Expansion of ‘successful’ Oakville Transit Ride On-Demand program gets go ahead

Changes to Oakville Transit’s Ride On-Demand program are set to make it easier and more convenient for residents in select areas to get around town.

At a recent meeting, Town Council approved Oakville Transit’s Ride On-Demand 2024 Transit Expansion Plan aimed at making the shared ride service better and more efficient.

The pilot project, which was launched last October as an evolution of the Home to Hub service, was identified as a more flexible and cost-effective way to offer transit service in low transit demand areas.

The transit program has been found to be successful in its selected areas of north and southeast Oakville and the service is now being made permanent in Wards 3 and 7. Since the pilot started, there have been a total of over 491 combined trips on the service (up to July 2023).

Beginning in 2024, the following changes will be made to the Ride On-Demand service:

• Permanent implementation of Ride On-Demand service in Wards 3 and 7. Staff recommend permanently implementing the service in Wards 3 and 7 as the service is providing transit coverage for residents in the areas where conventional fixed route service is not provided.
• Expand Ride On-Demand service to replace Route 26 – Falgarwood. The current local conventional transit service operating within the Falgarwood community is currently operating at less than 10 passenger per hour. The removal of fixed route conventional service, replaced by Ride On-Demand, will provide more service coverage and service span (times transit is available) for the area.
• Expand Ride On-Demand Service to Rt 34 – The current rush hour only, local conventional transit service operating within the Bronte Creek community is currently operating at less than 10 passenger per hour. The removal of fixed route conventional service, replaced by Ride On-Demand, will provide more service coverage and service span (times transit is available) for the area.
• Replace Late Night Service – Town Wide Oakville transit currently operates two late night services operating from the Oakville GO station which service the east and west sides of the Town. Staff are recommending Ride On-Demand replace the existing late night transit services to enable customers a more direct trip and end stop location. Staff will monitor the service to identify potential expansion of the late-night Ride On-Demand service to analyse further late transit service access across the Town.

The expansion of the of the Ride On-Demand program will not have additional financial impacts as staff will be utilizing existing vehicle and staffing resources.

Oakville is also preparing a Five-Year Transit business plan this fall which will provide staff direction for transit services over the next five years. The plan will analyse future changes to the system, including ‘gridding’ of additional transit routes, review of service frequencies, service spans, and further expansion of the Ride On-Demand services.