Agenda Item 6.3.6: Overcapacity Bus Management Policies in Canadian Cities
My name is Robert Clipperton. I am here today on behalf of Bus Riders of Saskatoon. Our vision is of a city where public transit is easy. It should be a viable transportation choice for all and a basic right of residency. Public transit should be accessible, effective, affordable and reliable.
It is interesting to read about the extent of ‘full buses’ in other parts of the country and what measures are taken to address the problem. Sad to read however that Saskatoon is one of the group of 7 out of 16 transit systems where this is a “regular” problem. It could be worse of course. We could live in Barrie, Ontario where they report that full buses are “always” a problem.
The key issue here however is expressed in the following sentence in the report: “Currently, the limited fleet size and number of buses available for service prevent Saskatoon Transit from using these common strategies to respond to all known capacity issues.”
Exactly! So this leaves a number of questions:
- The City’s ten year fleet renewal plan has a target of 134 buses in 2024. Is this number adequate to meet the demand? If we are still regularly leaving people at bus stops, then the answer would seem to be ‘No’. What then should the target number be? Mysteriously enough, the target fleet size for 2033 is also 134 buses. If this number isn’t sufficient to meet current needs, is this number adequate to meet the anticipated future demand? The ‘required book out’ should reflect all influences on ridership: service to new areas of the city; rush-hour ridership to high-schools and university; shift-changes at major employers; relocation of the Polytechnic Campus, and hopefully service enhancements such as full service on Sundays and evenings.
- If the inadequacy of the current fleet renewal strategy to meet both current and future need is recognized, should there not also be recognition and planning for increased operating funding?
- Finally the City’s Growth Plan expects Transit to double its current mode share. How is that going to happen without a plan for a fleet size and the operating funds that will allow it to carry more people?
Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today. Thank you also to the members of the Committee for requesting this report and thank you to the Transit team who put it together. I might add that the current Council as a whole has been pretty supportive of Transit overall and for those who will be leaving us in November, we acknowledge your positive contribution.
Thanks for your time today.
LINK to the committee meeting: The documentation and the 35-minute video the SPCOT-committee devoted to Administration’s introduction, Robert’s presentation and the Councilors’ questions regarding this agenda-item are available here: https://pub-saskatoon.escribemeetings.com/Meeting.aspx?Id=e515ea03-fdcd-4629-87cf-702a627e974d&Agenda=PostMinutes&lang=English&Item=23&Tab=attachments