On Demand

This is a shared transportation service. That means there may be up to ten customers in the vehicle at one time, and rides may not be direct because the driver may pick-up/drop-off other customers on the way.

Once a ride is requested for pre-planned trips, we aim to arrive within 15-30 minutes. You’ll know in advance what time to wait for your ride.

For last-minute bookings, you may wait up to 30 minutes, which is comparable to the wait today, depending on what time you go to a bus stop. Wait times will vary depending on the time of day you’d like to book your trip. During peak times there may not be a vehicle available for a last-minute booking for 30-60 minutes. In the middle of the day, the wait times will be shorter.

For both pre-booked and last-minute trips, once you book a trip, the app will give you estimated times for pick-up and arrival at your destination. These times are estimates, and may change by up to six minutes. You will receive updates on arrival times in the app, and get a text message when your ride is close.

If we’re unable to provide a ride within 60 minutes of your requested time, you’ll be notified that we can’t provide a trip at this time.

When a ride is requested, you’ll be given a 10-minute pick-up window. If you have a smartphone with the app, you’ll be able to see where the bus is and where it is expected at the pick-up location. This means less waiting in the cold winter. However, please don’t be late (take a look at our no-show/cancellation information below).

The maximum time the vehicle will wait for you at your requested pick-up location is one minute.

To ensure our service runs as smoothly as possible, we’ve introduced a No-Show/Late Cancellation policy:

Accounts will be reviewed based on:

• High no-show rate (failing to board your ride without prior cancellation)
  • No-showing three or more times in your last 10 consecutive booked rides
     
• High late cancellation rate (cancelling less than 60 minutes prior to boarding)
  • Cancelling three or more times in your last 10 consecutive booked rides

When an account is under review we will first contact the customer to get a better understanding of the situation, provide trip planning tips as required, and issue a warning. If the issue continues, Calgary Transit may suspend the account for up to two weeks.

To improve service for everyone, we ask customers to:

• Plan your trips well and allocate adequate time in between transfers
• Book ONLY one trip and not multiple trips from point A to B
• If you can’t make a trip, make sure you cancel it versus keeping the trip and not showing up
• If you must cancel a trip, aim to cancel it at least 60 minutes prior to boarding

If you are paying with a credit card in the app and cancel a ride prior to boarding, you will receive an account credit in the app, not a refund to your credit card.

While the two day pre-booking has worked well in our pilot area, we’ve heard that customers in the West Calgary service area would like more time, so we’ve increased it to five days, meaning you can book for all your trips for the work week (Monday to Friday) on Sunday.

On Demand service should provide similar or better flexibility/spontaneity than the current fixed-route service does. While pre-booking does require some planning in advance, our last-minute trip booking means that you don’t have to wait for the next scheduled bus to take a trip; instead you’ll book it as you need it.

For example, if you usually take Route 439, right now it has service every 40 minutes in non-peak times. If you want to take a trip during the day but just miss the stop time at your stop, you’ll have to wait 40 minutes for the next bus. With On Demand, your wait time will be 15-30 minutes, and will likely take you on a more direct route to your destination, since it won’t have to follow a fixed route or stop at timepoints along the way.

We know that not all of our customers have access to a smartphone, and so we will have an option to book a trip by phoning our call centre. Our customer service staff will be able to book the trip and let our customers know where and when to wait for their ride.

This is intended to replace existing service, so will have similar operating hours as shuttles in the area currently have for the southwest area:

• 6 a.m. to midnight on weekdays
• 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekends

For the northwest area, the hours will be:

• Monday to Friday: 5:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
• Saturday: 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
• Sundays and holidays: 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Vehicles operate between these hours only. Rides cannot be booked that would arrive or depart outside of service hours.

The On Demand app will allow you to see exactly where your ride is while you wait, so you don’t have to worry that it has already come and gone or that it isn’t coming at all. Trips are planned by the app in advance, to take the fastest/best route for each trip or combination of trips. If there is a delay, you’ll get an update, so you always know what to expect.

In the West Calgary service area, On Demand service will be provided by a Calgary Transit community shuttle, just like it is today.

With the introduction of the municipal mask bylaw, we’ve relaxed restrictions on our shuttles to full seated capacity. This means that the maximum number of people our shuttles can serve is restricted to the number of seats we have. It applies whether the shuttle is on-demand or a traditional fixed route. This will actually help us schedule our on demand service to ensure we have enough vehicles to meet the needs of our customers - we’ll know in advance how many shuttles we need to send at any given time. And our customers will know that they won’t be left behind because their shuttle is over capacity.

