Yellowknife (Dec 01/04) - Public transportation in Yellowknife is poised for a renaissance of sorts, as the city prepares its proposal to revamp the bus system.

Recommendations from a public meeting held at the end of October are currently under review, and a proposal is being formalized, said city transit manager Catherine Mallet.

Yellowknife city bus driver Bruce Hamilton swings through Old Town Thursday morning. A proposal being prepared by the city could have Hamilton making his stops faster than before. - Alex Glancy/NNSL photo

Mallet hopes to present the proposal to city council sometime in December.

Concerns have been aired recently about the tardiness and inefficiency of the current schedule -- two things a new plan would seek to remedy.

Mallet said that, while the proposal isn't finalized, it will likely include an expansion of bus hours to 9 p.m. from 7 p.m., full service on Saturdays and an alteration to current routes.

It will likely be proposed that service to the airport be cancelled, but a proposal -- floated at the October meeting -- to cancel service to the hospital was rejected by citizens.

Mallet said the city has dropped it from the plan, but will look into making it safer for buses to turn at the hospital.

Yellowknife City Transit currently runs three buses throughout the day, but the new plan would reduce that to two on new routes. One would be an express, while the second would roam to more stops. A third bus would run during rush hours, between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. and from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.

The $400,000 yearly cost of running the buses would remain unchanged, said Mallet. The proposal will not request more money and fares will not increase.

"It doesn't seem to make sense (that operating hours are increasing but costs aren't), but it works out with the reduced number of buses," explained Mallet.

"With those new routes, we'll have an on-time and consistent service."

A report on the Yellowknife Transit Web site currently lists Route 1 as "constantly late" -- taking 45 minutes instead of 30 -- and Route 2 as "late."

If the proposal wins council's approval, Mallet said the schedule would then be revised, trials would be run and the new system would be underway "in one or two months at the most."

The number of riders on public transport has increased in recent years, said Mallet.