Buses to run earlier, finish earlier
City says demand was greater for earlier routes to get people to work and school on time
John McFadden
Northern News Services
Published Tuesday, December 16, 2014
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
City Of Yellowknife transit buses will be starting their routes earlier in the day as of Jan 5, according to Wendy Alexander, manager or public works and engineering.
City buses will start running five to 15 minutes earlier beginning Jan. 5. However, they will also end their routes earlier by the same amount of time. The changes follow a survey done this fall that indicated that buses were not getting commuters to work and school on time. - John McFadden/NNSL photo
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"Over 300 people responded to our survey this fall and what we found was that many riders said they couldn't get to work on time. So we are hopeful that by implementing an earlier start, commuters will get to work or school on time or even with a little time to spare," Bus overcrowding should be resolved by starting the routes earlier, Alexander said.
"Buses will still be running 12 hours a day, six days a week."
"But because the bus routes will be starting earlier they will also be ending earlier by the same amount of time."
Alexander said there were also some survey respondents who felt the bus routes ended too early in the evening, before many businesses closed. But she said there are budgetary constraints keeping them from addressing that right now.
"Our transit system is designed mainly to get people to and from work and school so those are the main concerns that we have responded to at this time."
Route A, the Borden Drive-Forrest Drive bus, will now begin picking up passengers at 7:15 a.m., five minutes earlier than it does right now. Route B, the Frame Lake-Northland Trailer Park bus, will start at 7:10 a.m., 15 minutes earlier than its current start time; and bus route C, Old Town and Niven Lake will start picking up passengers at 6:55 a.m., 15 minutes earlier than its current time.
Alexander said that survey respondents also said they like the new low level buses. Four of them were introduced to the fleet during the first week of September. They replaced four of the city's six buses and increased the city's transit budget by $340,000 compared to 2013.
Changes to the schedules will be made public through the city's website, social media and printed brochures beginning this week.
