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Brant Transit is having growing pains and that’s a good thing, says a Brant County councilor.
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“It’s a young program and it’s going to evolve,” Coun. David Miller said. “If we didn’t have these growing pains and didn’t react to them, we’d have a bigger problem.”
Miller’s comments came after councillors heard from Josh Kovacs, a young Cockshutt Road resident, who raised several issues with the public transit system.
He said young people like him are having trouble getting Brant Transit rides to work. And some seniors who need rides can’t get them because times are already booked, mostly by students, counselors were told.
Booked rides are sometimes canceled at the last minute, said Kovacs, adding that drivers still show up unaware of the cancellation.
Councilors voted to send the concerns raised by Kovacs to county staff for further review.
“What we have is a transit system that is in its infancy, that has been hit by a pandemic within its first couple of years,” Coun. Steve Howes said. “I look forward to seeing some recommendations from staff going into next year as to how we can improve the system for everyone.”
Plans call for a report on Brant Transit to come to counselors by the end of the year or in early 2022, said Alison Newton, Brant’s general manager of strategic initiatives.
“There is a need to increase the fleet as there is more demand now than there was previously,” Newton said. “Ridership spiked in September when the students were back in school and people went back to work after summer holidays.
“We’ve also started some industrial commuter programs that connect with Brantford Transit and Cambridge Transit.”
Designed as a shared ride service, Brant Transit uses a fleet of eight vehicles to transport Brant residents to destinations anywhere in the county, as well as to and from Brantford.
It was launched at Brant e-Ride in January 2020 and relaunched as Brant Transit in June 2021.
For more information or to book a ride, visit www.brant.ca/en/resident-services/brant-transit.aspx.
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