Jess McDiarmid
Northern News Services
Published Wednesday, January 16, 2008

YELLOWKNIFE - A consultant and roughly a dozen members of the public tossed around ideas for improving Yellowknife's transit, including extending service to Niven and Kam Lakes, better stops, route changes, dial-a-ride systems and increased accessibility.

Transit consultant Dennis Fletcher of Entra Consultants asked Yellowknifers for comments about local transit and suggestions for improvements. Fletcher is doing a route analysis that will be used to make the transit system better. - Jess McDiarmid/NNSL photo

Consultant Dennis Fletcher told the Thursday evening meeting that his firm, Entra Consultants, would be examining issues such as the lack of transfer stations and circuitous routes as well as "dynamic routing," where riders would call in to "order" a bus.

"Our objectives with this are to look at the routes and come up possibly with some different route designs, to look at the schedules and see if there's a way to create a better balance between demand and the level of service," said Fletcher.

One of the key issues to be addressed is the length of routes, particularly Route 1, which runs from downtown to Borden Drive and Range Lake, as well as establishing a transfer point downtown.

Ridership is high in the mornings and afternoons when people are going to school and work and virtually non-existent in the middle of the day but schedules don't reflect that, said Fletcher. The city also asked the firm to look at the potential of extending routes to Niven Lake.

The Thursday evening meeting was part of a route analysis the city contracted to Entra Consultants following a marketing study of the transit system last year that found it "inadequate." Problems included buses frequently running off schedule and skipping stops. That study recommended service be improved before the city invested in marketing it.

"What came out of that was a fairly clear message from all the users ... don't spend any money on marketing until you have a good product to market," said Fletcher.

He asked for public input of a report on Yellowknife's transit service, which will be presented to the public in February.

"One of the most glaring things for me is this meeting is being held when the buses aren't running," said Carmelita Allen.

"I came from Range Lake and a friend is coming to pick me up after the meeting. But if you're relying on public transit, a taxi from my house to here would be about $15."

Allen suggested the February meeting be held at a time when buses are running or run them later on that day.

Other residents called for service to Kam Lake, which could make it easier for businesses there to attract employees and customers.

Wendy Hubert said more service is needed, pointing out that if someone on School Draw Avenue wants to go to Wal-Mart, they have to walk all the way up to Franklin Avenue to catch a bus.

"It's a problem. There's a lot of people on School Draw who would love that service," said Hubert, adding that more buses on Saturdays are also needed.

Residents also expressed concern about buses stopping at 7 p.m., meaning someone can ride a bus to a movie or evening event but then can't get home.

Extending service hours will also be looked at, said Fletcher.