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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
A Yellowknife city councillor is hoping city transit buses can be outfitted with GPS devices in the new year to boost passengers confidence that they won't be left out in the cold. Paul Falvo would also like to get more feedback from the public.

"I would like to find a way to have more input and dialogue between transit users and the city and look to give them a bigger voice that can be helpful," he said. While bus contract negotiations will take place between administration and contractor Cardinal Coachlines next September, he said it would be good if the public had a greater role in setting parameters of what should be in the terms of reference.

Bus drivers should also be expected to report if they are running late, for example, he said.

Falvo raised issues about city buses in November after he went to catch a bus and had to wait 27 minutes past a scheduled stop. He addressed the issue of transit punctuality with Dennis Kefalas, director of public works, at Monday's municipal services committee meeting.

"I recognize we are not a large metropolis and so I realize there are challenges for transit here," Falvo said. "We are told to use it or lose it, but I want to make it easier for residents to use (transit). This is something that really can make the city more affordable. In turn, it would be good for businesses if we had a better way of getting residents around and getting employees to work."

Kefalas said there could be a number of reasons why transit is slow from time to time.

"For the most part the buses are running on time in the morning," Kefalas said. "They start slowing down or get behind schedule during the day and get a little bit behind during rush hour. "

One factor could be a difficulty buses have merging into Franklin Avenue traffic, he said. Because there is no right-of-way for buses as in other municipal jurisdictions, he said it can cause difficulty for buses to make scheduled stops. Kefalas said it might be helpful to restrict lunchtime parking on Franklin Avenue, when traffic is at its busiest.

Falvo said parking restrictions could cause shoppers and businesses some problems, but likes the idea of cars giving the right-of-way to buses pulling out of a stop. Some councillors feel the issue cannot really be addressed until further information is obtained and can be applied to bus contract renewal negotiations next September.

"Prior to September it would be a good time for Paul and the transport issues committee to have consultations and find ways to make transit more efficient," said Coun. Cory Vanthuyne. He said costs of implementing a GPS tracking component may be affordable in the future, but he is cautious about putting money into a "heavily subsidized project.

"I think we would either have to get more ridership or make cuts to services. We would have to have realistic communication between the public, the contractor and the city and then see if better ideas can be implemented into the contract."

Mayor Gord Van Tighem also referred to upcoming contract negotiations.

"If it is a simple fix, like having a monitoring system in the buses to give an idea where a bus is, we could look at it (before September). If it requires a capital investment, that would be part of the contract negotiations."

Coun. Bob Brooks called Falvo's initiative as "timely" and "needed." He said it should be easy for the municipality to copy what other cities have done.

"There is no question that we need to be looking for constant improvement and renewal of the system and there is no question for the need to improve ridership," Brooks said. "But we don't have to reinvent the wheel."

Brooks said he was at a trade show during a Federation of Canadian Municipalities meeting last summer which featured displays about busing. In many cases such displays focused on tracking system services, he said.

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