Duncan Field, Tamarack Institute: I'm. Happy to introduce one of our speakers, Lauren Powell, who is the cultural resources coordinator with the indigenous friendship center. So thank you so much, Lauren. I I believe we also have Carlos as well.
Duncan Field, Tamarack Institute: Yeah, thanks for joining us.
CRC: Yeah, I think he has to. Carlos is here as well.
CRC: I'm going to introduce myself, and the way that I we do it. that when we have the way circles is, we go around the circle and introduce ourselves and what we do and
CRC: doing in my language as an Ishabi mo. When we said algebraic language.
CRC: ani baujo.
CRC: you good old demo sucks and don't. and it's not big. Meanwhile. Irish. No.
CRC: So in the language, my spirit name is so thunder
CRC: I come from with socks and first nation which is across the Bay of in Parisound area. I reside here in soggy and first nation.
CRC: I'm from the fish plan. Also my
CRC: heritage is, and it's not a and Irish. So i'm half Nishnab and have Irish descent.
CRC: I am the cultural resource Coordinator. I'm a liquid on the indigenous frenches center and on sound great groups.
CRC: What I do there is bring in ceremony, culture to to the centers, and to surround in communities and on the Sound.
CRC: and with Giway as well is, I work side by side with the way, and what that represents is time that bridge, together from other organizations that are looking for cultural, base stuff
CRC: which I'm.
CRC: I I grew up in the culture since I was 3 years old.
CRC: So when I when I do speak, and I I I like doing a circle like when we have our our circles, is because we all have to be equal. We're all equal. We're not better than anyone, so we all can see each other
CRC: instead of like in the classroom setting where you you, You're talking behind someone's back, or you can't hear them when they're speaking
CRC: so that way. We're all in one circle, and you all can hear each other equally.
CRC: and when I do speaking I don't write things down. What i'm going to speak about, or anything like that. So I I speak from my heart and from the spirit. So whenever I do things, it's not written down. It's not. I'm the pre plan everything. So I might say something more different than the last. The last session that we had.
CRC: so everything that we do.
CRC: We speak from our heart in our in our spirits.
CRC: and that helps, guides us through this.
CRC: So i'll pass it down to Carlos because he has more information, and about the Giway what we do and what presents, and then i'll. I'll speak a bit more after his presentation as well about the Giway.
CRC: Hey, everyone! He's been doing this longer than I have, so I just started that
my wikid on back is Humber. So.
Carlos Sanchez Pimienta / University of Toronto: hi! Everyone. It's very nice to see you all. My name is Carlos.
Carlos Sanchez Pimienta / University of Toronto: I do have a handout to share with you, but it says access to file restraint if you could help me. So this i'd be happy to share the the handout of the model. Okay, I think I can do it now, but
Carlos Sanchez Pimienta / University of Toronto: it still says the same.
Carlos Sanchez Pimienta / University of Toronto: we'll be this out. but anyways my name is Carlos Sanchez-martinez. I was born and raised in Wellahara, Mexico. but I was fortunate to live in the territory of Saudi Arabia nation in 2,017 and 2,018.
Carlos Sanchez Pimienta / University of Toronto: That was when this skiway program was established
Carlos Sanchez Pimienta / University of Toronto: and the program initially was created because indigenous and non-indigenous organizations in the great Bruce region.
Carlos Sanchez Pimienta / University of Toronto: we're really struggling to work together and to collaborate with each other.
Carlos Sanchez Pimienta / University of Toronto: And so what my weekly long was noticing as a friendship center that provides services to first nations meeting and Inuit Living on research was that, especially those individuals experiencing homelessness.
Carlos Sanchez Pimienta / University of Toronto: We're seeing we're being the most impacted by lack of collaboration between indigenous and non indigenous organizations, because if there were not appropriate relationships to work from a week with them to another organization that, let's say.
Carlos Sanchez Pimienta / University of Toronto: maybe provides housing supports, or maybe provides food services, or maybe provides emergency funds for relocation. If those relationships were not there, then those key functions were not being able to be brought forward to support the the indigenous person in the community.
