With the new NRT OnDemand transit now up and running in West Niagara, residents in Grimsby, Lincoln, West Lincoln and Pelham can enjoy the region’s new ride-sharing pilot project through the convenience of a smartphone app.
The service will provide rides within town for $3 and rides outside of town for $6.
Robert Salewytsch, program manager of transit services for the region, said it's been a long year of planning to finally get to launch, with numerous presentations and consultations made to councils and committees across West Niagara.
“We have had a pretty comprehensive road show over the past year or so since we started down this path.
“We talked to accessibility committees, we talked to the region’s youth advisory committee, we talked to the age-friendly committee in West Lincoln. We felt like we went everywhere we could.”
However, Stephen Barker, a Grimsby resident with the Joint Accessibility Advisory Committee (JAAC), said his group wasn’t one of those consulted or even informed about the new service.
Barker said he first learned about the OnDemand transit service a week before launch through a Lincoln council meeting.
“It seems so strange, because it is something that will benefit people with disabilities, obviously, and then we are not even aware of it.”
Salewytsch said the regional accessibility committee was consulted during the planning process, a communication that Barker said was not conveyed to him or the JAAC, which includes the towns of Grimsby, Lincoln, West Lincoln and Pelham.
“That happens a lot at the regional accessibility committee. They only meet three times a year, and they don’t discuss a lot with the other accessibility committees around the region – they don’t talk to us about anything.”
After learning about the service, Barker said he did email the regional accessibility committee to invite the chair to the JAAC’s next meeting in October.
As someone who is legally blind, Barker said the NRT OnDemand service should be of tremendous benefit to people across West Niagara and is an improvement over previous transit options.
One of those improvements, Barker said, is flexible pickup options that eliminate the obstacles that come with finding bus stops.
“This might be something that is helpful if it is on demand, and will come to you. That makes it a lot easier because then I don’t have to find a bus stop on the street.”
While the new ride-sharing program is centralized on the app, where trips can be booked and paid for, Salewytsch said the region also included offline options to use the service to improve accessibility for those without a smartphone.
“There are opportunities for people to make payments at a variety of locations across municipalities, most notably the community centres once they start to reopen; some of them have them at the town hall.”
There is also a number residents can call to book an OnDemand trip, which will operate daily from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
In Lincoln, where NRT OnDemand will replace the old uLink, councillors are optimistic the service will see a positive impact across the community.
Ward 4 Coun. Lynn Timmers said it is something the town has been in need of for quite some time, to connect the community with other municipalities in the region and provide convenient transit options to residents.
“This is just fantastic. I am so excited for this service to come – it's been something that we really needed. Now it is going to be connecting all of West Niagara. It's something that we have needed for a very long time.”
Barker said that for many residents, particularly those with disabilities, it is the connectivity that will provide the greatest benefit.
“Some people on the JAAC have doctor appointments in other cities, and previously you just couldn’t go from municipality to municipality.”
However, there are still some questions Barker said he wishes he had answers to prior to launch, about how the service operates, which could have been answered had the JAAC been consulted by the region during the planning process.
“For me, because I am totally blind, it would be nice to know where it stops.”
- Bryan Levesque, Local Journalism Initiative, Grimsby Lincoln News
