Blackburn Hamlet chosen for on-demand transit pilot project
Posted Sep 7, 2023 02:17:43 PM.
Last Updated Sep 7, 2023 02:46:30 PM.
City of Ottawa staff have figured out which neighbourhood would be its choice to test out on-demand transit.
In a report for the next transit commission meeting on Thursday, Sept. 14, City staff say they have chosen Blackburn Hamlet to try out the on-demand transit service on weekends.
“The demonstration pilot project is intended to show and test how on-demand service would work as an integrated part of the OC Transpo network, ideally providing shorter
waiting times and shorter travel times for customers, at a lower operating cost, in an area of the city with lower ridership,” staff write in the report.
If approved, the on-demand weekend service would use smaller Para Transpo buses and would replace OC Transpo’s Route 28, on Saturdays and Sundays.
Route 28 would continue to run Monday through Friday, and Route 25 would continue to run seven days a week on Innes Road, with no changes.
Users would order on-demand transit rides through a smartphone app or by phoning OC Transpo’s customer service centre.
“All booked trips would start/end within the service zone or at Blair Station,” staff write in the report. “The bus will make regular and scheduled stops at Blair Station for customers starting their journey there.”
An on-demand transit pilot project was one of 22 strategic initiatives laid out in the City’s transit services five-year roadmap. It comes as OC Transpo wrestles with declining ridership and revenue, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The report does not provide a specific start date for on-demand transit service in Blackburn Hamlet.