Carlos Sanchez Pimienta / University of Toronto: And so at that point my liquid on was willing to apply for funding, and they asked me to help them create a a project to address this lack of collaboration between indigenous and on in the Us. Organizations.
Carlos Sanchez Pimienta / University of Toronto: And so, with the support of many staff members from a weekly on and other organizations, we came up with the idea of doing a partnership between my weekly long, and at that time about 12 other organizations in the social services Sectors
Carlos Sanchez Pimienta / University of Toronto: to meet monthly at the beginning right now is more or less quarterly.
Carlos Sanchez Pimienta / University of Toronto: and to build relationships with each other. Learn about the programming that everyone was doing and share community priorities.
Carlos Sanchez Pimienta / University of Toronto: And so I will share my screen, so that you can see the main activities that happen at each of the G-way meetings. Kiwi by the way is a word in Anishna beam that means he or she goes home.
Carlos Sanchez Pimienta / University of Toronto: And this was because at the beginning the initiative was focused on homelessness. But since then it has able to address other areas of reconciliation. For example, working with community and family services, working with first responders, police sector to build those relationships.
Carlos Sanchez Pimienta / University of Toronto: And so at the core of this model you will see indigenous leadership which is represented by my we don't role in leading this initiative.
Carlos Sanchez Pimienta / University of Toronto: Our team includes Lauren, who is the cultural resources coordinator, and is in charge of making sure that traditional knowledge is invited in a good way to the initiative.
Carlos Sanchez Pimienta / University of Toronto: Do we also have the executive director of my who provides a strategic guidance
Carlos Sanchez Pimienta / University of Toronto: and the manager of the way, the Coordinator, who is the Ngo, a French Canadian person who is in charge of coordinating and setting up the meetings and myself who supports with evaluation and model development.
Carlos Sanchez Pimienta / University of Toronto: And so our teaming includes both indigenous and an indigenous people.
Carlos Sanchez Pimienta / University of Toronto: so that the predict can be more reachable to both indigenous and indigenous community members, so that they can reach out to whoever they feel most comfortable with.
Carlos Sanchez Pimienta / University of Toronto: And so every made meeting starts with ceremony, with an elder or knowledge keeper sharing a song, or maybe a prayer or smodging.
Carlos Sanchez Pimienta / University of Toronto: And then this is followed by essentially of division knowledge, sharing that maybe about traditional knowledge it may be about live experience, with homelessness or other circumstances. It might be about professional knowledge as being an an indigenous person working for for organization in the region.
Carlos Sanchez Pimienta / University of Toronto: And then the third part of the meeting involves discussing organizational and collaboration priorities, sharing updates with each other, but also sharing a meal to build those in-person relationships, to get to know each other more personally and facilitate
Carlos Sanchez Pimienta / University of Toronto: the collaboration between organizations by building relationships among individuals. And so in between each of the sessions there is a space to follow up on community priorities.
Carlos Sanchez Pimienta / University of Toronto: so that additional projects may be established. For example, a weekly long, and other indigenous organizations in or where, as successful in creating a project of developing indigenous outreach workers
Carlos Sanchez Pimienta / University of Toronto: for homelessness in the region.
Carlos Sanchez Pimienta / University of Toronto: And so I would love to recommend this book to all of you if you're interested in building better relationships with
Carlos Sanchez Pimienta / University of Toronto: indigenous organizations it's called. But it's called towards rating by El with Jimmy and Venezuela. Venezuela is at Ubc faculty of education
Carlos Sanchez Pimienta / University of Toronto: And this book is basically about some of the challenges that happen we when non-indigenous organizations decide to involve in processes of reconciliation, but perhaps do not invest enough resources in in doing this type of work.
Carlos Sanchez Pimienta / University of Toronto: and in this book the authors share with us a metaphor about bricks and roots that symbolize different orientations to living in the world.
Carlos Sanchez Pimienta / University of Toronto: And so we we apply this metaphor to the context of collaboration among agencies.
Carlos Sanchez Pimienta / University of Toronto: We will see that if we were trained in Western contexts, perhaps we're used to to see knowledge as kind of a box that help us organize reality and then know more about the world to try to control it.
