Timmins Transit needs more people to get on board to expand its evening paratransit trips.
A report from Timmins Transit to the Municipal Accessibility Advisory Committee (MAAC) said that while ridership is trending upward, the hope is that more people will also use the service in the evening.
The service has two full-time buses running from 6:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. and a third to cover the busiest times on Thursday, but the report said more customer buy-in is needed to have that third bus running full-time.
Bookings can be made through the dispatch service or the app introduced on Feb. 12, 2024.
RELATED: City working out kinks of new paratransit on-demand service
The app is available in app stores under Timmins Transit on Demand.
There are over 400 registered paratransit users in the city.
Posters and other advertisements will be placed to ensure that people know about the hours of service and that rides are available.
The paratransit on-demand service is phase one of the city’s plan to provide a similar service for the general public in the future. A micro-transit pilot in Porcupine and South Porcupine is planned to roll out in late summer 2024.
RELATED: Timmins Transit upgrades could mean service with on-demand, traditional routes
The goal is a public transit system with 12 fixed routes in high-traffic areas that riders can connect to using an on-demand micro-transit service.
More information on the on-demand system's performance will be available at the next MAAC meeting on Aug. 21.
