Motion Digest Network: Leading Urban Transformation

Innisfil’s council, which serves a community of about 36,000 just 45 minutes North of Toronto and Uber today launched Canada’s first ride-sharing to transit partnership.   This partnership will not only encourage residents to access local transit hubs but will help them get around town and explore the community.

The Partnership

This partnership will help Innisfil residents connect with the Barrie-South GO Station, and the local GO Bus line. Ride-sharing has become a first mile/last mile component with public transit in cities around the world. The American Public Transportation Association, to which many Canadian transit authorities are members, published a study last year that found that people who routinely use “shared modes” of transportation (e.g., bikesharing, carsharing, and ridesharing) were more likely to use public transit. Today, people are combining ridesharing and public transit to substitute for a car and create shared journeys. As a case in point, in London, 30% of Uber rides in the outer boroughs during the morning rush hour end within 200 metres of a Tube or train station.

Town Subsidised Rides

The Town of Innisfil will subsidize a portion of the fare for all trips taken by residents within Innisfil, while offering additional subsidies for rides going to and from transit hubs. In addition, the Town of Innisfil has also partnered with Barrie Taxi as part of this new on-demand transit model to provide accessible rides. The town will provide $100,000 of ride subsidies this year for the partnership, and a further $125,000 in 2018.

“We are excited to launch this new solution to provide our residents with safe, accessible and reliable transportation,” said Innisfil Mayor Gord Wauchope.

“Rather than place a bus on the road to serve just a few residents, we are moving ahead with a better service that can transport people from all across our town to wherever they need to go.”

“Uber is making it easier for Innisfil residents to get around town and connect to local transit while saving town taxpayers’ money,” said Sheldon McCormick, Uber Ontario General Manager. “We were thrilled when the Town of Innisfil approached us last year looking for a modern transportation alternative.  We were happy to work with Innisfil to design this program and are always eager to help bring positive change and innovation to communities across Ontario.”

Ride-Sharing: Connecting Transit Networks

Realizing these trends are already happening, more and more transit authorities and cities are entering into formal agreements with ride-sharing companies to help connect people to public transit, like in the feeder communities of New York City and Orlando, or improve para-transit services for the elderly and disabled, as with a pilot program in Boston.

For more information about the ridesharing partnership in Innisfil, ON., please visitt.uber.com/innisfil_transit or http://www.Innisfil.ca/transit. To learn more about driving with Uber in Innisfil, please visit t.uber.com/innisfil.

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