Carlos Sanchez Pimienta / University of Toronto: It also leads us to think that partnerships among organizations should be organized according to hierarchies and mandates, and that collaborations need to have structured procedures to create solutions for the problems that we're facing.
Carlos Sanchez Pimienta / University of Toronto: But there are other ways of organizing reality and knowledge and collaboration. For example, roots and possibilities are a metaphor for similarities among many indigenous knowledge systems. And in this case we're more concerned about relationships rather than entities, and we engage in collaboration, we because we have a sense of
Carlos Sanchez Pimienta / University of Toronto: interdependence that we need each other to survive and to live well, not only among humans, but also with land, with animals, with plans, with spirits. And so the emphasis of collaboration here is to focus appropriate relationships, so that collaboration can happen rather than trying to control reality.
Carlos Sanchez Pimienta / University of Toronto: And so it's important to say that it is not about one way of being in the world being better than the other, or one being worse. It's about
Carlos Sanchez Pimienta / University of Toronto: becoming more aware of some of the assumptions that we bring with us when we engage in collaborative processes between indigenous and non-indigenous organizations.
Carlos Sanchez Pimienta / University of Toronto: And so in this case we use the metaphors of the roots and and root and bricks to exemplify how is it that we show up to Key West circles? But it may also apply to other indigenous, like initiatives of your region?
Carlos Sanchez Pimienta / University of Toronto: And so, for example, from a bricks and stability. When we are faced with ceremony, we may think that it is an exercise of cultural display that doesn't have any sort of impact over the meeting.
Carlos Sanchez Pimienta / University of Toronto: But if we're seeing the same ceremony from the perspective of our roots and civility. we will see that doing a ceremony is actually very important
Carlos Sanchez Pimienta / University of Toronto: to take care of the relational aspect with everything to us for spiritual guidance, and to secure the relational conditions for the meeting to be successful.
Carlos Sanchez Pimienta / University of Toronto: And so there can be very different reactions to the same component of the meeting. And so let me see if I can share the the keyword model. Now through through the chat.
Carlos Sanchez Pimienta / University of Toronto: Oh, perfect, perfect it's! It's shared now. Thank you so much, and you can see the model to learn more about Giway, and you can go to the end, to to the final page to see the different reactions to different components of of the model.
Carlos Sanchez Pimienta / University of Toronto: and this can be helpful because
Carlos Sanchez Pimienta / University of Toronto: it doesn't only apply to Giway, but it may apply to other indigenous led initiatives in in your region, so it can be a way, a tool for reflectivity to to. Yeah. We just be more aware of how we show up in in this kind of spaces.
Carlos Sanchez Pimienta / University of Toronto: And so with this, I would like to open the floor. I'm not sure if Lauren would like to add anything. If you have any comments. If you have any questions about
Carlos Sanchez Pimienta / University of Toronto: the project, or if you want to to share something that is making you hopeful in your region about reconciliation, or some question that you may have, we welcome that? Thank you so much.
Duncan Field, Tamarack Institute: Yeah. Feel free to add any questions or comments on the chat box, or just raise your hand, and we'll call you up. We have a couple of minutes before we need to move to our next session.
Kathy: You know what I have a question.
Kathy: and and it has to do with the cultural assumptions that we bring.
Kathy: But I recently attended. I I don't know if you've heard of
Kathy: Cliff Cardinal and his this presentation in Toronto he he does a theater presentation.
Kathy: and he it's coming across Canada, and it's worth it's really worth seeing. But he he talks about how offensive land acknowledgments are to himself. Personally he's an indigenous man.
Kathy: and how they're really obnoxious to him, because they're they're really just the fluffy and ego ego Kind of things that people say, but never.
Kathy: really
Kathy: There's there's really no no movement in relationship.
Kathy: and and I and he talks about the need for friendship and not not all these.
Kathy: not all these squares of orange squares and land acknowledgments.
Kathy: And I just, I guess what is your perspective on like? Do you do you personally like land acknowledgment? I do. Would you prefer people don't do them, or like
Kathy: I I I just I I didn't do one today, and I and I see everyone else is doing one, and i'm kinda like. Am I offending people like I don't know
CRC: I Personally, I think line acknowledgment should be put out
CRC: just because
CRC: even like for us. As for myself, if i'm on
a different territory.
