A passenger waits to board a city bus on College Drive on Thursday morning. The bus stop is the closest one to Medicine Hat College since transit decided this week to stop driving onto that property. The decision will be in place until at least March 2021.--NEWS PHOTO GILLIAN SLADE
gslade@medicinehatnews.com@MHNGillianSlade
The city has suspended transit service onto the Medicine Hat College campus until March.
The bus used to head north on Southridge Drive, cross over the Trans-Canada Highway, continue on College Avenue and turn left toward a stop on campus.
That bus no longer makes that turn but instead continues down College Avenue before turning right at College Drive, where there is then a stop for passengers.
Local resident Dave Marshall, who has used public transit to go to work at MHC for more than a decade, was shocked at the decision.
He says passengers now have a several-minute walk across four lanes of College Avenue and then onto MHC campus before reaching the entrance to the main building.
“(And) it’s the worst weather from now until March,” said Marshall.
Mike Spicer, manager of transit, says that after the last snowfall road conditions were making it more difficult for transit drivers to get around and keep to the tight timeframe of each trip. They determined there were only an average of three people a day using the campus stop and decided it was appropriate to stop turning there for the winter.
Marshall says Spicer’s estimate of passengers using the campus stop is “so false.”
“It can change depending on functions at the College,” said Marshall, noting the capacity of the bus is also reduced at the moment to allow for COVID distancing.
He uses the service twice a day on weekdays, and although the college has courses online there are still many students coming to campus regularly, even if it is for briefer periods.
In the middle of Thursday morning there was at least one other person making their way from the college grounds to take a bus at the stop on College Drive.
Spicer says the extra distance passengers have to walk is 400 metres, which is within the city’s guidelines. He says all aspects were considered before the decision was made.
Marshall is concerned that the service will not return in March, but Spicer says it will.
