All eyes will be on Cochrane on Monday, Oct. 7 for the launch of Canada's first fully on-demand, stop-to-stop transit system.

At 10 a.m. the first transit rides will be offered to the public, signaling the arrival of transit to the community after a decade-long discussion. Previous to this, town council will be taking a ceremonial ride from the Cochrane RancheHouse at 9 a.m.

Rides will be available free of charge until the end of 2019 while the town finetunes the system. After launch day, buses run Monday to Friday from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. There is no service on Sundays.

Bookings will begin to be accepted via the app at 8 a.m. on Monday.

If you haven't already done so, the COLT app is available from your smartphone's app store free of charge and is quick and easy to download. After registering, it quickly pinpoints your location and asks you where and when you want to travel and displays a map highlighting locations.

There are over 150 bus stop locations throughout the community, clearly marked by a distinct COLT sign.

COLT Bus Stop SignsThere are distinctive COLT bus stop signs at over 150 locations throughout town.

It's wise to book in advance. Failing that, you should book at least 30 minutes before you want to be picked up, explains Transit coordinator Devin LaFleche. You may even want to give a little more lead time during the pilot period.

"If you plan in advance you'll secure your trip, which is great. Right now, there's just going to be a bit of a learning curves for the drivers to become accustomed to the different stops and things like that," he says.

LaFleche says it's all systems go for the Monday launch.

"I'm very excited. I think we're all prepared to learn from how the system operates and adapt it accordingly."

Yesterday, further driver training was taking place and people may have noticed the COLTs driving around town.

"We went from stop to stop with the drivers. We got to meet the whole team. They're a great group who are really energized."

Buses in Cochrane serve local destinations initially, but plans are underway to add regional destinations like Crowfoot LRT station and post-secondary institutions in Calgary.

Helping soften the cost of launching a Calgary connector is a $2.125 million grant from the Alberta Community Transit Fund to assist in purchasing up to five electric buses.