CRC: I would like to know where i'm at.
CRC: I like to know who's landed before I start doing things even before when I move down here. And so again, before I do ceremony down here, I ask permission from the alders around this area. If i'm allowed to do this before I even do anything.
CRC: it's just so in that respect
CRC: of that land where they come from. So if I went up to James Bay, where there's Jane, they create people. I would ask
CRC: permission to say.
CRC: Can you tell me more about your land and what is about
CRC: so just acknowledging that, acknowledging their land were they from.
CRC: and that what i'm doing is not.
Carlos Sanchez Pimienta / University of Toronto: Seems like we lost Lauren temporarily. and so maybe I can just agree with Lauren, and also say that when I have heard elders
Carlos Sanchez Pimienta / University of Toronto: doing the Thanksgiving address
Carlos Sanchez Pimienta / University of Toronto: to me, it's very special, because
Carlos Sanchez Pimienta / University of Toronto: they acknowledged all beings, plans, animals, the sun, the sky, the spirits at the
Carlos Sanchez Pimienta / University of Toronto: and to me it's just very powerful, because it's it's. This is acknowledgment of all beings that we really rely on with without plans, without animals. We wouldn't be here.
CRC: Hmm.
CRC: Wonderful! Yeah, Thank you so much. Unfortunately, it does look like we may have lost Lauren.
Duncan Field, Tamarack Institute: and unfortunately we're also at at times. So we just wanted to thank you, Carlos and Lauren, if he's still here for your wisdom, and sharing your story and and a bit more information about the keyway circles. Thank you for for joining us today.
Duncan Field, Tamarack Institute: For the rest of us. We're going to take a moment and just stretch and relax before we hit our next session. So just take a moment, and we'll be back in just a few minutes.
Duncan Field, Tamarack Institute: and just as we wait for our next speakers to join us. Just want to provide a bit of context to what's going to happen after this, so shortly after our last session. I will. We'll be jumping back onto house space for our closing with Elders Wallace and Florence.
Duncan Field, Tamarack Institute: I'll post a link in the chat box at that time, but it's gonna be the same as when we're enjoying the plenary session earlier today.
Duncan Field, Tamarack Institute: and I appreciate everyone's participation in the chat, asking questions, jumping on the mic that helps make this a really really interesting space. So thank you so much, and we'll just wait another moment or 2.
Duncan Field, Tamarack Institute: All right. Hello, everyone. We're gonna slowly come back for our third and final session.
Duncan Field, Tamarack Institute: It's my pleasure to introduce our third speaker, Charlie Mace.
Duncan Field, Tamarack Institute: who is the sustainability planner with the city of Powell River. Thank you so much for joining us, Charlie, looking forward to hearing from you.
Charlie Mace (Powell River): Thank you. Hi, everybody. Okay, let me just share my screen.
Charlie Mace (Powell River): Oh, the host is disabled. Participants. Good screen sharing
Duncan Field, Tamarack Institute: I that you do it now
Charlie Mace (Powell River): I think he
Charlie Mace (Powell River): okay
Charlie Mace (Powell River): and hi everybody, and thank you for joining and to listen to my presentation today. And I've been to mention I am Charlie Mace, the sustainability planet at the City of Power. With it My pronouns are she here? And and i'd like to acknowledge how great I am to be presenting today from the traditional lands of the sea shops and score mission nations, and and also that power over itself is located on the traditional land of the
Charlie Mace (Powell River): And so i'll spend the next 20 min and presenting about the Zoom bus which is our on demand, transit and program.
Charlie Mace (Powell River): And before I start, though, we just want to state that, and I join the city in November. So i'm. Covering for my colleague, Anna Lucy Nova, who was away on maternity leave, and she is the
Charlie Mace (Powell River): true for us behind this on the bus, and really made it happen, and has got a real depth of knowledge on kind of background and implementation. Also get that I don't
Charlie Mace (Powell River): necessarily have. I have a good knowledge on how we kind of run informationally and hopefully. I can share our experience with you today. But there's any big technical questions on kind of the implementation and let me know. And as a team we'll be able to pull the answer together.
