The Telegram (St. John's)

Alberta town debuts on-demand bus service

- PATRICK GIBSON

The town of Cochrane became a more accessible and connected municipali­ty Monday with the launch of an on-demand transit service.

Three buses with the new COLT (Cochrane On-demand Local Transit) livery were operationa­l, to be joined by five more vehicles in the coming months.

Cochrane resident Jaclyn Laliberte was among the first to test the new service when she boarded the first bus in her Heartland neighbourh­ood.

“We’re looking for easy access to get around town with family especially to get to some of the events, and this will be a great local connection,” said Laliberte.

“We got up early and booked on the app, so it was very quick and easy to see if we would arrive at our destinatio­n on time and make sure that that was the best choice for us today.”

Instead of a traditiona­l fixed-route service that makes scheduled stops at specific locations, Cochrane’s buses move on optimized routes based on where users are and where they want to go.

“Transit talks in Cochrane started years ago, and it has been a long road to get us to this day,” said Mayor Jeff Genung.

Bus stops are located throughout the town. From their smartphone­s, riders can use the RIDECOLT app to direct where they want to be picked up and dropped off.

A computer program will then compare the request with those of other riders and direct drivers on the most efficient route.

 ?? PATRICK GIBSON/POSTMEDIA NETWORK ?? Local family, from left, Roam, Laurainne, Cali and Jaclyn Laliberte board Cochrane’s inaugural transit ride on Monday.
PATRICK GIBSON/POSTMEDIA NETWORK Local family, from left, Roam, Laurainne, Cali and Jaclyn Laliberte board Cochrane’s inaugural transit ride on Monday.

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