Blaise Transit awarded three-year contract with Nova Scotia Community Transportation Network

Blaise Transit (Blaise) has been awarded a three-year contract with the Nova Scotia Community Transportation Network (NSCTN), following a competitive public tender process. The NSCTN has selected Blaise’s platform to improve the accessibility and efficiency of community transportation in up to 23 communities across Nova Scotia.

Nova Scotia has a long history of offering community-based transportation programs. Most of these transportation services are operated by not-for-profit organizations and offer a dial-a-ride, pre-booked model. Understanding these services were previously managed manually using very little software, the NSCTN sought a long-term technology partner to deploy a provincewide solution to help improve the efficiency of these services.

Blaise Transit has vast experience deploying its on-demand transit and dispatch management platform in rural and small communities across North America. As the chosen vendor for this project, Blaise is working alongside the NSCTN to tailor their technology to the needs of the NSCTN members.

The technology will be gradually deployed to each community in Nova Scotia over the next 12 months, starting in the summer of 2023. It will begin with the implementation of the Blaise Engine dispatching portal to improve the efficiency of booking rides, producing reports and invoicing clients. Later in the project, the universal Blaise Transit rider app and Blaise Drive navigation tool will be used to allow riders to book their trips digitally and offer greater flexibility to drivers. The combination of these systems will improve the accessibility, efficiency and scalability of the transit services offered.

With more than 150 vehicles in operation across the province, the project will be the largest deployment of a demand-responsive transit platform in North America. This collaboration also represents the first provincewide transit dispatch management partnership in Canada. The project will serve as a model to other groups or networks of transit agencies looking to procure and deploy on-demand transportation and dispatch management software in multiple cities.

The government of Nova Scotia has provided C$525,000 (US$390,366) over three years to support this work.

“Dependable transit makes communities stronger,” said Nova Scotia Public Works Minister Kim Masland. “I want to thank the NSCTN for their leadership on this project, and I know the network and Blaise Transit will work hard to develop a technology solution that meets the specific needs of our Nova Scotian communities.”

"We’re excited to support enhanced demand-responsive transit services in Nova Scotia and to bring new, user-friendly booking options to residents and visitors of the Bluenose Province,” said Justin Hunt, Blaise's co-founder and CEO.

“We are excited to work with the Blaise team on this innovative project.  This new technology has the potential to better position our community transportation providers across the province to build an even stronger and more accessible network resulting in the ability to better serve the transportation needs of all Nova Scotians for years to come,” said Leslie Taylor, provincial coordinator of the NSCTN.