Charlie Mace (Powell River): And so
Charlie Mace (Powell River): this background and on. Why, we came to look at on, demand transit, and why it's been helpful for our community. So
Charlie Mace (Powell River): i'm sure many of you here might be also from small communities, and might understand some of the challenges that come with providing convenient public transportation, and especially in low density neighborhoods, and with fixed week buses. They often run in frequently, and they can be long, wait times and travel times.
Charlie Mace (Powell River): and to enable kind of providing wide coverage they can often be quite winding, and might require, and the bus transfer mid journey and
Charlie Mace (Powell River): regarding pedestrian infrastructure, and it can be poor or in some places non-existent in the city. And so we have a lack of sidewalks and as well as few bus stop amenities, so it can definitely be a less than positive experience than perhaps taking transit. And in a city.
Charlie Mace (Powell River): and
Charlie Mace (Powell River): we also have an aging population, and so the power of the population is higher than the BC. Average. And we also, I guess, like many communities have rising, housing costs
Charlie Mace (Powell River): and and sustainability is a key issue and goal at the city. And so for context, transportation makes it 70% of our community carbon emissions. So it's a pretty big one to target, and in terms of mitigation efforts.
Charlie Mace (Powell River): And here I just wanted to show you what the
Charlie Mace (Powell River): transit network looks like, and now without the inclusion of some of us. And so here it shows all of our fixed we services that wind quite a lot throughout the city, and most journeys do require a transfer and to complete.
Charlie Mace (Powell River): and I guess just at the glance Generally it looks quite confusing, and can take people quite a while to work out how to make the journey they need to make.
Charlie Mace (Powell River): And so one of the challenges we wanted to. It was, how do we make the trans experience in a more simple and efficient for residents.
Charlie Mace (Powell River): and sharing a real life example here, and what it's like to take a boss in power with it. And
Charlie Mace (Powell River): there's an example here. So someone that lives in the northern neighborhood of town site that is trying to commute to their workplace in the south of the city. They need to get there for 9 again when they start with
Charlie Mace (Powell River): would actually mean they have to leave home at 7, 30 in the morning. So it's an hour and a half journey requires transferring to a second bus, and and with the in frequency and the buses, yet they need to leave at 7 30. So that's an hour and a half.
Charlie Mace (Powell River): and in a very small community it's a huge, a huge journey and combat. Compare that same journey to car, and it takes just 12 min, so you can. I guess that just hopefully highlights and the challenges we have in trying to increase out, to take transit and and leave the car at home.
Charlie Mace (Powell River): And so why on? Demand transit and and I've done a lot of research and into all the transit options, and it's found, and communities they in Canada and beyond you, doing really well with on demand transit. So it seemed like.
Charlie Mace (Powell River): and a good solution that could also with our community too. And so for those who, on as well and off on demand, transit it's. And so the flexible modern alternative to 6 week transit, and it's really well seated to low density areas which is great for is in power with it, and
Charlie Mace (Powell River): the weeks are created in real time based on the writer request. So the bus goes to where people are and drops from where they want to go, and the out. There is an algorithm that determines the most box for the driver, and it's a shared service. So
Charlie Mace (Powell River): and my I to share the journey, and and it may deviate from them specific to pick up and drop off for the passengers along the way.
Charlie Mace (Powell River): and some of the benefits of on demand, transit, shelter, waiting and travel times, and my average wait. Time currently is less than 15 min, and
Charlie Mace (Powell River): it eliminates the need for transferring buses mid journey. So it's. It's a door to your service. and you can put a much wider area in a traditional fit suite service, therefore improving the access to transit.
Charlie Mace (Powell River): and it's a more cost effective.
Charlie Mace (Powell River): And so how did we start on? Demand Jenny really get it going? So? And we
Charlie Mace (Powell River): took advantage of a funding opportunity back in 2,020, and and we're able to leverage $200,000 in Federal funding from the 2,020 innovative solutions, Canada funding program. And so they were looking for 3 volunteer communities
Charlie Mace (Powell River): and to trial on demand technology with spell out to provide our kind of back-end system for the the zoom bus program. And so this initial funding helps cover the setup costs of the program as well as the cost of leasing one bus, and it's operations the first year.
