Council will be considering a permanent increase in transit hours and continuing participation in regional transit routes in the 2019 budget deliberations.
A staff report presented to the Development and Operations Services Standing Committee on Jan. 21 and again to council on Jan. 28, showed increase ridership numbers due to a pilot project that increased service hours and projected growth should the enhanced services continue.
The increased hours tried in the nine-month pilot project, which is still running until March included later service on Saturdays and Sundays, and continuing the Blue Mountain link all day where previously busses didn’t run to Blue Mountain from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
According to the staff report, the Colltrans link saw a 13.4 per cent increase in ridership, the Wasaga Beach link saw a 34.7 per cent increase, and the Blue Mountains link saw a 64.6 per cent increase since the start of the pilot project in July.
To continue with extended hours the net costs to the Town of Collingwood in 2019 would be approximately $100,000, which would have to be approved during budget deliberations.
For our full story on the results of the transit pilot project, click here.
-With files from Jessica Owen