On-It Transit manager Ettore Lannacito says the first phase of research has been completed to consider establishing a pilot regional transit service that connects Cochrane to Calgary, Chestermere and Strathmore.

A third party research company was utiilized to conduct a random statistically valid telephone survey of residents in the communities impacted and the Calgary Regional Partnership (CRP) transit service is expecting rough results within a couple of weeks, says Lannacito.

"Once we know what the results are we'll start to develop service plan options to present to residents and councils, refine the plan, and then develop a business case if the research indicates there is strong support for some sort of a pilot or regional transit in general."

On-It just recently completed its summer weekend service that connected Calgary to Banff with stops in Cochrane and Canmore and they're pleased with the results.

Lannacito says they carried almost 12,000 throughout the summer with the weekend service and are willing do consider doing again next summer if interest is expressed by the partnering communities and Parks Canada.

"We're very happy. We're now reviewing all the data and doing an analysis to see what worked and how we could improve things for the future. All in all, we carried a lot of people and we learned a lot from it."

"We learned certainly it was something people loved and would love to see again so we're trying to see how we can make that happen."

With a regional pilot already in place for communities south of Calgary and the potential of the east-west service, he believes regional transit is starting to become established in the Calgary region.

"Regional transit is really becoming a service throughout the region. It's expanding and I think that it's something that is starting to fulfill the mission of connecting communities."

They're also assisting Okotoks in developing a plan for local transit and said they are willing to provide similar support to Cochrane as a member of the CRP.

SEE MORE:

People Get On-It in Cochrane