{"id":149258,"date":"2024-01-24T13:51:42","date_gmt":"2024-01-24T18:51:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/rwddev\/?p=149258"},"modified":"2024-01-24T13:51:48","modified_gmt":"2024-01-24T18:51:48","slug":"district-of-muskoka-eyes-major-changes-to-public-transportation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/district-of-muskoka-eyes-major-changes-to-public-transportation\/","title":{"rendered":"District of Muskoka eyes major changes to public transportation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>By Thomas Goyer<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On-demand responsive transit may be coming to Muskoka by the end of the year.<\/p>\n\n\n<div style=\"float: left; margin-right: 14px;\"><strong><broadstreet-zone zone-id=\"45658\" keywords=\"\" soft-keywords=\"true\" zone-alias=\"\"><\/broadstreet-zone><\/strong><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>In a report to the Community and Planning Services Committee on January 18, District staff stated that it was possible to have responsive transit by the end of 2024. A demand-responsive transit system is when passenger travel demands determine vehicle times and routes.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The purpose of the report was an update on the new proposed service and to recommend a contract with Blaze Transit. To facilitate this new transit system the District requires a technology partner to support the planning and delivery of the new system. The purpose of the report was to recommend a contract with Blaise Transit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The presentation was made by Transportation Network Coordinator Sydney Piatkowski. She stated that a demand-responsive transit program would be a new direction for rural transit and would be able to meet the diverse transportation needs of Muskoka.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Piatkowski stated that Blaise Transit can deliver a mobile app and websites to book rides, a driver interface, route optimization, and payment options. She said Blaise would assist in designing the new service, especially around vehicle needs and operational considerations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Piatkowski stated that certain operational decisions, especially if the District employs transit drivers or handles data collection operations, would be made at a later date after further analysis.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While not giving a definitive timeline it was stated that staff are optimistic that the new service will be operational by the end of 2024. Piatkowski stated that Blaise has a short implementation timeline and staff recognizes the existing cost pressures involved in delaying implementation.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe are already spending a lot of money in different areas for transportation. So the sooner we can get this in place and get it streamlined the better for the District as a whole,\u201d Piatkowski said.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>District Chair Jeff Lehman stated he was excited about the new system. He highlighted that the district spent around $500,000 in 2022 on various initiatives to help move residents around Muskoka. Lehman also said that this new service would likely provide better service to residents.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI am dead sure we can provide a better service,\u201d Lehman said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Piatkowski stated that the new service would serve the whole district including more remote rural regions. She also stated that there had been discussions with local municipalities about potential partnerships.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n<h5 style=\"text-align: center;\">Don\u2019t miss out on Doppler!<\/h5>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Sign up <a href=\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/dont-miss-out-on-doppler\/\"><u>here<\/u><\/a> to receive our email digest with links to our most recent stories.<br \/>\nLocal news in your inbox so you don&#8217;t miss anything!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a style=\"background: #5cb85c url('https:\/\/d1iczxrky3cnb2.cloudfront.net\/red_logo.png') no-repeat 37px; color: #fff; text-decoration: none; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; display: inline-block; font-size: 16px; padding: 15px 38px; padding-left: 75px; -webkit-border-radius: 2px; -moz-border-radius: 2px; border-radius: 2px; box-shadow: 0 1px 0 0 #1f5a89; text-shadow: 0 1px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.3);\" href=\"https:\/\/donorbox.org\/support-huntsville-doppler\">Click here to support local news<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><broadstreet-zone zone-id=\"45657\" keywords=\"\" soft-keywords=\"true\" zone-alias=\"\"><\/broadstreet-zone>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Thomas Goyer On-demand responsive transit may be coming to Muskoka by the end of the year. In a report to the Community and Planning Services Committee on January 18, [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1904,"featured_media":149259,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-149258","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>District of Muskoka eyes major changes to public transportation - Huntsville Doppler<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"On-demand responsive transit may be coming to Muskoka by the end of the year, according to a District of Muskoka staff report.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/district-of-muskoka-eyes-major-changes-to-public-transportation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"District of Muskoka eyes major changes to public transportation - Huntsville Doppler\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"On-demand responsive transit may be coming to Muskoka by the end of the year, according to a District of Muskoka staff report.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/district-of-muskoka-eyes-major-changes-to-public-transportation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Huntsville Doppler\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/HuntsvilleDoppler\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-01-24T18:51:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-01-24T18:51:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/media-doppleronline-ca.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com\/2024\/01\/transportation-changes.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"750\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"357\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Doppler Online\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Hville_Doppler\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Hville_Doppler\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Doppler Online\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/district-of-muskoka-eyes-major-changes-to-public-transportation\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/district-of-muskoka-eyes-major-changes-to-public-transportation\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Doppler Online\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/#\/schema\/person\/3e6b0695dcb78273e5a4854699a12938\"},\"headline\":\"District of Muskoka eyes major changes to public transportation\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-01-24T18:51:42+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-01-24T18:51:48+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/district-of-muskoka-eyes-major-changes-to-public-transportation\/\"},\"wordCount\":397,\"commentCount\":4,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/district-of-muskoka-eyes-major-changes-to-public-transportation\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/media-doppleronline-ca.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com\/2024\/01\/transportation-changes.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/district-of-muskoka-eyes-major-changes-to-public-transportation\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/district-of-muskoka-eyes-major-changes-to-public-transportation\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/district-of-muskoka-eyes-major-changes-to-public-transportation\/\",\"name\":\"District of Muskoka eyes major changes to public transportation - Huntsville Doppler\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/district-of-muskoka-eyes-major-changes-to-public-transportation\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/district-of-muskoka-eyes-major-changes-to-public-transportation\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/media-doppleronline-ca.