Charlie Mace (Powell River): and one thing it didn't. Co. There was the cost of the driver, which is actually kind of a significant cost when it comes to and transit, but and we were able to kind of find that funding internally at the city.
Charlie Mace (Powell River): And so it was a one year pilot, and and the results would be used to kind of help inform future planning.
Charlie Mace (Powell River): So anyone who isn't aware of the kind of the current transit the transit funding model in BC. And it's usually a 50 50 kind of funding split between BC. Transit and the local municipality or region.
Charlie Mace (Powell River): and so in power with it it's. 3 transit system is delivered to the shared governance model and split with the we see transit.
Charlie Mace (Powell River): But unfortunately, and
Charlie Mace (Powell River): they basically transit when have not yet kind of been supported financially for this on the bus service. So we are still fully funding it, and at the city, and hoping
Charlie Mace (Powell River): of long term we can get that support, and for the on demand service as well.
Charlie Mace (Powell River): I thought we give a quick overview of the system, and kind of how it works on the ground, and providers, as well as just in the results, and from the first few years of operation.
Charlie Mace (Powell River): so an on demand service can be either door to door and stop to stop or combination of both, and ours on the bus service is to do, we have, and since the pilot
Charlie Mace (Powell River): set up one bus stop, and so we have a large kind of shopping mall area which has many shops and many kind of entrances and exits, and a large parking lot. So to kind of aid the rider and drive that, finding each other, we did create to stop that which has been well used.
Charlie Mace (Powell River): And so, as I think I mentioned we launched the pilot in early 2,001, and we currently have funding in place until the end of 2023.
Charlie Mace (Powell River): And so how does it work from the writer perspective. So a writer can book an app and book a journey through the
Charlie Mace (Powell River): or by phone. So we have a call center and join us. It's open during the service operating hours which can support those like that. They have access to a smartphone.
Charlie Mace (Powell River): and you can book the day before the week before, and or spontaneously, you could book a journey right now, and it's an either option.
and
Charlie Mace (Powell River): you know the kind of the benefit is doing. That is that you know the exact time of the bus that the bus will arrive, and so I think I mentioned our average wait time for less than 15 min, and you can also, through the app, see the bus and the real time location of the bus that you can kind of see it winding towards you.
Charlie Mace (Powell River): and to collect you, and and those will potentially pick up and drop off for the passengers along the way. And if and it's any comes up, and it's kind of optimized in that way.
And
Charlie Mace (Powell River): this here is a screenshot of the back end system. So you can see here there's a number of journeys on the right hand side.
Charlie Mace (Powell River): and they've been scheduled by the system and based on the pick up and drop off location sort of geographically as well as the requested timings. So the algorithm does that automatically kind of the most efficient order, and we and the driver can then just follow that we are told to take.
Charlie Mace (Powell River): and some results from, and 2021 at the initial pilot year, and
Charlie Mace (Powell River): really 21 wasn't the best year to launch a new transit service in the middle of a global pandemic. And I think, as many of you know, kind of transit globally is hit pretty hard, and we've lost a ridership, and it's taken a long time to come back.
Charlie Mace (Powell River): And but we had this funding available through the the funding program, and we
Charlie Mace (Powell River): went ahead and launched. So, as you can see, early 2021
Charlie Mace (Powell River): coincided with a very large site in private cases, which is the kind of veg. And on the graph there. So and yeah, we had a slow stop, and we had ridership, which.
Charlie Mace (Powell River): in addition to Covid, I think you would probably find in any one to a new service. Well, my students get to know what it is, and kind of take the jump to actually take a right. So I have to slow start, and we definitely then i'll ship them. This picked up.
Charlie Mace (Powell River): and there was a small D again, and as there was a kind of another spiking type of cases. But we've been pretty happy with the kind of the rideship levels we were seeing
Charlie Mace (Powell River): and through the app you can right. Is it also able to make that trip? And we had really high rates of satisfaction? I'm. From riders which is really great.
