In a rural community without taxis, rideshare, or conventional public transit, mobility can determine whether residents can reach work, healthcare, groceries, and community life. That reality is what anchors NGtransit, an on-demand service launched in January 2024 in North Grenville, Ontario.

The Municipality is home to about 18,000 residents spread across 352 square kilometers (approximately 136 square miles) south of Ottawa. A traditional fixed-route system could have served parts of town but would not have reached many rural households. North Grenville’s answer was not to scale down a big-city model, but to design around its own geography, riders, and service constraints.

For Karen Humphries, the service means getting to errands, pharmacy trips, and volunteer work at a local hospice without driving. Without it, “I would be sitting at home,” Humphries said.

For Scott Elmore, NGtransit provides a lower-cost commute from Kemptville to Ottawa four to five days a week, replacing a drive that cost about $110 a week in gas, plus vehicle maintenance, with a $70 monthly transit pass. “They’ve really brought a service that this community’s really needed,” Elmore said.

NGtransit now operates seven days a week with small, accessible vehicles and ride optimization technology that groups shared trips in real time. Riders can book by phone, online, or through the Blaise app. Since launch, the service has completed more than 30,000 rides and maintained a 4.7-out-of-five passenger rating.

Practical Lessons from North Grenville

For other rural and small-system operators, North Grenville’s experience offers five practical lessons.

Start with the service area: North Grenville council members made one requirement clear from the start: the service needed to reach the whole municipality. That made on-demand transit the best fit for launch, allowing the service to follow actual demand rather than predetermined corridors.

 Although North Grenville launched NGtransit as an on-demand service, municipal staff continue to monitor areas where demand may eventually support a fixed route. About 75% of trips now occur in the urban area, and the Municipality uses heat maps, trip distribution data, and boardings-per-hour metrics to monitor where demand is concentrating. One working threshold is five boardings per hour before considering fixed-route service in a specific area.

Match vehicles to the job: NGtransit operates with small, accessible vehicles rather than full-size buses, and that choice matters operationally. Smaller vehicles are easier to maneuver across a wide rural geography, less costly to operate, and more realistic to fill. Some can be driven with a standard license, which helps with driver availability and day-to-day flexibility.

Vehicle planning also requires being realistic about local conditions. North Grenville has explored hybrid and electric options, but long service days and cold-weather range concerns create practical challenges. The Municipality’s buses can operate 14-hour shifts, and replacing that capacity with electric vehicles would likely require additional vehicles and charging time.

Keep technology accessible: Ride optimization technology helps NGtransit schedule trips, group riders, and generate performance data. But in a rural community, technology cannot assume every rider can use an app.

That is why NGtransit offers multiple booking channels: app, web, and phone. The system serves riders with mobility needs, students, commuters, older adults, and residents traveling to medical appointments, the grocery store, work, or social services.

 North Grenville has adjusted boarding times, introduced ticket bundles, and partnered with community organizations to help residents facing greater transportation barriers.

Use data to keep improving: When NGtransit launched in 2024, it was designed to learn and adapt.

North Grenville tracks ridership, rejection rates, average daily rides, urban-versus-rural demand, booking behavior, on-time performance, passenger satisfaction, and trip patterns, including why some riders may have stopped using the service. 

That data has supported changes, including extending hours until 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday, adjusting accessibility practices, introducing ticket bundles, and adding an Ottawa commuter connection. In its first six months, the commuter service recorded 1,233 riders and added daytime local capacity.

Show the work:Rural transit economics can look challenging when viewed through an urban lens. NGtransit’s fare recovery is about 9%, and the cost per ride is approximately $45. The Municipality is candid about these numbers because they are part of the conversation about public value.

 North Grenville maintains a public-facing performance dashboard and a separate council-facing dashboard. These give residents and council members different levels of visibility into service use. This transparency helps answer questions about cost, demonstrate demand, and support funding conversations.

 In June 2025, North Grenville received $719,000 through Ontario’s Transit Investment Fund to support the Ottawa commuter connection and expand the existing on-demand service.

A Model that Evolves

Small systems do not need to imitate large ones to be effective. They need to understand their riders, measure what matters, and build a service that can evolve with the community.

 “I think it’s wonderful that the service exists,” Humphries said. “I can contribute to my community more.”

About the Author: Hillary Geneau is director of corporate strategy for the Municipality of North Grenville, Ontario; and Mary King is senior content writer for Envisio, a strategy and performance management software company serving public-sector organizations.