Local transit in Canmore is already expecting to implement improvements to the first route created and launched in November last year.
Local transit in Canmore is already expecting to implement improvements to the first route created and launched in November last year.
Roam Transit launched Canmore local Route 5 in November with two months of fare free travel for residents and visitors to the community.
With over six months of operating now under its belt and results of a rider survey completed, Martin Bean with Bow Valley Regional Transit Commission, which operates Roam, presented council with key performance indicators of the route, including ridership numbers.
“We are close to target in most areas,” Bean said. “The service is doing well for residents and locals moving around town.
“Ridership is obviously a bit lower than we would like and we have some changes planned to help boost that ridership.”
Municipal engineer Danika Medinski told council changes are proposed to address issues that have been identified and provide better service in two neighbourhoods.
Specifically, Medinski said, the transit route would be changed to extend service to the roundabout at Stewart Creek near Our Lady of the Snows catholic academy and the Grotto subdivision in Cougar Creek.
“A number of enhancements have been planned for transit service and those have been provided through ridership data, in addition to feedback received,” she said.
In Cougar Creek, the bus would loop along Grotto Road and Grotto Way, and in Three Sisters it would add a stop at the roundabout. Medinski said both changes result in a more diverse range of residential units being closer to a bus stop.
Bean echoed that point, adding it was a conscious decision not to put the new bus stop at the school, as it would lengthen the schedule for the route and possibly conflict with school buses.
“We are very confident … this will increase the ability for people in that area to access the bus service,” he said.
Bean said after receiving feedback from residents after the launch of transit who opposed having a bus stop in front of their residence, that new stops have been designed in places that would avoid that situation.
“We are not planning stops directly in front of houses,” he said.
The goal of the changes, Medinski said, is to increase ridership. The changes also create a route that is 30 minutes in length; as opposed to the current 33 minutes it takes the bus to drive the route. Medinski said the change would allow the local transit route to align with the regional route to Banff.
The changes to the route are in addition to bus stop enhancements planned this year as part of capital budget expenditures. Medinski said enhancement to bus stops include better lighting, installing more Next bus signs, which inform riders of when the next bus will arrive in real time, and shelters, in that order.
The cost for bus stop improvements is $455,000 and there is also $440,000 in the capital budget for improvements to the bus storage facility.
Bean told Canmore council that the transit route is averaging close to 6,000 riders a month and has seen that number jump to over 7,000 in November, December and March.
“I think we are continuing to build momentum,” he said.
The lowest month for ridership so far was April. However, Bean said local school districts had spring break during that month, resulting in just 4,696 trips. It is clear from rider data that students and youth are using the bus to get around. According to the survey results, just under 10 per cent of those who responded (365) use the bus to get to school and more than 30 per cent to get to work.
Bean said Roam has introduced a new youth fare pass at half the price of an adult pass, which they are hoping encourages more youth in the Bow Valley to take transit.
“Now a high school student can purchase a six month pass for $52.50,” he said. “That is a pretty affordable way to get around town.”
Key performance indicators for the transit route were also presented. Bean told council the revenue per service hour is $26.17, whereas the gross cost per service hour is $107.25. That means the net cost per service hour is $70 and the local transit route is experiencing 27 per cent cost recovery.
