$142M worth of movement on transit plan
New buses, electric-diesel hybrids and real-time schedules
Chelsea Moore Staff
This week, city council will vote on a budget proposed by Mayor Sam Katz, which includes a dedicated $142 million in funding for Winnipeg’s neglected transit system.
The new transit plan includes the purchase of 160 new buses, equipped with on-board security cameras, more enforceable diamond lanes, additional heated bus shelters, synchronized traffic lights, and much more.
“A hundred and forty-two million is a significant, huge shot in the arm for Winnipeg transit that will enhance the existing service and do a lot of good things,” noted a spokesperson from the mayor’s office.
Implementation of this plan will be phased in over a period of four years, however it is subject to the members of city council, who will vote to ratify or reject the municipal budget on February 21, 2006.
The funding proposed will also be used to put up real-time electronic bus schedules at various transit stops around Winnipeg.
“This means transit users could more accurately predict when their bus will arrive,” said Morley Callahan, a Winnipeg transit spokesperson, “which would result in better trip planning and reduced wait times at bus stops.”
If approved, only 20 of the 160 new buses will be articulated electric-diesel hybrid — the kind that help to reduce fossil fuel emissions. Currently, Edmonton, Vancouver, Ottawa and Halifax all use this technology.
The new hybrid buses will seat 60 passengers rather than 37 in the low-floor buses, and may have built-in air-conditioners.
“We’re just kind of getting up to speed with what other cities are doing,” said a spokesperson from the mayor’s office. “Once we have the system up and running, then we can take a look at the next stage, some sort of rapid transit, but that is years down the road.”
While some Canadian cities have rapid transit in place, Winnipeg is beginning to implement the findings of the Rapid Transit Task Force, which reported to council this fall. Among the improvements listed in the report are rapid transit corridors linking downtown to both Transcona and the U of M — though Katz has emphasized other transit initiatives, including better roads and bus shelters.
These initiatives are expected to take up to eight years before completion.
Paige Daniel, a first-year student at the U of M, thinks that moving towards rapid transit is just “common sense.”
However, Daniel agrees with the mayor that more buses should be on the street.
“They come at one time — when everyone’s getting out of class, and you’re standing for half the ride,” said Daniel.
“It’s certainly important to be able to be mobile,” noted Derik Thome, a second-year economics student at the U of M, “and if you don’t have a means of transportation, [the bus system] is your only choice.”
“A lot of people wait two hours or whatever to get to where they need to get, which is just unfathomable,” said Thome, adding that rapid transit would be “beneficial” in the long run.
According to Callaghan, one can expect “improved speed, reliability, comfort, convenience and accessibility” to the current transit system if the mayor’s proposals are granted.
The plan will also include automatic transfer dispensers on buses, and smart cards that are paid ahead of time to be used as fares on board.
A glance at transit facts across Canada…
- Seven cities in Canada already have some form of rapid transit — Toronto (1954), Montreal (1966), Edmonton (1978), Calgary (1981), Vancouver (1985), Ottawa (2001) and the York Region (2005)
- The city of Kelowna has implemented a “Cash for Clunkers Program”: car-owners trade in their old vehicles in exchange for something more environmentally friendly, such as a two-year, unlimited bus pass (at a cost of $927) or cash to be spent on a bicycle, new running shoes or some form of electric transportation.
- Many universities in British Colombia, Nova Scotia, Alberta and Ontario offer a universal bus pass program (U-PASS), which grants students unlimited access to transit services during the school year, among other benefits, at a low cost ranging anywhere from $115 to $200 a year.
- As of January 2, 2006, Calgary Transit implemented a low-income monthly bus fare of $35 for any person 18 years or older who has resided in Calgary for at least 12 months, and who makes less than 75 per cent of Statistics Canada’s Low Income Cut-Off mark.
- The Kelowna regional transit system was the first in Canada to buy a hybrid-electric bus, on May 4 of 2005.
- On Feb. 15, the Ottawa-Carleton transit service announced that it will spend $267 million each year for the next 15 years, a total of $4 billion, to implement rapid transit
- In 2004, 1.59 billion trips were taken by transit-users in Canada (CUTA).
