Photo Courtesy EverythingGP Staff

By Tanner Smith

City of Grande Prairie

Redesign of Grande Prairie’s transit system comes into effect August 6

Jul 14, 2022 | 2:09 PM

The City of Grande Prairie’s Transit Redesign will come into effect Saturday, August 6th.

The plan includes a number of highlights from a new on-demand service, a “Shopper’s Shuttle” route, one main hub for meet/transfers, and many other changes to make transit a more viable option in the city.

Manager of Transit Services Steve Harvard says the new on-demand transit service will connect more neighborhoods in our community to the downtown area.

“All the areas that are currently served with transit will continue to be served with transit but in addition, we do have new areas coming on board as a result of having on-demand, all those areas that don’t currently have transit will have the opportunity to use transit.”

On-demand service will be implemented in the following neighborhoods:

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• Creekside
• Signature Falls
• Countryside North
• Countryside South
• O’Brien Lake
• Kensington
• Crystal Landing
• Richmond Industrial Park South
• Northridge
• Northgate
• Trader Ridge
• Crystal Ridge
• Trumpeter Village

Harvard says small businesses were on the City’s mind when creating the redesign, having a 30-minute “Shopper’s Shuttle” that not only goes by big box stores people use for groceries and other miscellaneous things in the Westgate area, but goes downtown through the heart of small businesses in Grande Prairie.

“It was important for us (City) to ensure that we made the connection from the entire city through the downtown hub to those areas, (big box stores) but also to make sure we were serving downtown businesses as well. We wanted to make sure all of our routes came downtown and gave anybody who lives in any part of the city the ability to enjoy downtown.”

Harvard says having one main hub eliminates overcrowding on buses, keeping transit moving efficiently and riders happy, which was another key priority in the Transit Redesign plan.

“Certainly we want to increase transit, but in order to increase it, you have to make it attractive to people. You would probably want to get to your destination in an effective matter, not take too long, but you would also want to make sure you had a good ride; the busses are clean, the staff is friendly and knowledgeable.”

Harvard says Grande Prairie is a drive-first city and transit isn’t always the best option for getting around, but if they can make transit more convenient, it can become a second option for residents and lead to a smaller carbon footprint in the City…

The city has already seen a rise in people using transit to go to and from the Grande Prairie Regional Hospital, from staff commuting to and from work to people going for a check-up wanting to avoid the hassle of parking.

For anyone looking to view the new Rider’s Guide click here, and anyone looking to get more information can click here.