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com\/2024\/01\/transportation-changes.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-01-24T18:51:42+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-01-24T18:51:48+00:00\",\"description\":\"On-demand responsive transit may be coming to Muskoka by the end of the year, according to a District of Muskoka staff report.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/district-of-muskoka-eyes-major-changes-to-public-transportation\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/district-of-muskoka-eyes-major-changes-to-public-transportation\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/district-of-muskoka-eyes-major-changes-to-public-transportation\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/media-doppleronline-ca.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com\/2024\/01\/transportation-changes.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/media-doppleronline-ca.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com\/2024\/01\/transportation-changes.png\",\"width\":750,\"height\":357,\"caption\":\"(Photo: Photo by Blaise Transit)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/district-of-muskoka-eyes-major-changes-to-public-transportation\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"District of Muskoka eyes major changes to public transportation\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/\",\"name\":\"Huntsville Doppler\",\"description\":\"Read Local\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Huntsville Doppler\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/media-doppleronline-ca.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com\/2025\/03\/logo-Canadian-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/media-doppleronline-ca.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com\/2025\/03\/logo-Canadian-1.jpg\",\"width\":760,\"height\":212,\"caption\":\"Huntsville Doppler\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/HuntsvilleDoppler\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/Hville_Doppler\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/huntsville_doppler\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/#\/schema\/person\/3e6b0695dcb78273e5a4854699a12938\",\"name\":\"Doppler Online\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/author\/doppler-online\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"District of Muskoka eyes major changes to public transportation - Huntsville Doppler","description":"On-demand responsive transit may be coming to Muskoka by the end of the year, according to a District of Muskoka staff report.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/district-of-muskoka-eyes-major-changes-to-public-transportation\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"District of Muskoka eyes major changes to public transportation - Huntsville Doppler","og_description":"On-demand responsive transit may be coming to Muskoka by the end of the year, according to a District of Muskoka staff report.","og_url":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/district-of-muskoka-eyes-major-changes-to-public-transportation\/","og_site_name":"Huntsville Doppler","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/HuntsvilleDoppler\/","article_published_time":"2024-01-24T18:51:42+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-01-24T18:51:48+00:00","og_image":[{"width":750,"height":357,"url":"https:\/\/media-doppleronline-ca.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com\/2024\/01\/transportation-changes.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Doppler Online","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Hville_Doppler","twitter_site":"@Hville_Doppler","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Doppler Online","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/district-of-muskoka-eyes-major-changes-to-public-transportation\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/district-of-muskoka-eyes-major-changes-to-public-transportation\/"},"author":{"name":"Doppler Online","@id":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/#\/schema\/person\/3e6b0695dcb78273e5a4854699a12938"},"headline":"District of Muskoka eyes major changes to public transportation","datePublished":"2024-01-24T18:51:42+00:00","dateModified":"2024-01-24T18:51:48+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/district-of-muskoka-eyes-major-changes-to-public-transportation\/"},"wordCount":397,"commentCount":4,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/district-of-muskoka-eyes-major-changes-to-public-transportation\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/media-doppleronline-ca.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com\/2024\/01\/transportation-changes.png","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-CA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/district-of-muskoka-eyes-major-changes-to-public-transportation\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/district-of-muskoka-eyes-major-changes-to-public-transportation\/","url":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/district-of-muskoka-eyes-major-changes-to-public-transportation\/","name":"District of Muskoka eyes major changes to public transportation - Huntsville Doppler","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/district-of-muskoka-eyes-major-changes-to-public-transportation\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/district-of-muskoka-eyes-major-changes-to-public-transportation\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/media-doppleronline-ca.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com\/2024\/01\/transportation-changes.png","datePublished":"2024-01-24T18:51:42+00:00","dateModified":"2024-01-24T18:51:48+00:00","description":"On-demand responsive transit may be coming to Muskoka by the end of the year, according to a District of Muskoka staff report.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/district-of-muskoka-eyes-major-changes-to-public-transportation\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-CA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/district-of-muskoka-eyes-major-changes-to-public-transportation\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/district-of-muskoka-eyes-major-changes-to-public-transportation\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/media-doppleronline-ca.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com\/2024\/01\/transportation-changes.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/media-doppleronline-ca.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com\/2024\/01\/transportation-changes.png","width":750,"height":357,"caption":"(Photo: Photo by Blaise Transit)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/district-of-muskoka-eyes-major-changes-to-public-transportation\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"District of Muskoka eyes major changes to public transportation"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/#website","url":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/","name":"Huntsville Doppler","description":"Read Local","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-CA"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/#organization","name":"Huntsville Doppler","url":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/media-doppleronline-ca.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com\/2025\/03\/logo-Canadian-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/media-doppleronline-ca.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com\/2025\/03\/logo-Canadian-1.jpg","width":760,"height":212,"caption":"Huntsville Doppler"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/HuntsvilleDoppler\/","https:\/\/x.com\/Hville_Doppler","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/huntsville_doppler\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/#\/schema\/person\/3e6b0695dcb78273e5a4854699a12938","name":"Doppler Online","url":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/author\/doppler-online\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149258","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1904"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=149258"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149258\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/149259"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=149258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=149258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=149258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}