New bus fleet working well, no route cancellations, P.A. council hears

Information was also presented on the benefit of changing the transit hours in several ways.

One would be to reduce the evening routes from every 30 minutes to hourly starting at 6:15 but run the buses until 10:15 pm.

The rush hour service would see buses run every 30 minutes starting at 9:45 and going until 2;45.

Evans recommended that if council does opt to expand the hours, it be done until the end of next year.

Transit usage has steadily increased in Prince Albert since 2005 and now sits at just under 400,000 riders annually, a 55 per cent increase from 2005.

With the growth of the business community and with some of those being opened later, Public Works has gotten dozens of requests to extend hours.

“Transit riders have expressed that they work/study/utilize these locations and currently taxi, bike or walk because transit is not available. Extending service until 10:15pm allows citizens to accept jobs with later hours, attend community events and shop for groceries at normal business/school hours,” reads the presentation to council.

Earlier this year, council approved $265,000 to extend transit hours between March 13^th until March 31, 2024 as a trial but it had a slow start because of a driver shortage.

After reduced ridership during school holidays is taken into consideration, staff wanted more data in order to make a better analysis of the need.

Formal decisions on budget expenses are made during regular council meetings. The next one is scheduled for September 25.

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susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com

by Susan McNeil

New bus fleet working well, no route cancellations, P.A. council hears

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