Colt has been a paid service in Cochrane for a month now. The On-Demand Local Transit system launched in the fall and the Town of Cochrane offered the service for free for the first couple of months. On January 1st, it became a paid service.

Devin Lafleche is the special projects planner and says he's pleased with Colt's success in the New year. Lafleche says there has been a levelling off since the newly implemented fee. He says "We 're still seeing high ridership. Before we were seeing about 200 riders a day and now we're seeing about 180. That's been a good levelling off. The same day bookings have gone up from about 10 to 25 percent, and shared rides have held steady at 72 percent, meaning that for every ride happening it's being shared 72 percent of the time."

Lafleche says that one challenge with the now paid service is riders paying with cash and not having exact change and that the payment continues to be a learning curve. He says "Going from free, it was very easy. Now versus having to pay people aren't always sure how. Having exact change is a big one. A lot of people will come on and try to pay with a twenty, and we don't have drivers handling cash or providing change."

The fee to ride is $2.50 for a single one-way ride. Children four and under continue to ride for free, and there are also reduced rates for seniors and students. 

While cash is an option for payment, alternatively, you can pay for rides through the App or online from a credit card. You can also purchase monthly passes or buy a book of ten tickets at various locations in town, including the Ranchehouse, FCSS, The Cochrane Public Library and Spray Lakes Sawmill Family Sports Centre.

The app can be downloaded from the App Store or Google Play or by following the links from ridecolt.ca.