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w at er lo oc hr on ic le .c a W at er lo o C hr on ic le | T hu rs da y, D ec em be r 20 ,2 01 8 | 16 GetWaterloonewsright in your inboxbysigningupfor thefreewaterloochronicle.ca newsletters. Choosefrom:Latest news,Opinion,Events andUnsolvedcrime. www.waterloochronicle.ca/newsletter nnndddUUUnnnnssssooollvvvvveeeedddcccrrriimmee Sign-upisfast andeasy... sign Hey!Waterloo sstt nnttsss ee.. up Grand River Transit is using an app and ride- sharing service to help ac- commodate the transpor- tation needs of those in northwest Waterloo. Launched two weeks ago, GRT partnered with RideCo, a locally-founded drive sharing company, on a 10-month pilot project aimed at improving travel times in an underserved area. "What we're trying to do there from those low-den- sity neighbourhoods, is try to bring people from that area into areas where you can get conventional tran- sit and frequency routes relatively conveniently," explained transit planner on the project with the Re- gion of Waterloo, William Towns. The app, coined Flex 903, is available on app stores for Android and Ap- ple users, and customers can use their credit card to pay there, or they can pay through regular avenues GRT offers. Users can also use https://book.grtflex.com to book their trip. If they are travelling without a smartphone, they will re- ceive updates through text messages. Those needing a ride can submit a request through the app to be picked up at one of the 70 spots, and be driven by a RideCo-branded sedan to the appropriate bus stop that fits with their trip. Of course, the process is avail- able in the reverse where commuters can be picked up from GRT stops, and dropped off to the virtual stops. There will be one or two cars serving the area, de- pending on traffic; hours of service are from Monday to Friday 6:15 to 11:45 a.m. and 1:45 p.m. to 6:45 p.m. There is a flat $3.25 fee to use the service, which transfers into their bus travel use. Users can use their receipt as proof of payment to bus drivers. Rides can be booked up to three days in advance as well. Towns added since the app and project was launched two weeks ago, there isn't feasible feed- back just yet. The pilot pro- ject will run till September, and feedback and recom- mendations to improve it will be ongoing through surveying and perfor- mance. "It's a learning experi- ence for us. We'll take all the time we can to make sure that the service mod- els are effective for people," said Towns. "The nice thing about pilots is you can make changes on the fly." Towns reiterated the GRT's ambition to launch commuters foot time to a maximum five-minute walk to their stops. In addition to northwest Waterloo, GRT has launched projects Flex 901 and Flex 902, serving Trin- ity Freeport, and Hespeler Village, respectively. Region of Waterloo council approved the pilot project at the end of May, and the estimated net cost of the three totalled $180,000. The estimated cost for the Flex 903 project is $85,900 in terms of oper- ating cost, and $67,400 for net cost. GRT is holding an infor- mation session on the new service, which covers about 8.2 square kilo- metres in area, on Wednes- day, Dec. 19, at the Stork YMCA's Waterloo Public Library at 6:30 p.m. For more information, visit the GRT's website. GRAND RIVER TRANSIT LAUNCHES PILOT RIDE-SHARING SERVICE TO SERVE COMMUTERS IN NORTHWEST WATERLOO GRT's Flex 903 app can be downloaded by users to use the ride sharing service. GRT graphic NAMISH MODI nmodi@waterloochronicle.ca NEWS