Charlie Mace (Powell River): and one of the kind of the side benefits that we've seen through the program is the kind of the social impacts, and
Charlie Mace (Powell River): and to people's day-to-day lives as well as kind of providing a new transit service. So I just wanted to include a few kind of anecdotal feedback from residents. So this is from a senior who said, I use zonga all the time when i'm able. I don't know how i'd get around without it. So handing so convenient, I don't drive and have trouble working, and I use it to meet friends at Starbucks to speculate things like for sure like this, and the bus to stay at least at home. Otherwise.
yes.
Charlie Mace (Powell River): And and here is from a local month. I look this on the bus. I am a busy moment. It has put my driving in. Half. My 2 older children have special needs, and this inclusion programming. I book this on the bus for them to take them to activities. It's given me more time and made my life much easier.
Charlie Mace (Powell River): So I think just kind of showing, as well as these leadership numbers. They kind of the the human impact side of the service as well.
Charlie Mace (Powell River): And so in in moving kind of on to 2,022,
Charlie Mace (Powell River): and I think so. This is looking at my shit from this again. Sorry. So I think probably the first thing you'll notice is there's a large gap in data. So, and one of the biggest things we found kind of with
Charlie Mace (Powell River): watching this during a pandemic, has been, and the availability drivers. So in daily 22 we you'll see the the red ship. Numbers are kind of lower that I think that coincides with only having one driver available and having to reduce the service we could offer. So
Charlie Mace (Powell River): partnership obviously took an impact there and then, unfortunately, and there was another spike in in March, and we
Charlie Mace (Powell River): just going to get drivers. So we've had a 3 month gap in my service, so we didn't have any drivers available.
Charlie Mace (Powell River): and we have kind of been consistently when service since June again, and as you can see, we're getting kind of quite extended pretty much consistently over 150 riders a week, up to sort of 250, almost 300 on one week.
Charlie Mace (Powell River): and we've also been kind of continuing to have good feedback and satisfaction levels from right.
Charlie Mace (Powell River): And
Charlie Mace (Powell River): I thought as well, I just kind of took some some of the successes and challenges that we've seen so far
Charlie Mace (Powell River): and so to start with successes, and the increase accept to access to transit has been great and feedback from residents, especially seniors. We definitely had seniors that
Charlie Mace (Powell River): it's really helped them get around and feel it isolated. and we've had fairly consistent ridership numbers. So we're achieving an average ridership. It's 3 to 6 passengers.
Charlie Mace (Powell River): and we've been successful in continuing and the service beyond the initial pilot. Yes, so, City staff.
Charlie Mace (Powell River): I've kind of successfully advocated twice now for additional and funding. So we've
Charlie Mace (Powell River): when it until the end of 2,023. So that's 2 years beyond the pilot, and then we're kind of having to do that on an annual basis, currently, and without any PC. Transit or
Charlie Mace (Powell River): and social connection. This one's been really huge and great, so I guess the services initially launched with the motivation of shifting travel to more sustainable options.
Charlie Mace (Powell River): And but as, of course, the pilot, it really became clear that there were many social benefits as well, so that included the so increased ability of residents to access community services and social interactions on the bus itself between passengers as well as the social interactions that it could, because and
Charlie Mace (Powell River): people actually able to make spontaneous trips. And you took with friends because of this. And so that's been really great.
Charlie Mace (Powell River): And as I mentioned, yeah, we've been soliciting feedback through the app as well as we did some phone interviews as well, and it's been pretty overwhelmingly positive, which is really great.
Charlie Mace (Powell River): and some of the challenges that we've had, as I mentioned, drive availability continues to be an ongoing talent, and we pull from the cities pool of transit drivers, which I think
Charlie Mace (Powell River): probably support this and more than say, a standard line program. It doesn't have that access to drivers, and but we still do occasionally have to cancel service. So i'd say, maybe one day a month.
