St. Thomas City Staff have updated council on their current recommendation for the St. Thomas Transit Strategic Plan. Staff along with a representative from Stantec Consulting presented council with their recommendation on Monday night (November 18) as the plan nears completion.
The recommendation is designed to increase service in the areas of the City with high ridership and decrease it in areas where the ridership is low.
The Talbot Street route would be increased to a 15 minute service, while areas to the outer subdivisions would be decreased to a 60 minute service.
City Engineer Justin Lawrence says that these proposed changes are being recommended with no change to the fares.
Lawrence says that they are also recommending expanding the service later and to more days a week using “Demand Response Transit” (DRT).
DRT would see users request to be picked up an existing stop using an app or by calling where they would then be picked up shortly after and taken to another predetermined transit location. DRT is being recommended to be offered all the time in the industrial area and all the time in some perimeter areas of the City.
Lawrence says that DRT will also allow them to extend the hours and days of service to 7 days a week.
Lawrence says that they are also recommending a tap payment method where you can pay with interact or VISA. You would also be able to add your monthly pass or 10 passes onto your interact or VISA. This would mean that cash or a separate bus pass card would not be necessary.
The final report will be before council in the New Year for approval with implementation expected to then take a couple of years.
