Transit ridership is increasing following the pandemic, prompting response from the city.--NEWS FILE PHOTO
kking@medicinehatnews.com
Increases in the number of Hatters accessing on-demand transit services has prompted the city to pilot a new fixed-evening and weekend bus route in Crescent Heights, beginning April 13.
Introduced during Monday’s public services committee meeting, the pilot route is the first step in transitioning transit services back to similar levels to what was operated pre-pandemic.
Significant decreases in ridership during the pandemic led the city to reduce and alter transit services in areas and at times when demand for service was known to be low.
However, not wanting to terminate the service altogether, the city piloted on-demand transit services, which run in the north and central zones from 6:45-10:45 p.m. Monday to Friday, and from 8:15 a.m. to 7:15 p.m. on Sundays, with riders scheduling service as needed on the Medicine Hat Transit app.
Determined a successful resolution to low ridership and the continued need for service, the pilot was adopted and on-demand services continue to be available.
But officials now say increased demand for on-demand services has become overwhelming, prompting reintroduction of an evening and weekend fixed route for high-service areas.
“The beauty of on-demand is we get excellent data on where people are getting on and off,” Gordon Dykstra, manager of transit services with the city, told the News. “(The data) shows we don’t have a level of ridership that would require us to put service back to where it was (but) we are bumping up against what on-demand can handle.
“So, what we’re doing is we’re picking the largest hotspots (most frequented service areas) in the northeast, and we’re putting a small route in to service those hotspots every 30 minutes.”
Launching April 13, the new pilot route will only operate in conjunction with current on-demand services, meaning it will not be in operation during weekdays or on Saturdays.
The route, which includes 19 stops, is expected to run from the downtown transit terminal; across Maple Avenue Bridge; up Division Avenue to the Northlands Co-op and Family Leisure Centre; onto 20th Street NE; turning onto Hatcher Drive and 7th Avenue NE before reconnecting with 20th Street; turn onto Parkview Drive and 12th Street NE; before reconnecting with Division Avenue and returning to the downtown terminal.
While the pilot route is a significant expansion of service, costs associated with it remain minimal as its operation is largely secured through resource shuffling.
“We’re trying to be responsible with the resources we have, which are limited, especially coming out of COVID,” said Dykstra. “And that means we’re not automatically going back to what we had before (the pandemic).”
The pilot route will run for three months before undergoing assessment to determine its effectiveness at reducing demand for on-demand services and matching riders’ needs.
“Ridership is starting to come back, but it’s slow; steady, but it’s slow,” said Dykstra. “So, we have to figure out where the real demand is … It’s going to be incremental change coming out of COVID.”
