Dane Gibson
Northern News Services

NNSL (Jun 16/99) - After a $25,000- consultation process and three bids from bus companies, the city has given the nod to Calgary-based Cardinal Coach Lines to upgrade Yellowknife's public transit system.

The decision was announced at a public meeting, Monday.

Arctic Frontier Carriers co-owner Al Hemeyer, who held the previous contract, was not happy when he heard their proposal was turned down.

"We've worked with the city for close to 10 years developing a transit system and we've done it as cost effectively as we could," Hemeyer said.

"All I can say is our competitor from Calgary must have offered a very good price to have the city sever the relationship they had with a Northern supplier who pays taxes here and employs families here."

The Cardinal proposal calls for the purchase of three new buses at a cost of $175,000 each, a new maintenance shop and staff. The total cost of the proposal has not been released but it is estimated the city will be paying about $46,000 more for the new system annually.

City councillor Bob Brooks hopes the final figures will be ready for release at the June 17 council meeting.

"What we're saying is we want a municipal transit system that's appropriate for a city this size -- a system that our riders can count on," Brooks said.

"On the one hand, I'm happy we're going to the expanded service but on the other, I'm disappointed we couldn't go with (Arctic Couriers) because they helped to build the transit system to where we are today."

Brooks said the other options didn't include service to Frame Lake South, Northlands, Kam Lake or the hospital. Under the new proposed system, the first of the three new buses will leave the airport every hour. It will take a 52 minute circle route through the city and back to the airport.

The second bus will leave from the Old Airport Road Co-op every hour and will service the Kam Lake area, as well as the downtown core, before circling back to the Co-op.

The third bus in the proposal will service a half-hour route starting in Ndilo. It will circle through downtown and along School Draw Avenue. All three routes pass by the two major high schools.

"This way, 35 per cent more of the city is covered with a scheduled transit service that is expandable," Brooks said.

"I expect the ridership to increase because bus stops will be more visible, there will be less congestion in the downtown core and more pedestrian traffic."

Cardinal Coach Lines vice-president Keith McWhinnie was at Monday's meeting. He looked relieved when the announcement was made.

"We have over 50 years of public transportation history so I think that added a certain amount of weight to our proposal," McWhinnie said afterwards.

"Transit systems are obviously heavily subsidized and often the ridership doesn't justify the service. At the end of the day, it boils down to dollars and cents. It's a business decision a city has to make to provide a service."

Brooks said the Cardinal proposal includes a bus contract for the school districts that should save them more than $200,000. The proposal is conditional on school board acceptance and the board will vote on whether to go with the Cardinal deal June 22.