When I moved to Moose Jaw in 1967, the bus service was my main means of getting around. Buses left downtown every 20 minutes which was as
convenient as a car ride. As I recall, 2 bus routes serviced South Hill, 2 buses serviced the east side of Main Street and 2 buses serviced the west. The
buses started earlier (6:15) and ran until (9:15). At that time, Sunningdale, Regal Heights, and Southwest Moose Jaw were not fully developed.
As the city expanded, naturally the bus routes did also to accommodate for the new developments. This caused bus routes and times to lengthen, and the number of buses also decreased. This was the beginning of diminished service and ridership. We must not forget, though, that the expansion also increased the city's tax base. Of the services that have been cut over the years, (transit, garbage pick up, and road maintenance, etc.) I am only going to discuss transit. This service has been cut from 6 buses that ran every 20 minutes for approximately 16 hours per day to what we have now - 4 buses that run every 40 minutes 11 hours a day. It's gone from running 6 days a week to 5 days.
The city manager and the councillors cite the reason for cutting services as being statistically based . Why does the city council not see the relationship between the lack of service as a cause for the lack of ridership? The funny thing about statistics is that they only tell you numbers. What statistics don't tell you is the human and social factor involved. As the service suffers further cuts, the people who rely on it to get to and from work can no longer utilize it. It also becomes more difficult for others to access medical appointments, activities, community events and retail shopping.
I can give you a personal example. I am a big Moose Jaw Warriors fan. I rely on the bus to get me to the games. For awhile now (because of reduced hours of dial-a-bus) I can no longer access the bus on Saturdays. The problem with the ridership statistics is they don't take into account one's age, economic status, mental or physical well-being and personal mobility. Statistics spout cold hard numbers and that's it.
Which brings me to another point. We all pay taxes to the city, whether we own our home or pay rent (taxes are paid indirectly through rent). Through our taxes and fees we all have the right to the services that should be provided by our city. I'm talking about the basic services, such as the fire department, police, water and sewage, garbage pick up, road maintenance and transit. The council is elected to make sure ALL the citizens of Moose Jaw are provided with these services. Indeed they have a responsibility to provide a consistent and well-planned service!! Those who ride the bus service should not be punished because some people (councillors included) personally choose not to ride the bus.
Have you heard the phrase "think globally, act locally"? I don't know where I heard it but it stuck with me. Climate change is now self-evident. We have had a record year in Canada of wild fires, floods, droughts, and vicious storms. We can no longer bury our heads in the sand. Along with all the weather changes, we are looking at a 25 cent per litre hike at the gas pumps. More people are going to find it difficult to maintain a vehicle and put food on the table. Of the three levels of government (municipal, provincial, federal) only the federal government has made an attempt to help. Our city council was able to receive somewhere between 2-4 million dollars to provide energy-efficient buses and to improve public transit. The Federal government wants us to lessen the carbon footprint. Is this really the time for our council to try to get rid of our transit system? The responsible thing for our council to do would be to encourage people to ride the bus by providing enhanced service. As we watch climate change ravage our cities and landscape, it’s time to do our part locally to reduce our carbon footprints therefore contributing to the solution rather than increasing our footprint.
We must pull together and not solely rely upon the statistics of ridership numbers. It's about our citizen’s needs, not numbers. Transit is a very important service because it ensures that ALL citizens (tax payers) of Moose Jaw can be mobile. When we have a council that thinks nothing of giving themselves a healthy raise, then state publicly that our transit system costs too much, it makes me realize where their loyalty lies.
Fran Millar
