The CultureLINK bus on display outside of the Galt Museum and Archives during launch day on Monday, June 27, 2022. (Lethbridge News Now)

By Justin Goulet

New CultureLINK bus pilot launched in Lethbridge

Jun 27, 2022 | 12:01 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – Tourism in Lethbridge has received a boost heading into the summer season.

The Galt Museum and Archives has teamed up with Lethbridge Transit and Tourism Lethbridge to launch the CultureLINK pilot project. CultureLINK is a fare-free transit service that will connect riders to various cultural destinations across Lethbridge.

The pilot program will operate from June 27, 2022 to September 4, 2022. The route will start in Lethbridge’s river bottom at the Helen Schuler Nature Centre and make stops at Fort Whoop-Up, the Galt Museum and Archives, the Southern Alberta Art Gallery (SAAG), Casa and Nikka Yuko Japanese Garden, before looping back to the river bottom.

Passengers will be able to hop on the bus seven days a week between 10:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. with the route taking roughly 20 minutes. Riders do not need a bus pass and can get on the bus at any of the stops along the route.

Lethbridge Transit General Manager Tim Sanderson noted that they have two buses involved in the summer pilot, with one of the vehicles sporting a special CultureLINK wrap. He did note that both buses will display that they are operating on the CultureLINK route.

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The front face of the CultureLINK bus. Photo taken during the pilot’s launch day on Monday, June 27, 2022. (Lethbridge News Now)

Sanderson said, “Public transit isn’t just for going to work or going shopping or running errands, it can also fulfill the community as well by linking these cultural destinations.”

He added that the river bottom is an area in which residents have asked for more service to, and this project will help meet that demand.

Sanderson said, “It [CultureLINK] really opens up the river bottom for, really, everybody in order to access public transportation.”

The back of the CultureLINK bus, displaying the route map. Photo taken on launch day on Monday, June 27, 2022. (Lethbridge News Now)

CEO and Executive Director of the Galt Museum and Archives, Darrin Martens said through the project, the Galt and its partners “hope to expand the minds and the hearts who travel with us to these amazing destinations. Lethbridge will truly be yours to discover.”

Martens said that on Mondays through Saturdays, Tourism Lethbridge will provide a cultural ambassador, “in order to enlighten riders will all the wonderful places to experience, to eat, to play while in our great city.”

He noted the CultureLINK project has been in the works for more than three years and it’s satisfying to see the pilot come to fruition.

“It’s incredibly important, not just for us, but I think for all of the cultural organizations that are participating in this inaugural run for CultureLINK,” said Martens.

He added, “One of the things that is critically important for us is to really make accessible all of the rich and vibrant cultural activities that we have, whether those are exhibits, whether those are programs, whether those are experiences, I think one thing that we all share as a city and through all these organizations is that it is such a wide diversity.”

He said he is excited at the prospect of not just growing the local tourism sector, but also providing a new cultural opportunity for guests to Lethbridge.

Martens remarked, “One of the things that we’re looking forward to is engaging and interacting with those visitors on the bus, those citizens on the bus, just to really see what they like, what they’re enjoying because that will help us and inform us [for] what we develop in the years to come.”

The CultureLINK pilot project will last all summer, until September 4, 2022. Photo taken on the program’s launch day on Monday, June 27, 2022. (Lethbridge News Now)

The City of Lethbridge said the CultureLINK project and its costs are covered by a continuation of previous Capital Improvement Program (CIP) funding under the River Valley Accessibility Study.

The study is a way for the City of Lethbridge to explore the efficacy and feasibility of accessibility between Lethbridge’s river bottom and the city’s plateau. The River Valley Parks Master Plan also includes a goal to ensure accessibility to the river bottom.

A full schedule for CultureLINK is available through the Tourism Lethbridge website.

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