22The doors may be closed to commuter transit in Black Diamond and Turner Valley after today, but there’s the possibility they may reopen. Southland Transportation’s On-it commuter service operates in the two towns for the last time today due to low ridership, but the company’s regional director in southern Alberta said it could return. “We will obviously monitor the market within Turner Valley and Black Diamond and carry on with our discussions with the town councils there and hopefully we can pick it back up again in the future,” said Jonathan Weal of Southland Transportation regional director. “We would never close the door on it. If people want it we will provide the service. At the moment not enough want it.” The transportation company announced it would stop the service in late May, after taking it over in March from the Calgary Regional Partnership (CRP). The CRP began a two-year regional transit pilot project in October 2016 linking Black Diamond, High River, Okotoks and Turner Valley to south Calgary. The now defunct CRP had cancelled the project due to low ridership. Since taking it over, Southland operated a 15-passenger bus between Okotoks and the two towns, but Weal said it needed about 10 riders a day to make it financial feasible. With an average of three riders, Southland estimated it was making less than $1 per day for the twice a day service, said Weal. On some days there were no riders. “Every day it’s costing money,” he said. “The passengers were paying 50 cents each way to get to Turner Valley or Black Diamond (the price difference from Okotoks to Calgary). It’s difficult to run any vehicle from Okotoks to Turner Valley or Black Diamond for $1.50.” Weal said it doesn’t help that the cost of gas continues to rise. “Gas has gone up considerably so everybody in the transportation industry has seen a 30 per cent rise in gas plus the carbon tax on top of that,” he said. Regular users of the On-it transit understood the reasons behind the discontinued service, said Weal. “I believe that all three of them are going to continue to use the service to Okotoks,” he said of the regular users, relaying information he heard from the bus drivers. “They were expecting it (to be cancelled), to be honest. Obviously I’m disappointed but if the demand isn’t there we can’t provide the service. It’s expensive to run those large motor coaches.” Rider Teagan Bender said she’s been using the service since it began almost two years ago to visit friends and family in Calgary. More recently, she’s been taking On-it once a week from her home in Calgary to stay in Turner Valley for a few days while working part time. “I really only need to come out here once and then I have a reliable ride back into the city,” she said. “I live in the northwest so it’s easy to hop on the train to downtown. It’s less than 20 minutes. I get on the bus and it takes me to Okotoks and the commuter and there’s Wi-Fi, which is nice. That’s a big plus for me.” Bender recently purchased a vehicle and will soon take her driver’s test. In the meantime, she isn’t worried about getting to work in Turner Valley. “I will still be able to get back and forth with people who are commuting or family members or friends,” she said. “I will just take the bus to Okotoks and then find my own way back out. Hopefully I’ll be getting my licence very soon so I can take my own vehicle.” Bender said she wasn’t surprise Southland Transportation cancelled the On-it service to Black Diamond and Turner Valley. “I know that ridership is low so I understand why it’s no longer going to be running out here,” she said. “I’m sad that not as many people saw the benefits to it. I thought it would have been great for the elderly, especially during the winter. It was great while it lasted.” Weal said no jobs have been lost as a result of the cancelled service. As for transit in High River and Okotoks, Weal said it’s better than ever. “We’re having great success with the service from High River and Okotoks still,” he said. “We’ve gained quite a few customers from Okotoks to downtown that weren’t using this before. We expect the service to continue growing.”
