Saturday bus service will temporarily return in 2021 after city council acknowledged that eliminating the underused weekend routes was a “knee-jerk reaction.”
Council unanimously approved eliminating regular Saturday transit during its 2021 budget deliberation meeting on Dec. 9. However, during its final 2021 budget meeting on Dec. 21, council voted 4-3 to extend that weekend service until May 1 and authorize city administration to survey residents and the business community about usage on Saturdays.
Mayor Fraser Tolmie and councillors Jamey Logan, Crystal Froese and Doug Blanc were in favour, while councillors Kim Robinson, Heather Eby and Dawn Luhning were opposed.
Tolmie initially introduced a motion to reduce council’s travel budget by $20,000 so that regular weekend transit could continue until April 1. However, after learning that council saved $80,000 in travel costs this year, he moved to extend weekend transit until May 1.
Council then voted unanimously to reduce its 2021 travel budget by $20,000.
Transit discussion
A discussion with the Moose Jaw & District Chamber of Commerce revealed it was unaware that council had eliminated Saturday bus service and was concerned about how that would affect Saturday shoppers, businesses, and low-income residents, Froese said.
“It was a knee-jerk reaction when we first looked to try to save money in this budget — that’s how I felt, and I regret voting for that motion to support the cancellation of Saturdays,” she continued, suggesting a dial-a-bus service could be the answer if communicated effectively.
Some people live on one side of the city and work on the other side, so the bus is the only way for them to commute, Froese added. While ridership numbers are one factor, she thought most residents were OK subsidizing transit for those who don’t have a vehicle or can’t afford a taxi.
Taxpayers should remember that they are subsidizing regular and paratransit service next year by $1.3 million, Eby pointed out. That’s the price tag if residents want this service.
Transit might be subsidized, but many other things are also subsidized, such as parks, which never make money, said Blanc, admitting that he also regretted voting to eliminate weekend transit as a way to save money.
Conversations with residents recently revealed that many people did not know the community had a dial-a-bus service during the pandemic’s early days, he added. City hall will have to advertise that feature more heavily if that service returns.
“I, too, had a knee-jerk reaction. I blame it on being a rookie councillor. We saw savings and I jumped at it,” said Logan. “Immediately when I got home I regretted that particular change. There are folks who work all week and cannot get groceries (or) afford to get a cab on Saturdays.”
The initial report that city administration produced was not a knee-jerk reaction, but was based on a year’s worth of data, said city manager Jim Puffalt. That report also recommended going back to 30-minute services during the week to increase ridership.
“This is an important service to the community and we have to find a way that meets the majority of customers. I do apologize that we can’t accommodate everyone all the time,” he added.
The ridership statistics that city administration provided do not lie: residents don’t use the bus that much on Saturdays, said Luhning. Council has to look at transit rationally since it is expensive to subsidize. Puffalt even recommended stopping weekend services and waiting for a follow-up report.
“Why are we rehashing all this (again)? This is the same motion. I didn’t know this could come back,” she continued. “We moved to take it out and now we have brought it back.”
She added that council should have transit return to 30-minute weekday services and institute a dial-a-bus system but should rely on the ridership data since it tells the truth.
