A permanent public transit system will be launched in Hinton on Monday, August 31 after being approved at a council meeting in June.

After a two-year pilot project where the town received substantial feedback and the system was closely monitored, the one-bus, one-route, one-hour schedule has new operating hours, routes and stops implemented in July.

Stop times may be different from the stop times during the pilot project, and users are encouraged to look at the new brochures that have been sent out in the mail closely to avoid misses buses.

Brochures, passes and punch cards will be available from the transit drivers and at various businesses and locations town, including the Library, Food Band, Yellowhead Emergency Shelter for Women and the Senior’s Centres.

Bus shelters, benches and bear-proof garbage bins will begin to be put in place in the fall, and sponsorship and advertising opportunities on those structures and on the fleet will be made available.

“The pilot project clearly indicated that public transit in Hinton has enhanced people’s lives in a positive way so that everyone can live their ‘life at best’,” said Mayor Glenn Taylor in a news release.