Transit Plus introduces app to book rides

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This article was published 17/06/2024 (479 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg Transit Plus users will soon have more options to schedule rides through a new trip-booking system.

In addition to its automated phone service, Winnipeg Transit Plus will launch a smartphone app and website next month to book rides.

A group of early adopters will have access to the app, developed by Canadian company Spare Labs Inc., before it’s introduced to the public July 9. It took roughly $750,000 to develop and a year to create.

The service will result in a reduction in wait times and an increase in ride sharing, said Teresa Platt, manager of client services of Winnipeg Transit Plus.

The addition of the app and website gives riders “independence and autonomy,” Vivi Dabee, program lead for advocacy and community outreach with the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, said at a Monday news conference outside the Winnipeg Transit garage on Osborne Street.

“The work that Transit Plus has done to implement a platform that can be accessed in a variety of ways without eliminating what’s already existing … speaks volumes in their efforts to complement our work, to enhance the lives of not only people with sight loss, but with the lived experience of disability, to empower them to travel the way they choose,” Dabee said at the podium with her guide dog by her side.

Dabee, who also serves as a member of the Transit advisory committee, said her main concern in creating the new booking system was to make sure the technology could be used by a wide variety of people with a range of technological skills. She also wanted to see it be compatible with different platforms and accessibility tools, like screen readers and magnification applications.

New features debuting Tuesday include more trip notifications that can be sent through text, email, automated phone calls or the app and more payment options including e-transfer and the ability to link debit or credit cards to rider profiles.

Spare Labs also has the ability to update the system if changes are needed.

“The program will be a living thing where is can always be adapted,” Dabee said.

Transit Plus is hosting two information sessions on June 25 from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the Carol Shields Auditorium in the Millennium Library and on June 26 from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. online to help riders transition with the new system. Registration is required at winnipeg.ca.

The booking service is available at any time of day.

jura.mcilraith@freepress.mb.ca