of what I think by the year 2028 will be seen as a very antiquated way of getting people around."
The new contract will begin on August 27th.
