Tag: Bus Riders

Speak Out for Transit: Be Part of Growing Forward in March 2015

Stephan Simon

 

[AD] Feb-March 2015 Growth Plan Public Engagement

The City of Saskatoon has been working on a Growing Forward plan over the past year, gathering public input and crafting strategies for transit and development that will shape our city for years to come. One of the key items up for discussion is a plan for introducing Bus Rapid Transit, which we spoke about previously.

Do you have any thoughts on these issues? Do you want to learn more?

Now is your chance.

On March 3 at TCU Place, and on March 10 at the university, the city will be presenting what they’ve got so far, and asking for input from the public to make it better. If you can attend any of these events, you should. We’ll all benefit from having an informed and vocal body of citizens scrutinizing this plan. What does it do well? Where does it fall short? Where do we need a bolder vision? How can we implement it effectively?

Even if you can’t make it out to the public events, you can still make your voice heard. Starting on February 25, and running till March 18, you can give feedback through an online survey at the Growing Forward website.

 

 

City of Saskatoon Meeting #5

Stephan Simon

The University Bridge closure. A new Adopt-a-Stop program. Real-time transit info.

Read all about it, right here.

These are the minutes from our fifth meeting with the Saskatoon Transit administration, on February 11, 2015. The discussion was wide ranging, and also covered questions about Access Transit, problematic bus stops, and the formation of the new Transit Advisory Committee.

Every month, three members from Bus Riders of Saskatoon have the opportunity to meet with transit management at the City of Saskatoon. This allows us to have a forum for discussion and a channel for communication between our groups. If you would like to see an item added to the next meeting’s agenda, please email Busridersofsaskatoon@gmail.com with the subject “City of Saskatoon Meetings – Agenda”.

Past meeting minutes are all available on the Meeting Minutes page.

 

Mandy Chen Deconstructs Transit Fare Increase in Presentation to City Council

Stephan Simon

During the December 2 Budget Review Meeting, Mandy Chen gave a presentation to City Council on behalf of Bus Riders of Saskatoon.

The issue being discussed was a proposed transit fare increase. Mandy presented a compelling case against the increase, and in the end, a majority of councillors agreed, voting to keep fares level and investigate ways to improve the transit system. The full text of Mandy’s address follows. Portions omitted due to a time constraint at the council meeting are included here.

 

Council Address Full Text

Good Afternoon Your Worship and Councillors.  My name is Mandy Chen. I’m here today representing a Saskatoon citizen advocacy group aiming at improving transit service: the Bus Riders of Saskatoon. Our group formed in early September this year by the riders for the riders in reaction to the major service deterioration resulting from the June 2014 changes to the preceding routes/schedules.  Currently there are over 300 active Facebook group members and we have held 6 regular meetings in the past 2 months in addition to other collective actions and 2 meetings with the City representatives.

Recently we observed several problems in the 2015 City Budget; we do not think there is enough investment to sustain let alone improve service. At the rate you’ve invested, our research shows that you have only invested enough to replace the current fleet of buses every 81 years. Despite this lack of investment, there is a proposed fare increase of $226,300. This is simply unacceptable. Reasons being, first, Public Transit is for everyone, so the cost should be shared by everyone; second, what is in urgent need right now is ridership increase rather than fare increase; and lastly the current fare is already high considering its service delivery. Read More