A new transit system that just launched in Gravenhurst, Ont. is making it easier for cottagers to get around town.
Implemented by the District of Muskoka on November 4, this service is demand-responsive, meaning it operates based on the needs of its riders. “It’s still a bus, except the bus route is made everyday based on where people need to go,” says Lisa Marden, the district’s director of planning.
To book a trip, riders submit their destination and desired arrival or departure time through the Blaise app, website, or via phone up to a month in advance. The program uses AI to create a daily bus route based on that day’s trips. Riders are then notified of what time they’ll be picked up—if there are many stops on that day’s route, they may be picked up earlier than usual—and to get on the bus as usual. This service is curb-to-curb, so riders can be picked up directly from wherever they are.
Throughout Muskoka, there are several bus routes—including the Corridor 11 and the Wave in Bracebridge—as well as local taxi companies. Residents and cottagers in Huntsville, Ont., can also use YDrive, a rideshare program similar to Uber. But Marden says that the district was finding it difficult to provide reliable transit service across its sprawling geographic area.
Fare sits somewhere between a regular bus and rideshare service. Adults can ride for $5, students for $3, and children under 12 ride free of charge.
The program is currently only running through Gravenhurst’s urban centre. Since its launch, it has been servicing around 10 people a day and counting.
Marden says that the district hopes to expand the program into its next phase by March 2025, which will ideally reach more cottage areas outside of Muskoka’s city centres. “We want cottagers to use this service to go into the downtown core and shop or head to a restaurant,” she says.
Until then, cottagers who are interested in having access to this service are invited to complete a survey to help the district determine where their boundaries will expand to next.
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