It’s understandable that Banff council wants to see more financial detail in the Bow Valley Regional Transit Services Commission’s (BVRTSC) business plan; everybody wants to know where dollars are flowing.
Being that it’s a fledgling operation, though, and is still growing while trying to catch on with commuting and tourism users, the Outlook’s concern is more in what is being asked of the commission.
We’re sure the group will come up with more detail in regard to financials, but we’re not sure that a group trying to promote mass transit, in North America yet, should be tasked with finding advertising dollars, moving forward an “aggressive” marketing plan and aiming for the possibly unrealistic goal, like Parks Canada has been saddled with, of two per cent annual growth in fares and pass revenue.
Let’s keep in mind that BVRTSC is trying to build a mass transit following in a town in North America, where all things gas guzzling are embraced. As well, being that it’s now common knowledge that the bulk of tourism in the Bow Valley is of the rubber tire variety, rather than those winging in as in the past, we feel it’s asking a lot for a transit group to be tasked with prying more and more people out of the vehicles they arrived in and on board buses.
In the old days of many, many Banff tourists arriving by the busload off overseas flights, it might have been an easy sell to encourage them to simply jump on another bus to see the sights, travel to Canmore for a sidetrip, or head up to The Banff Centre for a show, etc.
But rubber tire visitors already have their wheels under them. And, just like all those rubber tire tourists are causing problems with traffic and parking in Banff, it should be realized that, for the most part, they’ll be unwilling to give up their wheels – it’s just not the North American way at this point in time.
Further, the fact BVRTSC has put together a business plan that Banff council believes is lacking in financial detail might suggest that hoping for much bigger and better things from a group that’s still pretty much getting its feet wet may be asking too much.
The way we at the Outlook see it, that local municipal governments in Banff and Canmore, along with ID9, jumped on the mass transit bandwagon (or hybrid bus) in support of a regional program was something of a leap of faith. Other than relying on those who commute to work between the towns, was there really any way of knowing how successful an increased Roam product might be?
As it is, Banff was way ahead of the curve in adopting transit in the community. That good idea was expanded with Roam becoming a modestly successful regional operation in December 2012; to the point where hours have been extended, bus stops shuffled to appropriate sites, and ridership increasing.
Already regional Roam has many upsides by offering an environmentally friendly way to travel in comfort; snow-free, with no window scraping and without the ordeal of winter driving or hitchhiking conditions.
Looking ahead, though, we’d suggest moderation and more small steps, rather than pressure to perform.
When you see that plans for a three-year period going forward include investigating a trailer service to carry bikes for the Banff-Canmore route, plans for expansion to Lake Louise and numerous feasibility studies, we urge some caution. After all, studies cost money and don’t necessarily result in anything moving forward.
