Ride Norfolk

As a project to support the social needs of the region, it is projected to help abused women escape their hostile situations without relying on other people for transportation.[3] It might never be profitable in a rural area to conduct mass transit so Ride Norfolk is basically a vital community project.[3] Other rural communities may learn from Norfolk County's precedence and create a bus service catering their residents.[3] There is less money lost on Ride Norfolk than it takes to operate the various ice hockey arenas, swimming pools and baseball diamonds; making Ride Norfolk pay off dividends in the social (but not the financial) department.[3]

Terminating the Ride Norfolk program at any time will revert the municipality to the situation of lacking sufficient transportation for those who cannot afford automobiles.[12] Norfolk County's rural nature and lack of public transportation options between the dissolution of the Simcoe Coach Lines services of the 1950s and the adoption of the Ride Norfolk program in the 21st century have traditionally made the automobile the only viable choice for Norfolk County residents in the past. While seniors have depended on reduced fare taxi tokens to get around Simcoe in the past, official encouragement to use Ride Norfolk instead has caused them to terminate the taxi tokens for senior citizens as of May 1, 2013. A significant number of people who live in Norfolk County were born prior to the Second World War and are unaware of the advantages and disadvantages of travelling by bus as opposed to private taxi.[13] Seniors cannot afford to purchase their own vehicles; as the average cost of a budget vehicle starts around $17,000 and gas prices have a tendency to fluctuate between $1.03 a litre and $1.32 a litre.[14] Unlike a traditional mass transit service like London Transit or Brantford Transit, bus drivers are given total decision making rights as to what roads are used to get from community to community.[15]

Nearly 20 people a day utilize this bus service as it delivers passengers through the five major communities of Norfolk County.[12] The inadequate bus scheduling for the major town of Simcoe has been seen as a reason not to ride the transit service.[13] The total cost of operations for Norfolk Ride in 2012 was estimated to be nearly $300,000; which is almost the same as every eligible taxpayer paying $150 upfront for the service.[1] This money could put a lot of taxis on the road and hire more people than the bus service.[1] However, the taxi service in the region has been known for being expensive and inconsiderate of the social needs of the lower-income people (particularly retired people, unemployed people, stay-at-home parents and the disabled people who are capable of living independently within the community).

By having a bus service for these people instead of having multiple cabs on the road, it would help curb emissions and bring an element of carpooling to people who would otherwise never experience it.