The time has finally come to get On-it.

The two year pilot project was celebrated Monday, October 3rd as the participating communities of Okotoks, High River, Black Diamond and Turner Valley got the chance to ride the On-it transit bus and enjoy a ribbon cutting ceremony, speeches, coffee, donuts and gift bags in each town.

Mayor of Okotoks and chair of the Calgary Regional Partnership Bill Robertson says it's an exciting time for all of the communities.

"It's very exiciting, many of our residents have asked for this service to be provided and to be able to have the Calgary's partnership subsidized to the two and half million per year for two years will allow us to try the service out, see how well it works, and see what needs to be tweaked. And the senior level of government funding for it, I'm just over the moon it's fantastic."

During the two year pilot project communities will be able to connect through a different mode of transportation with each other and the city of Calgary.

Colleen Shepherd, executive director of the Calgary Regional Partnership, says there are many benefits to the new transportation system.

"It brings many opportunities to the communities. I was talking to several businesses over the last three years who've wanted to land in communities in their region but they couldn't do it because there was no transportation for their labor force. So there's lots of benefits; cost savings, time savings, safety and economics."

Though it's currently only a test run, Mayor Robertson and the rest of the CRP team have big plans for the project's future.

"I would think that being able to access a transit service like this getting it to eventually seven days a week and a more extensive schedule to cover longer hours would be just fantastic for the region."

The team also hopes to one day be able to transport community members to as far as Banff.

The official start date is October 11th and as of now a trip to Calgary from Okotoks is $6.00.

For more information on rates, fees and schedules visit onitregionaltransit.ca

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