COCHRANE— COLT transit will soon be seeing a mix of on-demand and fixed routes in the near future, along with expanded regional service.
One of the most exciting things coming up for COLT is the Local Regional Service Integration set to take place post-COVID, said Transit Coordinator Devin LaFleche, during a one-year update presentation to Cochrane Council on Dec. 14.
COLT is now exploring four-key fixed regional routes that will connect to the new Cochrane Transit Hub. Three of the routes will be funded by Southland Transportation and one of the COLT on-demand buses will also be moved onto a fixed route.
The initial route will run from the new Cochrane Transit Hub to the Brentwood/University of Calgary LRT station. Other potential routes include SAIT and downtown Calgary, Foothills Hospital and downtown and a potential summer route to Banff.
The fixed routes will complement the current on-demand service to help deal with peak demands in the community.
LaFleche explained COLT will not be adding new buses to the fleet, it will instead move one of the on-demand buses to a fixed route during peak periods.
"It adds revenue," LaFleche said. "We've always kind of looked at this partnership of fixed routes of adding more services without adding costs."
LaFleche said any new routes will be based on areas that have proven most popular with riders.
"We will make sure there is ridership— If there's not we can remove that route," LaFleche said. "We'll have the ridership through the regional service, and then we'll be adding more availability to our local user to make this on-demand or fixed routes."
He noted COLT has seen shifts in users during COVID-19 and is trying to build ridership back up.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic COLT was active 40 hours per weekday on the road. It went down to 28 hours per weekday during the pandemic and later dropped to 20 hours. As ridership has grown new vehicles have been added to the road.
In its first year of service COLT saw 33,040 passengers. Before COVID the transit system saw an average weekday ridership of 171 passengers, during COVID the number of weekdays passengers dropped to 127.
Overall COLT came in under budget and saw overall revenue of $39,990.
"As far as I know we are the only transit agency in Canada that is predicted to come in under budget," LaFleche said.
To accommodate the growing transit service the Town of Cochrane recently signed a five-year contract with a company to install shelters at the new Transit Hub along with other potential locations including Cochrane Family and Community Services and Spray Lake Sawmills Family Sports Centre.
COLT will continue to offer services to the community during the heightened COVID-19 restrictions, LaFleche said, using a reduced number of vehicles on the road to match current demands.
"As ridership goes down we kind of just pull of buses," he said. "With COVID ridership has been changing. It's not as uniform as it was before."
Mayor Jeff Genung said he was impressed with the interest COLT is garnering from neighbouring communities and even some abroad due to success it has found during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“They’re all looking at Cochrane and how our transit system is working,” Genung said. “Almost every single community that has a transit system just suffered throughout COVID. The cost was still there on those fixed routes systems … The beauty of our system was that we saved money, from what we had budgeted.”
He added it is also exciting to see fixed routes will soon become a reality in Cochrane for COLT.
The plan to introduce fixed route has always been part of the plan for COLT and excited to see space become available for fixed lines.
Genung noted there are still some bugs to work out and the Town of Cochrane is using data and feedback from residents in the hopes of alleviating any issues or concerns.
Councillor Marni Fedeyko said her one major concern is troubles some community members have had when booking a COLT trips.
"They try the app— It's just not working. They're told that there is just no service, or they have to wait, or it's booked up for months at a time," Fedeyko said.
LaFleche said with the on-demand service can have failed services due to high demand— Strategic fixed routes will help alleviate this issue.
Fedeyko added people are frustrated when looking for bussing but cautioned there will be a need to be prudent with spending to expand COLT.
"It is difficult to kind of navigate these waters— I don't want to see us open up a bunch of fixed-route services and not have the ridership to be able to support that," Fedeyko said. "At the end of the day people in the community see buses running around and there's nobody on them. That is where we just can't go— We can't spend taxpayer money willy nilly right now."
Coun. Susan Flowers said she appreciated how COLT has proven to be adaptable and malleable to meet the needs of the community. She noted the ability to adjust has only been highlighted by COVID-19.
"I'm really excited about you looking at Morley and seeing if we can get a bus going from there— That would make such a difference for both communities," Flowers said.
