After two-and-a-half years of planning a new commuter bus line between High River, Okotoks, Black Diamond and Turner Valley is ready to hit the road.

The Regional Transportation Manager Ettore Iannacito says the On It transit service is a two-year pilot project of the Calgary Regional Partnership.

"I have to give kudos to the municipalities that are participating because it was a collaborative effort, we've developed route, we've developed cost sharing formulas, to get this thing off the ground this past year," he says. "That was a difficult thing to get four municipalities to agree on how to share the cost because they're not all the same size from 2,000 people to Okotoks which is close to 30,000."

He says they hope to make it a stress free and comfortable trip for commuters.

"We've got beautiful coach style buses, they're a little bit on the older side but they were affordable, but more importantly they can seat 55 passengers and they also have a washroom on board, " he says.

The first trip out of High River goes just before 6 a.m. on Tuesday October 11.

There are two trips into the city in the morning and two in the afternoon returning home.

A single ride ticket from High River to Somerset Bridlewood is $8.00, from Okotoks to Somerset Bridlewood is $6.00 and from Turner Valley and Black Diamond to Somerset Bridlewood is $8.00. To go from Turner Valley or Black Diamond just to Okotoks it's $2.00 one way.

Iannacito says monthly passes have been heavily discounted. From Turner Valley, Black Diamond or High River to Calgary $170.00, and from Okotoks to Calgary is $155.00.
He says it's almost half the cost of buying two tickets each way.

The On It Transit Pilot Project is a go.

High River receives Minister's Award for Innovation