Sunshine Coach boss shares challenges of service with WW council

Cobden -- While Sunshine Coach is holding its own in maintaining its level of service to the community, despite a growing need for the service, the current funding model provides no potential for growth.

That’s what Whitewater Region (WWR) council heard at its June 5 meeting from Norman Dagg, Executive Director (ED) of the service. He was reporting on the role of the Renfrew-based accessible transportation service to one of its municipal partners.

“Accessible transportation is a growth industry as the population ages,” Mr. Dagg said. “We feel we are capable of doing what we have been doing, but we’re ready to adjust our strategic business plan on a moment’s notice if, for example, there should be an increase in the gas tax revenue, or other federal programs, coming on board.”

Sunshine Coach had $1,440,281 in expenses in 2023. Fare revenue, which is 70 per cent of its income, amounted to $1,055,720, leaving a shortfall of $384,561.

“Our business model reflects its service to the public nature,” he said. “The analogy we use is that we sell widgets at $25 that cost $30 to make. This is, of course, counterintuitive to typical business models. Typically, we lose $300,000 to $400,000 per year. Fare revenues fall consistently below expenses, since to raise fares to cover expenses would result in pricing beyond the reach of the economically vulnerable clients that it is our mandate to serve.”

Another significant source of revenue is the Ontario Gas Tax program, which accounts for about 14 per cent of its income.

Sunshine Coach is the designated Specialized Transit Provider for the Town of Renfrew, as well as the Townships of Admaston/Bromley, Bonnechere Valley, Greater Madawaska and Horton, along with Whitewater Region. This designation qualifies it for gas tax funding. There is also a small amount of funding from its municipal partners: 1.1 per cent from the Town of Renfrew and 0.29 per cent from the participating townships. There are also sponsorships from businesses and service clubs.

The service is operated as a project of Friends of the Disabled (Renfrew) Inc., a registered charity, which gives it not-for-profit (NFP) status. That group’s fundraising initiatives contribute another 7.1 per cent to Sunshine Coach’s coffers.

There have also been one-off funding programs from various levels of government.

“But these opportunities are few and far between,” said Mr. Dagg. “And we are not a health care provider or a municipality, and that makes it difficult to apply for some kinds of grants. We have been trying, and will continue to try, to reach out to various levels of government, not only to partner with us in day-to-day operations, but to look to the future.”

He added the organization “has its hands full with moving people around.”

“We don’t have the time to hire anyone to navigate those waters where the grants live,” he said.

The fare-based service is available for people living with any form of disability embraced under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) “temporary or permanent, visible or not,” said Mr. Dagg. It operates 19 accessible vehicles, including 17 small coaches, one midsize vehicle, and one small bus. Those vehicles travel 890,000 km per year and burn $119,000 worth of fuel. Vehicle insurance costs $40,000 annually and maintenance accounts for $50,000.

Staffing uses 62 per cent of the budget.

“We are totally a professional service,” he said. “We do not have volunteer drivers.”

As of January 1, 2023, Sunshine Coach employed 26 drivers, 10 of which were in the 60 to 69 age range and eight 70 to 79 years old.

“Most are second-career individuals, which provides a cadre of employees who are rich in life experience and capable of handling the specific demands and challenges evident among our clients who are living with disabilities,” Mr. Dagg stated. “These people do not work in an office. Their workplace is their vehicle, often overnight and miles and miles away from our office. We need people with vast life experience who are courteous and capable of handling almost any situation.”

Eighty per cent of the service’s trips originate or have the Town of Renfrew as their destination. Ottawa/Pembroke/Arnprior trips make up 8.61 per cent, and WWR trips amount to another 3.46 per cent.

“In 2023, that amounted to 1,146 trips for your municipality,” council was told.

Maintaining current service levels going forward will present significant challenges, according to its ED.

“The current Not-For-Profit Volunteer Charitable Organization business model is, by its nature, limited in its ability to grow the service to meet ever increasing demands,” he said. “We believe we are very near, and possibly even at, the theoretical maximum capacities under this model. Unless a new sustainable funding model can be developed among various government stakeholders, maintaining our current fleet size, staffing levels and trip capacities will likely be the best we can do, going forward.”

Supply chain issues are already daunting, with no apparent relief on the horizon, Mr. Dagg said.

“The supply of new, fossil-fuel vehicles is undependable in terms of delivery. Protracted and unpredictable delays are currently the standard. Scheduling the conversion of stock vehicles into fully accessible units is currently a challenge.”

Pre-Covid costs of deploying a small vehicle was approximately $56,000.

“Our most recent replacement vehicle was $84,000, representing an increase of 50 per cent. Replacing vehicles as they become exhausted will be very daunting, cost prohibitive and could result in downsizing our fleet, leading to probable trip rationing.”

Achieving predicted zero-emission standards will be extremely challenging.

“There will be significant and possibly insurmountable supply chain barriers,” he said. “It is doubtful that zero-emission vehicles currently under design will be suitable for rural jurisdictions due to the lack of sufficient range required to transport clients to centralized centres of excellence, which are increasingly being concentrated in larger urban locations.

“We’re having significant issues acquiring vehicles for which there isn’t even a prototype yet,” he continued. “The best prototype we have right now in a converted vehicle (has a range of) a little under 200 clicks, which would get us to Ottawa and halfway back. It just won’t do in rural areas, and the research is not looking at rural areas much.”

While the cost of fossil-fuel vehicles has risen dramatically, he believes that costs of zero-emission vehicles will be proportionally higher, perhaps by as much as 100-200 per cent.

“We will be committed to fossil fuel vehicles until we are told we can’t,” he said. “That will be a challenge not only for us, but for lots of people.”

He noted that Renfrew County is bigger than Prince Edward Island and with a population of 85 per cent of that province.

“Those challenges don’t resonate in Toronto where the decision-makers and cheque-writers live,” he said.

He said it would be nice to be able to offer 24/7 service.

“We’re the only (accessible) service that runs on weekends, and that’s mainly for specialized medical needs like dialysis,” he said. “But people who need the service for medical reasons, need it for other aspects of their lives too. It would be nice to be able to have sustainable funding to offer transportation for everyone that needs it, when they need it.”

Almost 60 per cent of Sunshine Coach trips are for medical purposes; eight per cent for education, 10.5 per cent for recreation, and 21.92 per cent for personal reasons. Ambulatory passengers make up 71 per cent of the ridership; wheelchair users almost 25 per cent, and attendants another four per cent.

Mayor Neil Nicholson told Mr. Dagg that Sunshine Coach does “an awesome job” in providing a much-needed service.

“I will bring up some of these questions at the county to see if we can do something to more regionally support the future needs and that growth,” he said.

Mr. Dagg said Sunshine Coach has presented a discussion paper to the county on directions for accessible transportation.

“I haven’t heard back,” he said. “It’s probably on somebody’s desk. They need to find it and dust it off. We are open to any suggestion or any way we can help by participating in the discussion, and we’ll go anywhere any time.

“We can’t do more than that right now.”

Bruce McIntyre, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Eganville Leader