(File photo/Tyler Marr paNOW Staff)

By Glenn Hicks

End of the Road

Private bus operator to quit after getting ticket from city

Oct 9, 2019 | 5:44 PM

It looks like Prince Albert is losing its private bus service to Saskatoon.

Rider Express Transportation says they’ll pull out after Friday’s run, and it appears the move was prompted by a ticket they received from the city earlier this week.

“Monday they issued us with a $1,400 ticket for not having a business licence,“ Operations Manager Leonard Siemens told paNOW. He said their driver was handed the fine in the parking lot of the Giant Tiger store where they pick up and drop off customers.

The Regina-based company had been offering a daily service to and from Saskatoon for $40 each way. They started after STC was shut down by the province a few years ago. Siemens argues they should not have to pay for a licence as they are not a P.A. business.

“You know, the city asked us to provide a service and now they want us to pay to provide that service,” he said. “We can’t buy this business licence for every place and town we go to.”

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Siemens said the company also served North Battleford, Lloydminster and Edmonton and did not pay a licence fee there.

However, the city of P.A. said all businesses, even those that are not based here, need to pay an annual fee.

“Rider Express in particular served a very important transportation option for the residents of our city, so if they are indeed leaving that’s unfortunate to hear,” Director of Planning and Development Services Craig Guidinger said. But he stressed operators from beyond the city still required what is known as a transient trader licence. That costs $500 a year.

Guidinger couldn’t talk specifically about the $1,400 ticket the company said they had received because that was a bylaw matter, but he explained “a ticket would only be issued if there had been multiple attempts to contact and work with that business.” He said other transient businesses in the city pay the annual fee.

When asked why there was a transient fee he said it was a revenue stream for the city but more importantly, it was to keep track of businesses who were operating, to make sure they were permitted properly and it was also an important source of data for economic development.

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glenn.hicks@jpbg.ca

On Twitter:@princealbertnow