P.A. Transit contract could be up for grabs in 2016

“I’m quite confident they could be our same contractor,” Mayor Greg Dionne said. “But what you have to do is anytime you get a tender that big that you’re subsidizing, you have to put it out to the market so you make sure that you’re in the market rate and [see] if there’s any players that can do it cheaper or supply a better service.”

He said the City delayed the tender process for a year because its officials want to speak with First Canada to find out its plans for Prince Albert Transit.

“We want to look at all options,” Dionne said. This includes an examination of transit services delivered to seniors and to disabled riders.

During this time, the City will also sketch out its long-term vision for Prince Albert’s transit system. The City’s transportation manager is looking to have this in hand before tendering.

Keri Sexsmith, who recently returned from maternity leave, put together a report, dated March 30, outlining a number of changes the City could make that would aim to improve the transit system. These include extending hours, adding GPS tracking technology for real-time bus tracking and next bus updates, and the implementation of magnetic strip bus passes or smart cards to pay fares.

She noted that the report contains a number of recommendations; however, council has not provided a strategic vision or direction regarding transit.

Her absence is another reason why the tendering process was pushed ahead to 2016. The department didn’t have someone on staff with transit experience, she told the committee. City manager Jim Toye further explained that the department also lacked a director to champion the transit strategy. A permanent director, Amjad Khan, took over the position at the beginning of January.

Sexsmith’s recent return means that the timeline to tender this year would have been short.

“Just in order to get that tender out, if we do go with a new contractor, give them time to get new vehicles and allow time for the potential new contractor to get going,” she said of why the City needed more time. The City owns only one bus in the Prince Albert Transit fleet. The rest are owned by First Canada.

“Another thing that we’ve looked at is First [Canada] needs six months’ notice before we can kick them out of their garage space if we do decide to go to a new contractor.”

Sexsmith explained she chose a year extension over a six-month extension, because the latter would mean the contract would end in February. Rather than change over to a new operator during the coldest month of the year, the City could make the transition in July so it will go much smoother, she added.

Dionne concurred with Sexsmith’s decision to delay the potential change, adding that he would sooner do this than make the wrong decision.

The transit system has faced criticism for the service offered as well as low ridership and the high subsidy. In a 2014 report, buses were estimated to be operating with, on average, 19 per cent of the seats filled.

As well, the report found that the majority of fares sold were subsidized and not full-priced. City council approved a 25-cent single fare increase, which is projected to help the system recover 41 per cent of its costs for 2015. The transit system’s expenses for this year are expected to be more than $1.4 million and revenues of $588,750.

The remainder of the cost to operate the transit system would be subsidized by the City.

With a subsidy of about three-quarters of a million dollars, Dionne said he does not want to add to this cost.

The mayor wants to see ridership counts and is open to Sexsmith’s suggestion that the City implement route changes, but he also wants to find out which routes are not working. During the meeting, he suggested cancelling underused routes and taking the opportunity to service some other part of the city.

Once the long-term transit strategy is drafted, it will go to council and to the public for discussion, before the transit contract is tendered.

There are a “limited few” national companies that would likely bid, Sexsmith said. First Canada is a big player in Western Canada, but she added there are a number of companies that can do it.

“Whether they’ll bid or not, we’ll find out.”

tjames@panow.com

On Twitter: @thiajames

by Thia James

P.A. Transit contract could be up for grabs in 2016

What's Trending