The Kingston Model
A decade ago, Dan helped lead the charge and developed a simple but powerful model to transform public transportation, that has changed the transportation model in the City of Kingston. In his role with the Limestone District School Board, alongside the City of Kingston (Kingston Transit) we created the Kingston Transit High School Bus Pass Program back in 2012, offering high school students in the City, free bus passes.
On-bus orientation and free passes have increased high school ridership from 28,000 to close to 600,000 (pre-COVID) annually in Kingston, Ontario. The underlying philosophy in developing this project is that with encouragement, mastery of transit tools, authentic life experience and a bus pass in hand, students will gain independence and confidence.
The “Kingston Model” for youth transit programming is a game changer model for combating climate change and increasing youth independence and confidence.
“Kingston Transit High School Bus Pass created. Free bus passes for Grade 9 students. Youth ridership increases to 28,000 annually.”
“First year that all high school students (Grade 9 – 12) can ride the bus for free. Youth ridership increases to 600,000 annually.”
“Kingston Transit eliminated fares for ages 0-14 to encourage young families to use transit.”
“Kingston Transit Field Trip Pass Program was developed”
“The Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ “Sustainable Communities Conference” Inaugural Inspire Award, for the project that best demonstrates creativity and innovation. ”
“The Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ “Sustainable Communities Conference” Transportation Award”
“TEDx Ottawa at the National Arts Centre, delivering a talk in front of an audience of 800 titled, ”Throwing Our Car Culture Under the Bus””
“The Federation of Canadian Municipalities partnered with the program to create a guidebook for using city–school partnership to inspire youth to choose sustainable transportation. Guidebook available in French and English.”
“Participated in the Queen’s University’s DDQIC Summer Initiative with Jadon Hook and Jega Rajendran and conceptualized a social enterprise that uses learning from the success of the proven “Kingston Model” of youth transit programming to help build long-term transit ridership post-COVID-19 across mid-sized North American communities.”
“Partnered with the Small Change Fund to seek collaborative opportunities to scale youth transit programming to other communities”
“Represented Climate Reality Canada in the global 24 Hours of Reality Project hosted by Al Gore. Featured in the “Expanding zero-emission vehicles and transportation” presentation.”
The “Kingston Model” Youth Transit Programming Resources
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June 19, 2012 – Council Report: Grade 9 – Community Activity Pass – Addition of Kingston Transit Access
June 16, 2013 – Council Report: Kingston Transit – Grade 9 Transit Pass Pilot Program
June 17, 2014 – Council Report: Kingston Transit – Grade 9 & 10 Transit Pass Extended Pilot Program
June 16, 2015 – Council Report: Kingston Transit – Secondary School Complimentary Transit Pilot
May 3, 2016 – Council Report: Kingston Transit – Secondary School Complimentary Transit Pilot Program
August 13, 2019 – Council Report: Kingston Transit – Secondary School Transit Program – 3-Year Program Extension – 2019/2020, 2020/2021, 2021/2022
August 9, 2022 – Council Report: Kingston Transit - High School Transit Pass Program
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Inspiring Leasers Podcast – Building Sustainable Communities with Dan Hendry
Sustainable Kingston – Sustainable Transportation
Commute Podcast – Teaching Students to Ride Transit with Dan Hendry Commute Podcast Episode 5
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Learning in Limestone – City of Kingston Transit Bus Pass Program
Learning in Limestone – LDSB/YGK Transit Field Trip Pass Oct 2017
Sustainability Illustrated – Sustainable transportation: +70% bus ridership in YOUR city!
“The free bus pass allowed me to develop independence since I was no longer reliant on my parents for rides, and improved my social life dramatically since I could travel across town reliably without charge.”
— Saige Clark, Frontenac Secondary School Alumna
How We Can Help
We can help your community Get on the Bus through:
Training and Education
We will help your community develop youth-specific transit programming through train-the-trainer support, webinars, coaching and community strategy sessions. Coaching and Support We offer your community guidance, including ongoing feedback and troubleshooting, as you they implement youth transit programming.
Resources
We provide your community with access to a wide range of resources, including downloadable flyers, posters and infographics, that can be used to promote sustainable transportation and youth empowerment.
Partnerships and Knowledge Sharing
We are dedicated to fostering partnerships and collaboration between organizations and individuals who share our commitment to sustainable transportation and youth empowerment. We facilitate knowledge sharing between communities to help them learn from each other's experiences and adapt youth transit programming to their unique needs and goals.
By offering these forms of support, the Get on the Bus movement aims to empower communities to create sustainable transportation options that benefit youth, the environment and communities as a whole.