If the valley’s cold snap does nothing else, the frigid weather at least helps illustrate how valuable a regional transit system will be once it’s in place.
Being that one of the things citizens in Banff and Canmore have in common is that some live in one town, but work in the other, the idea of stepping onto a pleasantly warm bus for a brief highway ride on the way to work is enticing.
The idea that this scenario will likely be played out next winter, record cold or not, is something to look forward to.
Being that the Town of Banff was way, way out in front in recognizing the need to provide public transit, it’s time the rest of the valley caught up. Even though Banff is the more pedestrian-friendly of our two towns, a situation well suited to its dependence on a large population of service industry workers, politicians of the day still opted to put up money for the Roam bus system – then took that another positive step by purchasing electric/diesel hybrid units.
Banff politicians proved they were not only willing to talk the talk, but walk the walk and put money where their mouths were.
Hence, Banff’s gem of a Roam bus system, complete with forward thinking ideas like selling interior advertising to local businesses.
And now, with Bow Valley Regional Transit Commission general manager Koji Miyaji in place, and $900,000 from the province in hand for bus purchases, the Roam model is poised for expansion as an important connection between the two valley communities.
Of course, there are details that need to be ironed out (page 13), including fares (the service has to be affordable to catch on), bus purchases with savings seen by piggybacking on Calgary Transit purchases, and hours of operation.
Again, in regard to both fares and hours of operation, they have to be set for maximum advantage. You have to make transit fees attractive enough that citizens sans vehicles will embrace the service and also hope that some drivers may be coaxed into not turning a key on their gas guzzling SUV or four-by-four in favour of a greener option.
As to hours, we’re thinking working with a 12-hour service would be more beneficial than an eight-hour service. If nothing else, running transit for a few extra hours would hopefully make the service more available to those going to and from work, to and from ski hills and to and from the shopping hubs in either downtown core.
Of utmost importance is that costs that have yet to be nailed down – fuel, office space, contracts, wages, etc. – cannot rise to the point where town councils are second guessing their support for a transit system.
Bears, bunnies back in news
As always, it seems, wildlife remains in the news in our valley. Here in the RMO newsroom, we chuckled when a photo of a deer and what was clearly a non-native rabbit appeared in a competitor’s publication.
Being that Parks Canada regularly dispatches non-native wildlife – i.e. brook trout that were stocked with little regard to the natural environment way back – in favour of native cutthroats, for example, we doubt the angst seen in Canmore over feral rabbits would be mirrored in Banff.
Then there’s the black bear found enjoying a hibernatorial snooze under a spruce tree north of Lake Louise. With temperatures plummeting as they were last week, one wonders whether the poor creature spent enough time with its mother to fully grasp the nuances of hiberation.
Being that it was found nearly in the open with temperatures dropping to the -30 C region, possibly this bear should be tagged, then subjected to a psych evaluation. Either that or given a transit pass.
In the end, it just shows, the only predictable thing about bears is that they’re unpredictable.
