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Alternate transit plan pitched

A proposed plan for local transit services within Okotoks could see residents dial up a bus to get a ride. A report presented to town council Sept.
A report recommends the Town look at adopting an on demand transit service for local busses within Okotoks. The move is proposed after local morning and afternoon bus service
A report recommends the Town look at adopting an on demand transit service for local busses within Okotoks. The move is proposed after local morning and afternoon bus service included in the On-It pilot project were cancelled.

A proposed plan for local transit services within Okotoks could see residents dial up a bus to get a ride.

A report presented to town council Sept. 25 recommends the Town consider adopting an on demand transit service that would see buses pick residents up and deliver them directly to their destination.

The report will come back to council for further consideration after next week’s election.

Coun. Ray Watrin said the service would allow multiple passengers to schedule a pick-up, and the route and timing would be coordinated to pick up and drop off passengers along the way.

“Say there’s three or four people who want to go to one place at a particular point in time, and or close to the same time,” she said. “Then they may ride together, but they’ll be dropped off at their different locations along the way.”

Watrin said the concept is being looked at as an alternative to bringing a local bus service back to the community after in-town bus routes included with the On-It transit pilot project were cut due to poor ridership.

On Demand services, sometimes called Dial-A-Bus, are in place in other communities. The City of Airdrie recently introduced an on demand bus service that runs in conjunction with two fixed routes through the city.

The report recommends Okotoks use an on demand service with smaller shuttle buses to introduce local transit. The report also looked at establishing a fixed route service using a typical 40-foot transit bus or a smaller shuttle bus.

According to the report, shuttle buses would have a lower operating cost than larger buses and the cost of an on demand system would be similar to using shuttles on fixed routes.

The report shows an on demand service running all day on weekdays could cost $257,000 in the first year and $242,000 in the second year. Part-time service on weekdays could cost $131,500 in the first year and $116,500 in the second. Part-time service on Saturdays could cost an additional $24,200.

The cost of a fixed-route service using a traditional transit bus is pegged at around $523,100 for all day service. Using a shuttle bus would bring the potential cost down to $231,300.

The proposed costs are preliminary and do not include potential ticket revenues.

Coun. Tanya Thorn said an on demand system could fit people’s needs better than a conventional service.

“With this you can say ‘I want to leave at 10’ and we say ‘we’ll be there between 10 and 10:10,’” she said. “You at least know what you’re dealing with.”

Thorn said it is more cost effective and flexible.

The system could also evolve and grow with Okotoks, she said, because it could identify popular destinations, routes and times among transit users. This would be valuable information should the Town decide to bring in a route-based service, Thorn said.

“It allow us to have some data that says 80 per cent of the trips were from St. Mary’s School to the recreation centre so we should have something on that route,” she said.

Thorn said using smart phone apps could allow the service to be more convenient for riders.

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