Expanded bus service is coming to Chatham in an innovative and new way.
On Monday night, council unanimously voted in favour of introducing a pilot project for an on-demand responsive transportation service in the community of Chatham. Riders can book bus trips using a mobile app, website or by calling. The buses are then deployed and routed based on service demand, using an algorithm to determine the best route based on the requested service. The on-demand software technology also provides the rider with real-time information on the location of the bus and available space.
Ian Clark, CK's municipal transit project manager, said the on-demand model is similar to Uber Pool.
"It's not going to be curb to curb transportation. It's not going to be personalized transportation. It's still going to be a mass public transit system but the advantage here is we no longer have some of that access capacity that we have on our fixed-route network where busses are driving around with few individuals," he explained. "It will now automatically go where there's been ridership demand... so there's more efficiencies to be had."
According to Clark, in 2018 the city of Belleville was the first in North America to introduce an on-demand transportation system, replacing their traditional fixed bus route with the responsive system during the evenings. Since introducing the new system, Clark side transit ridership in Belleville has increased by 300 per cent, while per vehicle mileage has decreased by 30 per cent.
"We see a lot of potential into it because it both could potentially improve our service level to our ridership as well as decrease costs. That's what Belleville experienced and that's why so many other municipalities around North America are exploring it," said Clark.
The pilot project would take place between January 2020 and June 2021. For now, the service will operate from Monday to Friday, 7:15 p.m. until 12:30 a.m. Clark said there may be a possibility for hours to be altered or extended if the pilot project proves to be successful, but they wanted to manage the cost and see how the service does in the evenings. He added that they will closely be watching how popular Friday night's service is to see if a Saturday night service is necessary.
The on-demand pilot project is part of a strategic review of the CK transit system that is currently taking place. Using 18 months of resident feedback and municipal consultation, the Transit Strategy Project is looking at long term transit improvements that will be implemented and used over the next five to 10 years. According to Clark, the need for bus service during evening and nights has been a frequent demand from riders.
One person who was vocal about their support of the program was Dava Robichaud with TekSavy. During a deputation at the beginning of the night, she urged council to consider the program, telling them how a lack of transportation has been a large barrier for over 500 Chatham-based employees at TekSavy.
"We have several shifts outside of the current transportation schedules," she said. "For example, some of our shifts end as late as one in the morning and we have overnight shifts ending at 7 a.m.," said Robichaud. "Our shift end times cause transportation and financial stress to our employees who want to work these shifts but must reply on alternative options for travel."
The pilot project would require the municipality to directly purchase and retain ownership of two new buses necessary for the service. According to Clark, there are a few more steps they need to take before the project launches early next year.
"We need to secure a transportation provider. We need to provide a software provider. Then we need to have some discussions internally on some of the operational levels that we'll want to establish in terms of what are the wait times, what are the stop locations, things like that," he explained.
The on-demand transit pilot project for evening service in the community of Chatham has a total cost of $435,000. Of this amount, $276,657 will be funded by the Transit Reserve if it meets the eligibility criteria and the remaining cost would be funded by the Provincial Gas Tax Reserve. If the eligibility criteria are not met for the $276,657, then it is to be funded fully by the Provincial Gas Tax Reserve.
