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City mirrors national trend of increased transit use

Dec 4, 2017 | 4:00 PM

How Canadians commute continues to change, as a growing number opt for public transportation.

Between 1996 and 2016, the number of people who choose public transit as a means to get to work has jumped 59.5 per cent. These numbers come from the latest and final Statistics Canada data dump from the 2016 census and depict a country changing how it moves around.

The pan-Canadian flock to transit options held true for Prince Albert, according to transportation and traffic manager Keri Sapsford. 

Ridership has seen a steady increase for a number of years in the city, with the biggest jump in recent memory coming in 2010 and 2011 when there was a 10 and 11 per cent boost in usage, respectively. 

Year-over-year, ridership is up 2.83 per cent to date. In both 2016 and 2015, ridership rose four per cent. Over 321,000 trips have been made from January to October of this year. Over 378,000 were made in 2016.

“We are getting a lot of people using the service,” she said. “It is a more efficient use of our roads. If we can get more people on one bus rather then twenty people in their own cars, it is good.”

While Prince Albert has the lowest transit usage when compared to Moose Jaw, Saskatoon and Regina, it remains competitive on many other fronts, according to Sapsford.

Demographically, adults make up a healthy portion of those using Prince Albert’s transit system, at roughly 75 per cent. Local youth are also adopting public transit options, as they make up around 15 per cent of riders. 

This number, however, remains below the national average, where almost half of those aged 15 to 24 opt for some form of sustainable transportation — transit, walking, cycling, or carpooling. Seniors and children account for seven and three per cent of riders, respectively, on par with the rest of the country.

According to the national statistics agency, in 2016, women were more likely than men to use a sustainable form of transportation; 33.8 per cent versus 29.1. 

While ridership is growing across the country, some cities, like Winnipeg, have actually seen ridership drop. When asked how the city has maintained growth, Sapsford attributed this to route reviews and improvements.

“[In 2010] we changed our system so it all came to a central transfer point. And then in 2011, we got new buses and moved the transfer station [downtown] and made many improvements to help people use it,” she said. 

“As we keep making changes to the routes and making changes and improvements, it will catch on with more and more people and we can better serve our population.”

Most recently, the city has tweaked a number of routes and extended its hours of operations. Sapsford said the city has recently reviewed the reforms, and see nothing but positives.

The modifications, Sapsford said, have already met their desired goal and she reported many new users are using the buses during the evenings.

“In January, there may be a few tweaks, just to ensure we are running on streets that need service,” she said, adding the new low floor buses, whose deployment has been delayed, are expected to be on the road in January.

 

 

tyler.marr@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @JournoMarr