Transit
I can remember as a kid, running down Kensington Ave to the closest stop and depositing my Loonie to get to the downtown terminal and walking to the library. That’s also around the last time I rode one of our city busses. Now, a bus no longer goes through the Kensington neighbourhood. Since the late 90’s, the transit system has expanded to 12 routes serving over 1 million rides annually. Regular transit comprises 15.7 rides per capita on average. While that’s nowhere near Vancouver, Montreal, or Toronto, where the numbers are closer to 70-90 rides per capita, it’s still an indication that our transit system is essential for residents who cannot or choose not to drive.
I had coffee with a retired City staff member who was a manager in the relevant department about two months ago. He described buying a transit pass during his tenure to experience the system as a user. His perspective was that he was one of very few people who rode transit as a “choice rider” meaning he didn’t rely on it as a primary mode of transportation. In bigger centres, transit is often a much more convenient way to get around the core of a city – both from a time and cost perspective. In Medicine Hat, the likelihood is that most riders are on the system because it’s their only option. This tells me we need to make the system more accessible by way of route expansion, stabilizing costs, and extending hours of operation. Some suggestions include:
Extending Route 11 to the Box Springs / Burnside Heights area to service Costco, Co-op Place, and the many restaurants and amenities that operate nearby,
Extending Route 10 into Parkview / Ranchlands,
Extending either Route 21 or 22 into Kensington and covering more of the SE & SW Hill,
Extending Route 61 to more thoroughly cover Southridge,
Extending Route 53 or adding an additional route to service more of Southview / Ross Glen and parts of Crestwood & Taylor,
Introducing limited transit on all Stat holidays,
Introducing timed or all-day transfers so riders don’t pay for both parts of a round-trip,
Introduce more transfer points – SW Hill, NECH, NWCH, & Crestwood areas.
My understanding is that Route 11 has been truncated and no longer goes as far north as Big Marble Go Centre as part of a pilot project (but I may be incorrect or misunderstanding this). Since I wrote the first draft of this blog, there have also been some changes to the hours of weekend services on some routes. MHT is also surveying the public on their top priorities for holiday service to eventually pilot that as well. So there is progress, and I genuinely believe they do want to make meaningful improvements.
It’s also extremely important to me that we celebrate the “Rec and Ride Youth Pass” that was launched this summer (link below). It is a program which, anecdotally, has seen much more uptake than planned, which tells me it was something we needed all along. It’s amazing to see the collaboration between the YMCA and various departments in the City, and I believe this is the kind of approach we need more of. Getting young people to “buy in” to our transit system is fundamentally important to its future.
Robust transit is essential to the vibrancy of a city. It is both an investment and a service, and it rarely turns a profit. I bought and loaded a MHTGo card the same day I registered my candidacy, although both my home and business are very close to City Hall. I was really happy to see that we have an app-based electronic fare system. While there are some people for whom this is a barrier, I think it’s a great option to modernize the system and make it more user-friendly for a majority of riders. My intention is to occasionally ride our system and talk with regular users to understand their challenges.Frankly this is something I need to know a lot more about, and I’m in the process of learning.
I know that there’s a large contingent of people who wouldn’t want to spend more money on something that isn’t profitable, but it’s important to remember the ripple effects. People who can travel around the city more efficiently can reduce the amount of vehicle traffic on the road (although it’s hard to argue we suffer from congestion at the moment). But more importantly, they can spend less time getting to work, running errands, and getting to social events. This can allow more time with their families, more time spent in the community, and potentially more money spent in the local economy. Any population growth we experience in the next couple decades (and I certainly hope we do) will likely come not from birth rate, but from immigration and migration. These are likely to be folks who cannot or prefer not to drive for various reasons (cost, age, etc.). Making our transit system more attractive and efficient is one of many pillars that makes us a desirable place to live when people are looking to relocate.
https://www.medicinehat.ca/en/roads-parking-and-transportation/transit.aspx
https://www.medicinehat.ca/en/parks-recreation-and-culture/rec-and-ride-youth-pass.aspx
https://www.medicinehat.ca/en/roads-parking-and-transportation/transit-services-feedback.aspx
Looking forward to bus chats,
— Adam
