After a successful round of public consultations, city transit officials will now try to find out if employers will climb aboard plans to overhaul the bus system.

At a council and senior management meeting at noon Wednesday, transit manager Dave Muir presented the results of a survey on the proposed loop-based bus system. He then asked whether council members want him to go ahead with the next phase.

"We need to be certain there's a will from council to move forward,” he said.

The system, proposed for 2011, would be designed to be more convenient with more frequent service than is currently offered.

The final say to move forward on it will ultimately be a budget decision of council in the coming year, but Muir said he didn't want to keep moving forward on it if council's will wasn't there.

After hearing the survey results, the four council members at the meeting – Mayor Bev Buckway and Councillors Dave Stockdale, Betty Irwin and Florence Roberts – suggested he go ahead and speak to major employers about the changes to see if they'd be willing to offer some sort of employee transit pass for their staff.

Just what form that would take – the employer paying 100 per cent of the cost as a benefit to employees, a cost-sharing arrangement with workers, payroll deductions and so on – would depend on what comes out of the discussions and what each employer wants, Muir said.

With the public surveys showing support for the changes to the transit system, Muir said they will serve as documented information when the city does approach major employers in the downtown area. Examples are the Yukon government, Northwestel Inc., Whitehorse General Hospital, Walmart and the Real Canadian Superstore, and groups like the Whitehorse Chamber of Commerce.

The survey – taken only by those who participated in the transit consultation workshops or the presentation offered at the Lions' spring trade show – showed that just about everyone agreed transit is an important municipal service.

When it came to the current service though, 66 per cent said they take the bus only occasionally, seasonally or infrequently, with 34 per cent stating they are regular users of it.

The majority – 69 per cent – also said the service didn't meet their needs as it is.

Presented with the proposal for the new system though, nearly 90 per cent agreed it would encourage them to hop on more often.

To do so, it's estimated it would take an extra $650,000 to the $1.6 million the city currently spends to operate the transit system each year.

While it's hoped the new system would see a ridership rise, and thus revenues, Muir noted it was important to ask how residents saw paying for the additional service.

Nearly half, 48 per cent, supported a combination of higher taxes and fares, with 41 per cent wanting the additional cost to come from taxes alone. The remaining 11 per cent didn't want to see any funding boosts for the transit system.

Taxes alone would mean a jump in property taxes of two per cent just for transit. As Stockdale commented, that would be in addition to any tax hikes to pay for other city operations, which he suggested could come in at four per cent in 2011.

While a tax hike for transit could be offset with a jump in fares, Muir was quick to note the city's current cash fare of $2.50 for an adult is already at the upper end of the scale compared to other regions of the country.

"We want to be careful how we do this,” he said, adding the service has to be priced in a way that people won't find it cost-prohibitive.

Irwin and Roberts pointed out that while the territory's social services officials buy bus tickets for their clients, for residents working for $10 or $12 per hour and with getting no such assistance, a large fare hike would be a hardship.

Muir argued the city will end up paying for the transportation of residents in one form or another, either by funding an improved transit system or through the continued upgrades of roads and parking sites if vehicle traffic continues to be encouraged.

"It's just how we want to spend (money),” he said, after noting there's a cycle that has to be broken.

Many, he said, have spent their lives travelling by vehicle, and that could continue unless there is a change in thinking and a transit service that meets the needs of the travelling public.

"Somewhere, that cycle's got to be broken,” he said.

Roberts commented she's seen a change in that attitude from her own children.

It's only been in the last couple of years that her now 40-year-old son has gotten his own vehicle. Her daughter has never owned a vehicle, instead using public transit or renting a vehicle on occasion.

"The attitude is changing,” Roberts said.

Others noted the importance of transit in keeping with the city's sustainability plan. To encourage people to use transit, there has to be a convenient service in place.

"You've got to have a good system,”said Shannon Clohosey, the city's sustainability projects manager.

With the city's go-ahead, Muir said, he hopes to start discussions with local employers soon.

Given the time of year, however, that could be difficult, and some may have to happen in the early fall.

Ideally, talks would be wrapped up by late September, he said.