(photo/ City of North Battleford)

By Kenneth Cheung

BUDGET CUTS

North Battleford cuts transit service, reduces to single route to save cost

Mar 17, 2025 | 1:54 PM

City council has voted to reduce North Battleford’s public transit service to a single route with limited hours in an effort to curb rising costs.

The decision follows months of budget discussions, with council members expressing concerns over the high cost of subsidizing transit.

“Right now, we are paying $16.48 per rider for each and every ride that’s going on. So it’s gotten quite expensive in the past years,” city manager Randy Patrick said during the March 10 meeting.

The new transit plan, which takes effect May 1, will operate from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., with 72 stops available. The move is expected to significantly reduce the city’s transit budget, with council approving a funding cut from $268,650 to $113,325.

The Battlefords transit system launched with a single route in 2012 and expanded to two in 2016-17 to cut travel time. It runs weekdays from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., with each route serving 72 stops, but costs more than doubled while ridership stayed flat.

upgrades

SaskPower busy with infrastructure projects in and near La Ronge

9m ago

Senior Hockey

Neilburg wins first SPHL title over defending league champions

1h ago

Push For East Division

Raiders kick off final week of regular season with Moose Jaw

1h ago

Coun. Greg Lightfoot, the city’s transit board representative, said North Battleford lacks the provincial and federal funding larger cities receive, making it harder to “ask taxpayers to fund more dollars for a level of service that we can’t seem to grow with.”

“North Battleford and other communities within Saskatchewan that aren’t within that 30,000 population threshold [are] not getting any help with regards to transit service within the communities, and it’s unfortunate,” Lightfoot said.

According to the Government of Saskatchewan, the Baseline Funding stream under the Canada Public Transit Fund (CPTF) provides long-term federal funding for communities with existing transit systems. However, to qualify, a transit system must meet several eligibility criteria, including:

•A minimum of three years of historical ridership, population served, and capital investment data.

•A fixed-route public transit service.

•A minimum annual capital expenditure of $100,000.

•A minimum ridership of 30,000 per year.

Compounding the issue, Lightfoot noted that capital expenses—such as new buses and transit stops—are not included in the transit budget, adding to the financial burden.

He acknowledged that the changes would impact transit employees but expressed hope that affected part-time drivers could transition to positions within the city’s handy bus service, which has seen increasing demand.

Despite the cuts, he assured residents the city will continue to monitor transit needs and evaluate potential improvements in the future.

“We’ll reevaluate it, have a look at it, see if there’s any changes that need to be done. Possibly look at other models,” Lightfoot said.

The budget adjustments will be prorated to reflect the changes beginning May 1, with final numbers to be reviewed at an upcoming budget meeting.

—

Kenneth.Cheung@pattisonmedia.com