Council Invests in New Transit Model for Kenora

Council has directed Administration to proceed with negotiations for a new micro-transit solution for our community. Administration has been working diligently for several months to seek options for Council to consider which could stabilize public transit in Kenora. One of the options explored included a turn-key micro transit operation. 

The City’s current conventional transit system operates on a fixed route model that includes three main route areas that are serviced continually throughout the day by one bus, five days per week. Several contributing factors have led to an unstable transit system over the past fourteen months. The conventional fixed route system has not been reliable or meeting the needs of our community. 

What is Microtransit?

• Microtransit (sometimes called “on-demand transit”) is transportation technology that captures trip requests and groups passengers into shared rides, in real-time

• Microtransit utilizes a dense network of virtual bus stops to complement or replace traditional bus systems

• Microtransit has demonstrated the ability to improve access to jobs, healthcare, and other locations in many communities. It creates enhanced connectivity between neighborhoods and provides reliable, dependable services. 

This on-demand turnkey service will provide vehicles, service operations, driver acquisition and onboarding, service dispatching, customer service, and manage the configured rider app, web portal and driver app. This model includes marketing support to accelerate rider awareness, adoption and growth. The app offered is easy to navigate for riders to both book and track trips. Booking a ride is simple and only takes a few seconds. 

Council strongly believes this new model of delivering public transit services will meet the needs of the community and address the concerns of the instability of the service over the past year. It will also provide the City with live-data for future decisions on transit services for Kenora. 

Community consultation will take place in the coming weeks to talk with residents and users and future users about the new model and hear their views on servicing. 

Transit is an important service in our community and Council is extremely supportive of the service and wants to provide stable and reliable public transit for everyone.