Funding announced for On-it enhancements

The provincial and federal governments are boosting transit services in Black Diamond and Turner Valley with $700,000 to offset costs of parking and adding more transport options if the commuter transit service continues beyond its two-year pilot project.

The funding, announced in Black Diamond Sept. 8, would support the purchase of three transit vehicles adapted for wheelchair users to offer service between the two towns only. The money will also go toward construction of a park and ride facility with public washrooms in Turner Valley. The federal government will provide $46,000 to each of the two projects through its Public Transit Infrastructure Fund and the Province will provide $300,000 for each.

“I was hopeful and expectant of it, but I was a little surprised that it happened so quickly,” said Black Diamond Mayor Glen Fagan of the funding announcement. “Without the funding we would not be able to do this on our own.”

Fagan said providing inter-municipal public transit between the two towns could assist a number of residents, particularly seniors.

“When they don’t have a vehicle in a small town it’s restricting,” he said. “They become more of a shut in and that is a big issue.”

Ettore Iannacito, regional transit program manager, said an average of four Black Diamond residents and two in Turner Valley use the commuter service daily.

Whether it’s viable to continue offering the On-it beyond the two-year pilot project, which ends October 2018, will be up to future councils, Fagan said.

“The On-it has another year left on the funding that’s coming through the CRP (Calgary Regional Partnership) at which point we have to start funding a part of this,” he said. “A decision of new council will have to be made whether to continue funding the On-it commuter transit. It will take a significant study to prove it being viable either one way or the other.”

Black Diamond received $960,000 in December 2016 from Alberta Transportation’s Green Transit Incentive Program for the purchase of three transit vehicles for inter-municipal transit between the towns, as well as for a park and ride facility in Black Diamond, according to chief administrative officer Sharlene Brown.

If council approves the addition, it will have to determine the type of vehicles it will purchase and the cost, of which it will share a portion.

Brown said the Town could have the service in place by late 2018 or early 2019, which will allow for access to services riders might not have in their own community, like the hospital.

In Turner Valley, the park and ride facility was part of the initial application when the Town signed up for the On-it commuter bus pilot project, said Mayor Kelly Tuck.

“Getting the funding and being able to move ahead with it is just a nice surprise,” she said.

The park and ride will likely consist of a bus shelter and bathroom facilities, although Tuck said it’s still in the planning stages and would have to be approved by future council.

“If you're sitting and waiting for a bus it would be nice to know you have the option to use the washrooms. A covered bus stop would be really nice, especially in the winter months or if you have rain or sleet.”

“If you’re sitting and waiting for a bus it would be nice to know you have the option to use the washrooms,” she said. “A covered bus stop would be really nice, especially in the winter months or if you have rain or sleet.”

Tuck said Town administration is looking into the costs for a park and ride facility. If approved, she expects the project to be complete within a year and the location to be finalized in October, she said.

The Calgary Regional Partnership established the On-it commuter bus in the Foothills last October with buses travelling from High River, Turner Valley and Black Diamond, through Okotoks and on to the Somerset C-Train station in south Calgary.

Colleen Shepherd, director of the Calgary Regional Partnership, said Black Diamond and Turner Valley played significant roles in bringing the On-it transit pilot project to the region and has become an example for other parts of the country.

“This regional transit program is being looked at from provinces across the country,” she said. “This is a way to bring transit to small communities that may have a challenge in getting transit.”

Shepherd described regional transit in small communities as forward thinking.

“It’s absolutely vital for our economy,” she said. “By providing the communities with regional transit you are going to see jobs and businesses come to your communities.”