City shows off on-demand transit service ahead of pilot project launch

“I really do believe this is what at City Hall we’re calling the ‘Holy Grail’ where we’re going to have increased service and decreased costs for the taxpayer,” said Clugston.

The move to the MHTnow app has been months in the making for the city, which essentially allows riders to request pick ups and drop offs at their own locations via smartphones.

Users of the app will be able to follow in real time the location of the bus, estimated time of arrival, and notifications of where to be picked up.

Ridership for Medicine Hat Transit has been decreasing over the last few years, made even worse by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“In transit over the years when ridership has been down there’s only been one alternative and that’s been to reduce service or cut service completely,” said transit manager Mike Spicer. “We thought that this was a great opportunity for us to be able to look at a different service delivery model that might be a little bit more attractive to draw people to transit.”

Dozens of virtual pick up points on roadsides and intersections have been added to compliment the bus stops already in place, which has doubled the number of potential pick up and drop off locations for passengers.

“We’re not limited to where we go in the northwest or the northeast,” said Spicer. “So, the current fixed route that is there, was that feasible? Did that work for people? Was that one of the reasons why ridership was so low? So, understanding where people are being picked up and where they’re being dropped off will be an important piece for us to be able to analyze if this is successful or not.”

The pilot project will run through the end of 2020 and will replace weekday evening service in both northwest and northeast Medicine Hat, with the program being re-evaluated at the start of 2021.

There is no word yet what the potential cost savings will be for the city as those figures will become clear at the end of the pilot project, but Clugston believes it will be substantial.

“That’s not sustainable having only five people on the bus with the cost of running it about 80 percent subsidy from the tax payer and only 20 percent actual cost recovery,” said Clugston. “So, hopefully with this increase of service we’ll get more people on the bus more often and then bring our marginal costs down. It’s just time to move forward.”

This isn’t the first time major changes to Medicine Hat’s transit system have been proposed in recent years, as a total revamp of the routes and schedules was proposed in 2017.

The plan was eventually scrapped due to negative public feedback, however Clugston is confident that this new framework will help increase ridership while keeping current users happy.

“We went through this three years ago with some transit changes,” said Clugston. “I want to say while that didn’t work out and council chose to revert, I think this time we’ve got it right and I really do think the community is going to embrace this.”

City staff will be present on the applicable buses and downtown bus terminal starting Monday to answer any questions that users may have.

Public information sessions have also been set up between 3:00 and 6:00 pm at Northlands Co-Op on Thursday and the Family Leisure Centre on Friday.

by Scott Roblin

City shows off on-demand transit service ahead of pilot project launch

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