The city will implement its new transit route and schedule plans on July 1.

Transit manager Jason Bradshaw told city council last Monday that efforts to increase public awareness about the changes will continue to Aug. 1.

Schedule changes are necessary to better align with the rest of the modifications to the routes and support for riders getting to work and school on time, says the administrative report presented by Bradshaw.

He said updating the transit route and schedule while schools are on a summer break is considered the most ideal time.

The city commissioned a Transit Master Plan in 2018, which was adopted by council.

One of the key recommendations was to improve existing route alignment and scheduling to better match demand, Bradshaw said.

He said in 2021, this led the city to build upon this initiative with the Modernized Transit Route Plan.

In 2022, as administration prepared to launch the new plan, there was a larger negative response from the public than expected. That led to council’s decision to delay implementation of the changes.

Administration used the feedback received and developed a conceptual design for a new, improved transit system, Bradshaw explained.

He said the public engagement this year had a vastly different tone than last year, with the majority being generally supportive of the changes.

The public engagement inspired a number of tweaks and smaller changes to the system that will be included in the next phase of improvements to be implemented in 2024.

The proposed changes over two years beginning this year will expand service hours by 35 per cent, improve on-time performance and better define service areas, he said.

He said the improvements would require the addition of two new routes but not an expansion of the bus fleet nor major changes to transit stop locations or route plans.

The information collected in the second round of public engagement highlighted three primary areas of focus:

schedule changes – some expressed concern about the changes to the schedule;

more service enhancements – there was interest expressed to further enhance the system with higher levels of service frequency, longer hours of operation, better coverage with the Marwell industrial area, and adding new service streams like rural transit services; and

transit maps and signage – there was significant desire for improving the information contained in the city’s transit maps, schedules and wayfinding signs.

Bradshaw said the changes to the service this year are estimated to cost $245,000, and he expects the costs for the implementation of changes next year will come in at a similar cost.

Coun. Ted Laking said making improvements to transit service is a fundamental responsibility of municipalities.

Municipalites, he said, are always faced with the issue of why should they make improvements to their transit service when they do not expect to see a corresponding uptake in ridership.

“I think we could expand bus service ’til the cows come home and some people are always going to take a vehicle, but that is not a reason not to improve the transit services,” Laking said.

“I think there is also a significant portion of the population that cannot afford a vehicle, and they need to get to work.”

Laking said the city has seen traffic issues here in the last month or so. Improvements to transit service, he said, are an investment in the community.

It’s like the old adage, “If you build it, they will come,” he said.

If you have a transit service that is not favourable, he noted, nobody will use it.

Making improvements, he said, is kind of like taking a leap of faith – if you make improvements, they will come.

Laking noted he was surprised by the level of interest in the transit service that people were raising at the door during the 2021 municipal election – and not just from users but also from business owners who have employees who use the service.

“That was kind of like a light bulb moment for me; that you need this to support the local economy. I think we have made some strides and we are now making some more.”

Laking said there are people who would like to see bigger changes, but improvements made are just one step on a journey.

He said he expects to see some good results come out of the work Bradshaw and his transit team have done.

Coun. Melissa Murray asked Bradshaw where the city is in its free-fare transit study.

Bradshaw said the department has been limited by capacity and resources to get the study over the finish line, but once staff finish the implementation of this round of improvements, they’ll be focusing on the free-fare study beginning this summer.

The agreement the Liberals and New Democrats signed Jan. 31 to keep the government in power includes free fares for bus riders.

Details and a time frame remain unknowns.

In a May 18 letter, Mayor Laura Cabott suggested to the government that it buy transit passes to distribute to riders.