Council will investigate expanding On Demand Transit (ODT) to certain bus routes inside the city.
ODT is a type of transit service where routes and schedules are determined by passenger demand. This means vehicles do not follow schedules that are set in advance, instead having customers booking a ride ahead of time. This can result in shorter wait times and more convenience for riders. Vehicles involved can range from large SUVs to shuttle buses.
There is currently a limited On Demand Transit service in Thunder Bay, with the Lift Plus Program being solely ODT. Along with this, passengers riding route 4 Neebing after 6 p.m. can also use ODT.
Manager of Transit Services Brad Loroff says they are planning to make the process simpler for riders.
“What’s being proposed next is to add electronic functionality for customers to use, that rather than having to call our office right now and make their trip requests, they can do it independently,” explains Loroff. “They can do it independently through a mobile app, they can do it independently through a web portal, online on the web, and they can make their trip requests and manage their trip requests all by themselves. If they do not want to do that or are not able to do that, they will always have the option to call our office and speak to someone about it.”
On Demand Transit would not be relevant to major routes in Thunder Bay, and is effective with routes less frequented by the public.
“We would not be proposing to replace high density, high volume, high ridership transit routes with on demand, because on demand is not the best way to provide service in that environment,” says Loroff. “On demand is best suited to serve under performing routes, routes that don’t have high ridership, areas that are hard to service by conventional transit because of long trip times.”
Applying ODT to routes with lower ridership is cost effective as well because rather than having empty transit buses, vehicles are transferring riders based on demand.
There are certain areas the city is considering for On Demand transit service options:
- Neebing Special Service Area, expanding the current evening on-demand service to full
day on-demand service including Rosslyn Road – Neebing to Glenoah (currently no
transit service) - Parkdale residential areas (currently no transit service)
- Route 6-Mission service to Fort William First Nation
- Derek Burney Drive to service Aviation Centre Aviation Centre of Excellence (ACE)
- East End residential areas
- Lillie Street service to Hogarth Riverview Manor (HRM)
- Leland loop via Victoria/Donald
- Jasper Drive service to seniors retirement residences
- Carrie Street service to seniors retirement residences
- Hilldale and Wardrope service to Chartwell Hilldale Retirement Centre
There are no tax related impacts as a result of a change from regular fixed route service to On
Demand service including any changes made to the 4-Neebing bus route
