By Curtis Galbraith

City Hall

Council approves new transit routes, schedules

Sep 7, 2021 | 7:23 PM

Grande Prairie city council approved revisions to transit routes and schedules at Tuesday’s meeting.

There will be eight routes with each one starting and ending at the Towne Centre Mall downtown. There will also be on-demand services available.

Mayor Jackie Clayton says council has been looking at transit upgrades for several years.

“The transit system hasn’t seen significant changes really in the past ten years. In 2018, there was a Transit Master Plan completed that looked at recommended service improvements, which would not have (a) significant cost increase, but more of a service improvement overall.”

Clayton says the goal is to make sure that areas already receiving transit continue to do so, be it a traditional bus or the on-demand option.

“We’re looking (for) the outcomes for this to be greater convenience and flexibility as well as increased community connectivity. There are certain areas in our city right now that don’t have services at all,” said Clayton.

“By improving the service, by adding a new element of on-demand, we’re hoping that we’ll be able to service the entire city.”

Some of the highlights of the revised service include:

• Service to the Grande Prairie Regional Hospital
• Three routes travelling between downtown and the Eastlink Centre
• Two-way service along 100 Street between downtown and the Prairie Mall
• Two-way service along 104 Avenue linking downtown, GPRC, and the Westgate area.
• A new “Shoppers Shuttle” route connecting all shopping areas between downtown and the Westgate area with 30-minute service all day

Clayton says on-demand transit is new to Grande Prairie but has been used in other cities in Alberta and across Canada

Clayton adds that anyone with questions or concerns about specific changes is encouraged to contact city hall at 311.

“There was an engagement process utilized through this plan. There wasn’t a great amount of uptake in giving us your opinion in regards to transit,” admits Clayton.

“However, administration has committed to expanding that engagement process. Once the changes are put into place, which won’t be right away, but when they are, administration committed to a six-month review and an annual review.”

Council also approved two other related motions. One would see city administration look at ways to improve transit facilities at the Towne Centre Mall. The other would see a set of service standards for the on-demand service brought before council.

Council turned down the idea of coming up with terms of reference and a recruitment strategy for a Transit Advisory Committee, saying this would be an idea for the future.