Small Ontario town’s experiment using Uber as public transit working: officials
Partnership subsidizing rides seen as more ‘cost-effective’ than bus service
The town of Innisfil, Ont., is hailing its two-month-old experiment to subsidize Uber as the lone form of public transit as a success, with nearly 5,000 trips taken since the pilot project began in May.
Innisfil — about 100 kilometres north of Toronto and home to about 36,000 people — has paid $26,462.41, or an average of $5.43 per trip, for 4,868 Uber rides taken in the two months since launching the unique-to-Canada project on May 15.
“We are really pleased we did go this route,” said Paul Pentikainen, a senior policy adviser with the town. “This partnership with Uber had definitely proven to be a lot more cost effective for us, being able to provide this level of service to our residents. You don’t need to be within walking distance to a bus stop or a bus route, so it’s something that works for us for sure.”
Last summer, Innisfil’s city council was at a crossroads. Creating additional transportation options across the sprawling area was declared a key priority in the community’s strategic plan.
However, council found that a fixed-route bus service would be too costly, with a price tag of $270,000 per year for one bus, and $610,000 for two.
Instead, the town decided to partner with global ride-sharing giant Uber to launch a partnership to provide on-demand transit service to Innisfil residents that is partially subsidized by the municipality.
Passengers pay between $3 and $5 for set routes within Innisfil, such as to Town Hall and the GO train station, and the town pays $5 for all other rides within town.
Pentikainen and Tim Cane, Innisfil’s manager of land-use planning, will provide city council with a two-month update on the pilot project on Wednesday.
So far, demand is keeping pace with the budget for the project. Innisfil’s council committed $100,000 for the first six to nine months, and an additional $125,000 next year.
While Pentikainen said there are certain times during weekdays where meeting demand has been an issue, he noted that Uber said people who have been requesting trips have been able to get trips “most of the time.”
“As a 24/7 service, we’re quite pleased with that,” Pentikainen said.
He added that using Uber as an on-demand public transit option appears to be the best option for the town for the foreseeable future.
“With our large geography, the distance between settlements, getting bus routes to provide the same level of service would be way too expensive,” he said. “Maybe decades into the future when we have a much higher population we may look at other options, but I think right now this is working for us.”
Pentikainen added that, in the short term, the town will look at ways to tweak the service to make it more efficient and convenient for users, as well as surveying residents about the Uber system.
Uber spokesperson Susie Heath said the ride-sharing company is pleased with the results of the report that was released Tuesday and will be presented on Wednesday.
“Since we launched this exciting public transit partnership in May, it has been great to see Innisfil residents access affordable, ondemand rides to get around their community and connect with local transit hubs,” Heath said in an emailed statement.
"We look forward to continued dialogue with other jurisdictions and transit authorities across Canada to explore similar partnerships.”