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Public transit may get green light

On-demand public transit may be available in Okotoks by early 2019. Michelle Orfield, a Stantec smart mobility and transit planning consultant, told Okotoks councillors at their Oct.
On-It
The Okotoks public is being asked to provide further suggestions at pop-up open houses for a proposed on-demand public transit system which could start early in 2019.

On-demand public transit may be available in Okotoks by early 2019. Michelle Orfield, a Stantec smart mobility and transit planning consultant, told Okotoks councillors at their Oct. 9 public meeting that on-demand system is the best fit for the community. “On-demand service uses an app which allows you to select your service, when you want to be picked up, where you want to go and will tell when you can expect to be picked up,” Orfield told council. She said Stantec chose the on-demand service because it believes it will be more successful than fixed routes. Stantec is also working on innovative ways to save taxpayers money, she said. The proposal was selected after the first phase of public consultation and by studying similar communities the size of Okotoks. Okotoks will host seven pop-up open houses concerning the proposal starting Oct. 24 and 25 at various locations. The on-demand system will also calculate similar travel requests so, if possible, passengers can carpool, she explained. She said one of the biggest concerns about traditional fixed-route bus service transit is the length of time it takes for a route to take. The point-to-point service could cut down times by as much as 50 per cent. “With the fixed-route service, we only serve a portion of the community — not everyone in Okotoks could access the fixed route service,” she said. “It (on-demand) is very convenient. It can go when you want and it covers the entire town.” The recommended hours of service would be from 6:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. She said the late hour is to accommodate the many service-related employees in Okotoks. She added one of the concerns of the recently cancelled On-It regional transit service was residents didn’t appreciate seeing empty buses driving around the community. Down the road, if data from the on-demand service indicates a popular route, it may be possible to put in a fixed-route at that location, she said. It was recommended it would be curb-to-curb service rather than door-to-door, unless a passenger has mobility issues. She said there would be alternatives other than apps for individuals who may not have that type of access. The proposal calls initially for three large vans, said Okotoks town planner Colin Gainer in an interview after the presentation. He added the Town has two-thirds funding from GreenTRIP (Transit Incentive Program) from the Province to pay for the vehicles. “That will be factored into the ultimate decision on how that system will be operated, whether we [Town of Okotoks] would be operating it internally, hiring on staff to operate the vehicles or whether we would look at a contract situation with an existing transport provider,” said Gainer. Coun. Ed Sands questioned how the proposal differs from a taxi or Uber service. Orfield said unlike taxis or Uber, the service is restricted to Okotoks, as well the proposal will likely have pooled transportation. Orfield also presented to council a proposal for driverless transportation, which could be implemented in the future. It would use small bus-like looking vehicles using a fixed route to major centres in Okotoks. Council went in camera to discuss financial implications of the public transit proposal. The pop-up public information sessions for Oct. 24 from 8:45-9:45 a.m. at the McDonald’s near Home Depot; 2-3 p.m. at the Okotoks Health and Wellness Centre; 4-5 p.m. at the library and 6-8 p.m. at the Okotoks Recreation Centre. Sessions on Oct. 25 will be held 10-11 a.m. at Heartland Café; 4:30-5:30 p.m. at Walmart and 6-7 p.m. at Pason Centennial Arena.  

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