On-demand buses to hit Ottawa's roads this fall

OC Transpo is aiming to launch an on-demand transit pilot project on weekends this fall, following in the steps of several other Canadian cities.

The plan is to use spare Para Transpo minibuses that would run in two or three areas that currently have either limited transit service or low ridership numbers, Ottawa's transit commission heard Thursday.

Riders will be able to schedule a ride through an app, website, or the OC Transpo contact centre, said Claire O'Donnell, program manager for service strategy.

If the city buys more vehicles, the initiative could eventually be expanded to run daily and in more neighbourhoods, O'Donnell told thecommission.

"Because we're currently in the early planning phase ... we will have more details available at a future transit commission meeting," she said.

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On-demand transit has proven itself elsewhere as a way to get buses to communities that "can't support multiple, frequent corridors of service," said Barrhaven East Coun. Wilson Lo.

"It actually increases the service availability for a lot of residents in areas like the suburbs," said Lo, speaking to CBC Radio'sOttawa Morningahead of Thursday's meeting.

"It's a great way to introduce new service to new areas and may be even something we can use to pilot overnight service."

In the ideal scenario,once riders book a bus, it will show up at their chosen stop within five to 10 minutes, Lo said.

The service wouldn't replace major fixed routes that head downtown, Lo said. Instead, itwould supplement themby making it easier, for instance, for residents to get from one side of Barrhaven to the other.

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However, the "most underperforming routes" could potentially be axed if on-demand transit proves successful, he said.

"You're going from having to wait up to 60 minutes or up to however [many] minutes for a busto being able to request a ride as soon as possible, as soon as it's available," Lo said. "So that service availability has actually increased."

That possibility didn't sit well with Sam Hersh, a board member with advocacy group Horizon Ottawa and the lone public delegate to speak directly to the pilot projectThursday.

"I'm not saying it's an absolutely terrible idea," Hersh told Lo and other members of the transit commission. "[But it's] a Band-aid idea for a transit system that needs broad reform."

Already underway in Edmonton, York Region

The commission heard Thursday that the cityis already working with Pantonium, a Toronto-based softwarecompany that provides municipalities with digital infrastructuredesigned to optimize bus routes and schedules on the fly.

Pantonium has been involved with several Canadian on-demand transit projects already, including one in Belleville, Ont., that was considered cutting edgewhen it launched in 2018.

Canada's largest on-demand transit network is in Edmonton,Lo said, but the most relevant example for OC Transpomight be the one operating inYork Region, given its mix of suburban and rural communities.

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In Ottawa, the plan is to connect riders in the areas where the pilot project operates withthe "backbone of their transit," said OC Transpo general manager Rene Amilcar,although she didn't give further details.

Ultimately, if the pilot leads to an increase in ridership, that will be the biggest indicator of success, Lo said.

"The hope is that the demand grows, and that it kind of pays for itself," he said.