With the acquisition of the On-It Regional Transit system taking place at the end of the month, Southland Transportation will soon to be asking residents how they can better serve the needs of Cochrane commuters.

Southland will be launching online surveys with both existing users and the general public on its services to Calgary as early as this Wednesday. That, in addition to existing data from On-It and consultations with town officials, will help guide the company in determining how to possibly enhance its bus service between Cochrane to Calgary.

Today, the Calgary Regional Partnership (CRP) announced Southland is taking ownership and management of the On-It Regional Transit system effective February 28, 2018. In a news release, CRP executive director Colleen Shepherd said providing regional transit is not a mandate of the new Calgary Metropolitan Regional Board and a change in ownership was required.

"Southland was the logical successor to CRP, given they operate the current On-It buses and are Western Canada's leading transportation provider," she stated in the release.

Southland regional director Jonathan Weal says it's a fantastic opportunity for the company that has been running three commuter buses to downtown Calgary, with one making a stop at the Foothills Hospital. They were about to launch a survey when the opportunity was presented to acquire the On-It.

"Just by coincidence in early January before we knew any of this I had already sat down with my team and we were looking at the Cochrane and Okotoks commuter services that we run and we were putting together a survey to send out. We wanted to get feedback from the people that use the service and ask how can we do it better and what they want."

Now they will be reaching out to all Cochrane residents to help shape the future of regional transit.

"There are lots and lots of opportunities, so we're looking at those. It's going to take us some time to get everything done and it's not something we're going to rush into. We want to know what the people of Cochrane want first. We want to hear from as many people as possible that travel out of Cochrane and what they're looking for in a regional transit service."

Currently, about 100 Cochranite use their Monday to Friday service daily, says Weal. They register with Southlands and pay either a monthly and daily fee.

"We wanted to offer a cost-effective and convenient service that allows people to leave their cars at home and not have to pay for exorbitant downtown parking and not add to the congestion. They can relax. A lot of our commuters like to sleep or do extra work on their way in and we have wi-fi on the buses. So, they have the opportunity to spend that time that they would normally be sitting in traffic and getting stressed out relaxing and doing a bit of work, if they want, or doing Candy Crush, I guess."

The routes currently travelled are limited and there's the potential to add more, with Weal specifically referencing the University of Calgary and the Crowfoot LRT station as two possible destinations.

Weal says he was amazed to discover nearly as many people commute to Cochrane daily from Calgary as Cochranites commute to Calgary and Southland is exploring the idea of providing a return service for Calgary commuters.

In the meantime, Southland will be rebranding their buses to Cochrane with the distinctive On-It green and white brand. They are also considering purchasing new or newer buses to service Cochrane and Okotoks and are also exploring the potential of providing a regional service to both Chestermere and Strathmore.

Weal says they value the input from town officials.

"We are one of the largest employers in Cochrane and are heavily invested in the town. We are speaking with the Town of Cochrane and taking their advice and guidance on how we can provide these regional transit links that are of value to the town and the people."

On-It buses did arrive in Cochrane this summer as part of a pilot Okotoks to Banff weekend run that met success in most communities, although ridership from the Cochrane stop was very low. Southland will be meeting with officials from Banff, Canmore and Parks Canada in hopes to once again provide the service this summer.

"We were massively oversubscribed with people from Calgary and Okotoks but Cochrane really didn't get onboard last summer," says Weal. "We're hoping to see a change there this summer."

For $10 one-way, travellers could hop the bus anywhere from stops in Okotoks, Calgary, Cochrane, Canmore and Banff. The result was 12,000 riders utilizing the service from June to the Labour Day weekend.

The CRP was well into developing a business plan to deliver a pilot weekday commuter service between Cochrane and the Crowfoot LRT station at the time of the decision.