Achi news desk-
Even Kelowna’s bus system is adapting to technological shifts that bring travel demands into the palm of an individual’s hand.
As promised this time last year, BC Transit is bringing “on demand” bus service to the Kelowna neighborhood of Crawford. The goal, according to BC Transit president and CEO Aaron Pinkerton, is to offer services where they are needed and attract more people to use public transit.
“Basically the way I described it is there’s no route and there’s no timetable so customers tell us where they want to go within the zone we’ve identified,” Pinkerton said.
“Then we tell them when the bus is going to pick them up at a stop close to their house. So it’s flexible transport and you can use an app or call in to (book) your journey.”
This “dynamic and flexible” service is the first of its kind in BC and Pinkerton said they are trying it out in Kelowna because of a long-standing successful partnership and continued population growth. Also, it could help to get areas that are not as likely to use the service to have a change of heart.
“Crawford is an area that hasn’t had the highest frequency service right now, not the highest ridership,” Pinkerton said.
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“So it’s a way for us to try to grow a service to grow ridership in an area that isn’t traditionally served by high frequency.”
The aim, he added, would be to bring cyclists to the transit interchange, and then allow residents to travel through the rest of the transit network.
Matthew Boyd, director of corporate and strategic planning for BC Transit, said the plan is to launch the service on April 28, and he thinks riders will appreciate the flexibility.
“Imagine someone is sitting at home and they need to go to a destination at a certain time, so what they do is upload the request, pick the time,” Boyd said.
They would then be expected to walk to the suggested stop. The bus app will give a warning of an upcoming arrival at 15, then five minutes ahead of time.
“During that time, the customer can track the bus on the app much like the ride sharing apps you see at the moment,” he said.
He said within the Crawford zone, there are more than 100 virtual bus stops where people can stop and there are also the traditional bus stops.
The on-demand service is funded by BC Transit and the City of Kelowna. If successful, the service could expand to other locations and communities around the province.
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