Charlie Mace (Powell River): and if it's it's in the 60 we'd maybe had to cancel the service. and
Charlie Mace (Powell River): accessibility is a key one. We really want to hit, but we're still trying to work through, and some of the issues, so we currently at least 2 buses, and but neither of them is even quite right support as an offering and accessible service. But we'll check uses, so we do have an will to accessible bus. But once we got it into operation we realized it's just not very practical for the service we're offering. So if that is a wheelchair, you it on board, and nobody else can.
Charlie Mace (Powell River): and to all accept the vehicle without having to take the wheelchair, Use it off the bus and put them back on it's just it's not practical of that, and it's not kind of the service we're trying to office so, and it's definitely so makes we trying to work on the features how we offer more kind of wheelchair and yeah and service.
Charlie Mace (Powell River): And then the last one I mentioned was long term funding. So yeah, we currently kind of advocating internally at the city for funding on an annual basis. And but we're really kind of hoping to get long term funding from BC. Transit and to kind of enable the project longer to.
Charlie Mace (Powell River): And I guess that just links to the the future of our transit network. So, in addition to kind of advocating for funding, we're also trying to advocate for improvements to the transit network generally. So, following the the pilot, we worked with the USP. And leading the ability to do a transit system. Analysis of using both the outcomes of this and that was pilot, and reviewing the existing transit system.
Charlie Mace (Powell River): So through that analysis they were able to make recommendations and for feature improvements and to the transit network that integrate this on demand technology which is kind of proving to be really great.
Charlie Mace (Powell River): And so from the review, and they rem they recommended replacing some of the
Charlie Mace (Powell River): when they performing fixed suite with, they on demand some good service, as well as streamlining the kind of the fixing service into one linear
Charlie Mace (Powell River): more intuitive and frequently so we kind of advocate into BC. Transit. To include this is kind of a feature network plan and finger spots. We might be able to in some of the changes one day.
Charlie Mace (Powell River): and and finally, just to finish, because many of you might be wondering what does Zoom to be why we called it this on the bus, and so some get is a local live from power, over which means route swing.
Charlie Mace (Powell River): and so we thought it was important to give the service a local name that residents not connected to, and I guess a bit like a right swing. It sings around the city the bus, and and helps me all around. So then, yeah, just a little
Charlie Mace (Powell River): reason behind the name there, and that is my presentation done. Thank you so much. I'm happy to. If anyone has any feedback, send me an email, but not you. But some questions will be to send you now.
Duncan Field, Tamarack Institute: Thank you. Yeah, thanks so much, Charlie, we do have time for one quick question if if that's all right, and then we'll have to move to the plenary space at 3 55 for a closing session. But I, if i'll just read one question here from the chat
Duncan Field, Tamarack Institute: from Tanya and they ask, is the optimization technology widely available? How would other communities access it?
Charlie Mace (Powell River): Yeah. So I think you said the technology that. And so, yeah, and I can definitely follow up by email, helpful book the technology we uses to is hosted by spell out the company that kind of run that back in system. And I know that they do that the many kind of communities globally and not just in Canada. So
Charlie Mace (Powell River): yes, that technology is there and and kind of not made just for us. We kind of use that technology
Duncan Field, Tamarack Institute: wonderful? And one last one from Orpa. I know you, said BC. Transit Hasn't. Been willing to fund yet. But have they been willing to collaborate or support in other ways
Charlie Mace (Powell River): we definitely see. I think it's the transit future planning program. I think they have. That might not be quite the right way of sorry, but do that. We have definitely been in discussions, and have written letters and and had meetings, and I think
Charlie Mace (Powell River): fingers costs. There's been talks that maybe
Charlie Mace (Powell River): they'll help us. But yeah, currently, we there is currently there's been no full support that i'm done technology. Unfortunately.
Duncan Field, Tamarack Institute: Well, thank you so much, Charlie, for sharing that with us and sharing your with them, and thank you to all of our members of our AD Hoc group here. It's been a real pleasure getting to explore these 3 different case studies with you. We're gonna meet back in the plenary space in 2 min for a closing session
Duncan Field, Tamarack Institute: with Elders Florence and Wallace, and look forward to seeing you again tomorrow.
Duncan Field, Tamarack Institute: Thanks so much. I've just put the link to the house space in the chat in case anyone needs it. and we'll see there in 1 min.