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Oakville Council approves Five Year Plan for Oakville Transit

Oakville News
Oakville News

Following extensive public consultation and review of its service, Council approved the Oakville Transit Five Year Plan — a comprehensive strategy that promises improved frequency and reliability of transit service throughout the town over the next five years while reducing forecasted reliance on tax support for transit by $1.7 million.

The town held several focus groups, conducted hundreds of stakeholder interviews and through public surveys of both riders and non-riders, collected input into the plan that sets out the vision for transit until 2021. Public priorities included increased frequency of service, better communication to riders, and improved connectivity with GO, Mississauga, and Burlington Transit.

“This comprehensive plan seeks to streamline Oakville Transit’s operations with a prudent fiscal approach; specifically focusing on service improvements, affordability, sustainability and innovation,” said Barry Cole, director, Oakville Transit.

Keeping transit affordable for riders and taxpayers was another key theme heard throughout the public consultation and the proposed plan will actually reduce reliance on tax levy support by increasing revenue from ridership. The plan’s recommendations use $4.6 million in reallocated resources and reverses the current downward trend in cost recovery, driving up the revenue to cost ratio from 30 to 36 per cent, creating a financially sustainable service delivery model.

“This comprehensive plan seeks to streamline Oakville Transit’s operations with a prudent fiscal approach; specifically focusing on service improvements, affordability, sustainability and innovation,” said Barry Cole, director, Oakville Transit. “The plan has been carefully crafted to introduce a series of initiatives to improve the customer experience while making the most efficient use of existing resources.”

The main recommendations in the plan approved by Council include:

Increasing frequency of service

Transit review research confirmed that frequency of service is the single biggest driver of transit ridership. This plan seeks to increase frequency while minimizing additional investment.

Improving GO Train connectivity

Oakville Transit will see improved connectivity with GO train service as it delivers 15 minute frequency during peak service hours on Oakville Transit’s primary routes and matches GO Transit’s 30 minute frequency during the midday period.

Providing direct access to the new Oakville Hospital

In December, conventional and specialized transit services will access the new hospital using the three fully accessible bus stop locations on the hospital grounds.

Enabling Transit First in North Oakville

In July, Oakville Transit introduced Home to Hub, an on-request transit service serving the new communities of North Oakville. This service enables early introduction of transit services to new developments.

Addressing needs of seniors and students

Oakville Transit will maintain the three Senior Specials currently operating and “Free Mondays” for seniors will also be continued. Service improvements will provide Sheridan College students will more frequent service and increased direct access to the college.

Delivering innovative solutions

Oakville Transit’s new Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) scheduled to launch this December provides real-time bus location and dispatch to significantly improve service on time performance and reliability. In addition, the comingled Home to Hub on-request transit service is a brand new concept in transit service delivery.

Measuring, monitoring and adjusting

ITS will provide objective, real-time evidence with which to measure success and make evidence-based decision making a reality.

While the full launch of the new transit service will be in September 2016 the following milestones to launch this year are:

  1. Home to Hub Service in North Oakville — July 2015
  2. ITS technology — December 2015
  3. Access to the new Oakville Hospital — December 2015

To view the full report, visit oakville.ca and to learn more about the town’s transit services visit oakvilletransit.ca.


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