MD OF BIGHORN – Joining the effort to provide public transit throughout the Bow Valley would be too expensive for the MD of Bighorn, leaving the municipality as the only local government body not part of Roam transit or its future plans.
During its monthly council meeting on June 8, elected officials heard from Chief Administrative Officer Robert Ellis and director of finance Shaina Tutt the per capita cost for the MD of Bighorn to join the commission would be too much for taxpayers.
"Our observation is it would be cost prohibitive, or expensive, for us to join the transportation option of Roam transit," Ellis said.
The commission's funding model requires all municipal partners to pay an equal share of the overhead costs to operate. In 2020, each partner paid $150,000 in administrative costs. On top of that, each community pays the commission for the cost of operating local routes, including the cost to purchase buses, and each municipality separately funds and completes any infrastructure improvements needed like bus stops and signage.
According to a memo prepared by Ellis, the Bow Valley Regional Transit Services Commission's (BVRTSC) 2021 capital and operating budgets, along with the 2016 census data for MD of Bighorn communities, was used to calculate the per capita cost for each member.
This year, Canmore is funding $206,500 in capital costs and $1 million in operating, resulting in a per capita amount of $86. For Banff, the capital costs of $328,400 and operating of $1.08 million results in a $179 per capita rate. For ID No. 9, it works out to $60,699 in capital and $582,278 in operating for a per capita cost of $643 per person.
Ellis said the MD of Bighorn would see a similar result, with an estimated $627 per capita in costs, given it has a similar population base as ID No. 9. He also added that the commission members would have to vote in favour of adding the MD to its makeup.
"It is a lot of work to get into the commission and it would be costly for us to be involved," he said.
The BVRTSC was formed more than a decade ago to improve public transit opportunities in the region. The Town of Canmore now has fare-free local transit, Banff's local transit system has grown, Parks Canada and Improvement District No. 9 have jumped on board to establish routes to Lake Louise and other high traffic destinations in the national park, while Alberta Parks is at the table now with the possibility of a new route next year to the Canmore Nordic Centre.
While the analysis provided was on a per capita basis, if the MD of Bighorn were to join the commission, the costs would be applied to municipal property taxes. On a per household basis, Tutt said it could equate to an increase of $700 to $1,000 in municipal property taxes for each residential property.
"There would also be costs to sit at the table and that would be without even utilizing the service," she said. "We would not know what that is until we have been approved to join the commission and find out what costs would apply."
Councillor Lisa Rosvold expressed disappointment at the estimated costs, given that there was interest from Dead Man's Flats and Exshaw residents to look at this possibility. As well, she said the regional Roam route bus drives past Harvie Heights each day and residents of that community are also keen to explore the idea.
"If there were to be just one Roam transit bus stop outside Harvie Heights, it would still be the same cost to the MD," Rosvold said.
Reeve Dene Cooper warned the actual costs of going down this road could be even higher than projected by administration.
"More routes is not free," Cooper said. "It comes at a cost and it is not insignificant. It would be much higher than the $600 we are talking about here."
