Council approves first changes in Transit Strategic Plan

That includes changes in south Lethbridge where Ponech says demand is high, and drivers are late coming to the downtown area for transfers, making their service unreliable – especially when taking the 22 South route.

He says in the last year, 1500 times drivers were late getting to the downtown by three minutes or more. And 400 times, drivers were late getting to the downtown by five minutes or more.

“You’ll see a little community route out on the south end of town. So, the 22 will be shortened. It will no longer go into some of those neighborhoods anymore.”

Money to accommodate the new south routes will be taken from the N19 expansion initiative in the BlackWolf area.

But Ponech explains that a realignment of Route 31 in the Legacy Park neighborhood short term will cover off ridership there.

The new UPass system will also go ahead, which could mean a significant jump in ridership for students who attend the University of Lethbridge.

In late March, students voted in a referendum to decided whether to support the adoption of a universal bus pass, equivalent to the cost of Lethbridge Transit’s one-month pass. The $77 service fee would be applied to mandatory fees students pay at the beginning of each semester.

Forty-seven per cent of students turned out for the vote, and the official results indicated more than 1900 students voted “yes,” while just over 1,000 voted “no.”

That means beginning September 1, 2018, the UPass system will go from about 500 passes to approximately 5000 passes, depending on how many students decided to opt out of the program.

The program offers unlimited rides on any route in the Lethbridge Transit System for students who are taking at least one credit course during a semester.

Transit Manager Kevin Ponech says that will significantly increase ridership.

“It’s a huge increase for us, and it’s a win-win situation for both Lethbridge Transit and University Students. It really helps them out because they do get a reduced fare to ride the bus. And it will increase our ridership. It’s projected to increase our ridership greatly on the west side.”

However, the routes and times won’t be changed on the west side just yet. Transit officials want to first see where the loads are, what times heavy usership occurs and what the ridership patterns are.

The next phase of the Strategic Transit Plan which will require city funding will be introduced prior to budget time in the fall, and councillors will be given extra time to consider those changes, the impact they might have and how much money it could take to cover off things like transit services during statutory holidays; something that does not presently occur.

According to Ponech’s presentation to council, for each added day of statutory holiday service, it would cost the city $24,500 in additional operating funds.

by Lara Fominoff @LaraFominoff on Twitter

Council approves first changes in Transit Strategic Plan

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