Our On Demand shuttles will book up to 21 customers at one time.

Yes they can. Regular fares apply for youth taking transit.

• Children under the age of 12 must be accompanied by an adult.
• In accordance with Alberta car seat guidelines, you are responsible for providing a car seat or booster seat for children under 18 kg (40 lbs.), or under 6 years of age.

• You can bring luggage or grocery bags on board, but they cannot be placed on seats if other passengers require them. Luggage or large items must fit in the back of the van.
• You are responsible for loading/unloading your belongings.
• Pets are allowed in an enclosed carrier, which must fit in the back of the van. Service animals do not need to be in a carrier. There is no cost for pets.
• There are currently no bike racks on vehicles. If there is strong demand for bike racks, this could change in the future.

• An accessible van that accommodates a wheelchair is available. There is an option to select this service when booking a ride.
• As with regular public transit service, the driver does not assist you in entering or exiting the vehicle, or from door-to-door.
• If you require door-to-door accessible transit service, please contact Calgary Transit Access 

This will depend on your origin and destination. If you’re traveling within the service area only, you won’t have to transfer; your On Demand vehicle will take you to your destination. If you’re traveling beyond the service area, you will need to transfer (e.g. to the CTrain).

The On Demand pick up location at 69 Street Station is on northbound 69 Street, just south of the station. When you arrive at the station, exit from the east doors and head south. See image.

• In Carrington and Livingston:
  • The app will give you a pick-up location. It will be at a street curb; you cannot wait inside your house.
  • The maximum distance you’ll have to walk to a pick-up point is 400m.

• At North Pointe there are two options for pick-up/drop-off points:
  • The transit hub on Country Village Link NE (behind Landmark Cinemas Country Hills and across from Notre Dame High School).
  • In front of the Good Earth Coffeehouse on the corner of Country Village Rd. and Country Village Link N.E.

If there are multiple people waiting at a stop, there may be more than one shuttle on its way to that stop. To ensure customers get on the right shuttle, the app will let customers know which vehicle to board, and the operator will confirm customers as they board. We don’t anticipate that our customers will intentionally board the wrong shuttle, as its trip will be customized to their destination. If they board the wrong one, they’ll be taken somewhere else.

Every shuttle has a vehicle number that you can see from the outside of the vehicle – the number is located above the door and at the rear of the shuttle.

The On Demand app will let you know which vehicle is coming for you on the “Track My Ride” screen and on the text message that is sent to you.  See image. 

The one person will be picked up and brought to their destination.

The route for each trip is planned based on the needs of customers on that vehicle. For example, if there are eight customers on a vehicle who are all going to 69 St Station, the On Demand shuttle will take the most direct, fastest route to the station once those eight customers have been picked up.

This means that On Demand vehicles will sometimes take different routes than the shuttles in the area do now, to make each trip as efficient as possible. So you may see On Demand shuttles on smaller, residential streets, if they are the best route.

There is no additional cost for you to take an on demand trip; your regular transit fare is valid for your ride. Just like any other time you ride on Transit, you’ll need to ensure you have the right fare for your trip.

• A single ride ticket is valid for 90 minutes from the time it’s validated
• A day pass is valid until 2 a.m. the day after it’s purchased
• A monthly pass is valid for a calendar month

Payment* for fares can be made by:

• Credit card – pay in the app
• Any Calgary Transit pass, ticket or transfer (including regular monthly passes, low income passes, senior yearly passes, and the UPass) – select the option in the app then show your pass/ticket to the driver.

*Note: Cash cannot be used for payment. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Calgary Transit provides school express service inside and out of this pilot area and these routes will remain in place. For schools that are within the West Calgary service area that do not have a school express, we will be monitoring the number of students using On Demand and see if it can handle the demand or if it would be more cost effective to add a school express route. With COVID, it is difficult to predict student numbers, which is why the flexibility of the On Demand model is preferred.

To improve service for everyone, we ask customers to:

• Plan your trips well and allocate adequate time in between transfers
• If you can’t make a trip, make sure you cancel it versus keeping the trip and not showing up
• If you must cancel a trip, aim to cancel it at least 60 minutes prior to boarding