Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services

NNSL (Aug 27/99) - Residents who rely on city buses will soon be noticing changes to the system.

An overhaul of bus routes has been completed and a new carrier takes over starting Monday, but the old routes will be in place until the week of Sept. 13.

To promote use of the new system, the city will be offering free transit for the first week and a 25 per cent discount on monthly passes for the month of September, said clerk Tim Mercer, who is overseeing the reorganization of the system.

The new system will offer half-hourly service along "the vast majority" of its coverage, Mercer said. The buses will run from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

"The big change in service is we're expanding service to Kam Lake, Forrest Drive and School Draw," said Mercer. There will be no bus service to the airport.

The reason for delaying the introduction of the new routes was to allow people time to become familiar with them, said Mercer.

The next edition of the city's Skyline newsletter will include a two-page spread on the changes.

One change that will, at least hopefully, have little or no effect on bus riders is the new operator.

The current bus company, Frontier Coachlines, was under-bid by Cardinal Coach Lines on a new five-year contract, with the possibility of a three-year extension. The contract combines both school and public service.

Cardinal vice-president Keith McWhinnie said the company is going to be bringing up new buses for the public part of the service in February.

Five buses will cover the public routes and another 10 will serve students.

The expanded service does not come without a cost. The service is expected to cost between $482,000 and $529,000 per year, compared to an estimated 1999 cost of $443,000.

Part of the city's cost to provide the bus service will be offset by the fares paid by riders. The city estimates the expanded service will generate between $181,000 and $205,000 in fares annually.