Nathan VanderKlippe
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (May 10/02) - Hoping to lift ridership figures and get more cars off the road, Coun. Robert Hawkins is proposing that the city offer its busing service free of charge.

As part of that, he wants the city to rethink its busing schedules and routes.

"Commuting makes every bit of sense if it's practical," he said. "If you give them away or pay people they won't ride the bus if it's not useful."

Hawkins will seek councillors' approval for a study on the feasibility of his idea. The councillor says he hopes to seek a grant from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities Green Fund.

He say he has already received some positive feedback from an FCM representative who was in town last weekend for the Northwest Territories Association of Communities annual general meeting.

City public works director Greg Kehoe says he thinks ridership will increase if the service is free. In the last few years, the city has upgraded the public transit system by installing more bus shelters, Kehoe said.

Coun. Kevin O'Reilly said he thinks the city should include the idea in its community energy strategy.

"If a case could be made to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions by providing free public transit, and there was an investment in it from the territorial government, it's something we would want to look at," he said.

But others on council are a little more skeptical.

"Does he expect a five per cent increase in property taxes to pay for it? Sometimes he speaks before he thinks, I think, and this is one case of that," said Coun. Dave Ramsay.

"I certainly wouldn't support the notion of handing it out for free," said Coun. Alan Woytuik.

"It's an increased burden on the taxpayer and I don't feel that I should have to pay to subsidize somebody else's ride downtown."

Hawkins is fighting back before the issue has even been formally raised.

"If criticism and objection is all that some people can provide to a new idea, I'm not really surprised," he said. "It's usually the same people who oppose everything all the time."

Ridership increasing

Currently, the city has two weekday bus routes and one Saturday route. Under contract with Cardinal Coach Lines, the city runs four buses. Over the past three years, the city has averaged about 8,700 hours of bus service per year, with about 130,000 annual riders.

Ridership figures have jumped about 10 per cent in each of the past two years.

Bus service is already heavily subsidized. The 2002 budget predicts an operating cost of $513,000, only $301,000 of which would be paid for by the $2-per-ride fee.

That leaves the city with an annual subsidy of over $200,000, or just a bit under $17 per person.

Mayor Gord Van Tighem said he doesn't think ridership would increase, even if the service was free.

"If people don't pay a little bit, at least a token amount for something, they don't respect it as much," he said. But, he added, "if more people riding the bus means less cars operating, then you've got an environmental impact. But if more people riding the bus means less people walking, what does that do to their health?"

But Craig Yeo, communications co-ordinator for the Arctic Energy Alliance of Canada, said the issue is more complex than simply dropping bus fares.

He called on citizens to make more use of non-gas-powered modes of transportation -- like walking and biking.

He suggested more car-pooling and said the city could run smaller public transit vehicles during non-peak hours to save on gas costs.

"It's a lot of little things, and it starts with us," he said. "If there were so many people in this town that wanted to get on a bus that they were using machetes to get in the front door, they'd probably do something."