Saint John Transit could soon have a new on-demand service as the city looks to transform its transit system.
Staff presented the idea of a technology-based, stop-to-stop service during this week’s Common Council meeting.
The concept would see buses sent to where and when a call for service is made rather than driving on a route where passengers are not waiting.
“If you see a bus going and it’s empty, it’s because it’s going to pick up somebody, so it won’t be empty for very long,” said Ian Fogan, director of Saint John Transit.
“You won’t have buses travelling around empty, and you won’t see too many at a time so people don’t want them, but you will also have them available when people do want them.”
On-demand transit is already established in 20 municipalities across Canada, including Regina, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Calgary, and Vancouver.
Fogan said the on-demand service can increase service levels by decreasing wait times while helping a user plan a trip.
“If you have a plan to be at a doctors office at 10:15 in the morning, you can put in your destination, and time of your destination, and the technology can plan that for you, and tell you to be at bus stop 102 at 9:45 to get the bus,” he said.
Saint John Transit’s eight main routes — 1A, 1B, 3A, 3B, 9A, 9B, 15A, 15B — would continue to have rapid fixed-route service with 15-minute frequency. These routes account for around 75 per cent of transit’s ridership.
The remaining routes throughout the city would be a hybrid of rapid fixed-route service and on-demand service.
“With this, we think we can reach 70 per cent of our population within 1.25 kilometres of our rapid routes, and we think we can get 85 per cent of the population no more than 800 metres to any bus stop,” said Fogan.
Staff will also look at rightsizing fleet and vehicle capacity, route simplicity, and fare simplicity.
“We also want to be careful that we’re not competing with private cab companies or future rideshare because this is a stop-to-stop service not door-to-door,” said Fogan.
A presentation to council said public and stakeholder engagement will take place over the coming months. A completed plan is expected by late spring with a phased implementation beginning in the summer.
