Belleville bus-hailing transit app successful so far

Jeremy Eves, a representative of Pantonium Inc, says the new transit scheduling software introduced in Belleville is the first of its kind in North America, and potentially the world. Photo by Syerra Turry, QNet News

By Syerra Turry

BELLEVILLE – Belleville is at the forefront of a revolutionized transit service through the introduction of an on-demand bus-hailing system that is the first of its kind in North America.

The system is being used on Route 11, the night bus that runs from 9:30 p.m. to midnight on weeknights, 7 p.m. to midnight on Saturdays, and 6 p.m. to midnight on Sundays.

Through an online application that can be used on any web-connected device, passengers can use a map to select the stop they want to be picked up from and dropped off at, and at what time, Jeremy Eves, a representative of the tech company behind the software, explained at Monday’s city council meeting.

The service soft-launched on Sept. 17 and has been successful so far, said Belleville’s manager of transit operations, Paul Buck. There have been no operational issues so far, all trips have run on time and there are now over 90 registered users, Buck said.

The app works in real time to optimize each trip instead of travelling on a fixed route, he said.

It has improved the efficiency of the late-night route, he added. 

This route typically sees 1,500 passengers a month, said Buck, but he expects to see increased ridership with the new system.

Passengers can also call in before 4 p.m. to request rides for the evening route. Once a ride is requested, the app will update the user on the status of their request.

Coun. Jack Miller, chair of city council’s transit committee, offered high praise for the service’s introduction, describing it as “groundbreaking in nature.”

“Technology is driving us all these days. Why don’t we allow it to drive our bus system?” he said.

The service will remain in its pilot phase for the next few months, said Eves.

“It’s quite a leap forward for this industry, and we really appreciate Belleville’s support in that,” he said.

The software was developed by Pantonium Inc., which is a startup tech company based in Toronto, Eves told council.

Pantonium started by transporting patients to and from appointments. This is the company’s first transit-hailing implementation.

The company is fully Canadian and all of its technology is produced in the country.