Low interest and high costs has resulted in the Town of High River withdrawing from the On It regional transit pilot entirely.

The project will end February 28th for the Town in spite of Southland Transportation taking the program over.

Mayor Craig Snodgrass says with only 4 to 6 users per day it wasn't economically sound for the town to continue to offer the service.

“During the pilot project we saw low ridership numbers with only 4-6 users per day,” said Craig Snodgrass, Mayor of High River. “The pilot was developed and implemented by the Calgary Regional Partnership, and with the CRP being dissolved, combined with low interest and high costs in High River, we decided to withdraw from the regional transit pilot entirely.”

In a joint press release from the Calgary Regional Partnership (CRP) and Southland Transportation, representatives announced that Southland Transportation has agreed to take over ownership and management of the On-It Regional Transit system assets from CRP, but this does not include the continuation of the pilot transit bus services to and from High River.

The Town of High River along with Black Diamond and Turner Valley withdrew from the On It Regional Transportation Pilot last month, prior to this ownership transfer announcement.

“The Town will keep inter-municipal transportation on our radar,” added Snodgrass. “We are open to initiatives that make sense for our residents as long as they are economically feasible for us.”

Snodgrass says if Southland wants to run it out of High River they're welcome to try as long as they don't ask the Town for money to fund it.

"Go for it. That's your risk on it. It's like any business. They're more than welcome to come and run it through High River I guess."

 

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