On Jan. 4 service along route 56 will be expanded by seven hours during the day. Service along route 21 will be more constant during the evening as the city switches an on-demand bus to a full-time route.--NEWS PHOTO BRENDAN MILLER
bmiller@medicinehatnews.com
Brendan Miller
bmiller@medicinehatnews.com
Beginning Jan. 4 the city will be making changes to transit routes 21 and 56 after an increase in ridership in 2023. The city is continuing to track ridership numbers coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic and says they will continue to adjust service as ridership increase. Transit officials say they plan to re-evaluate ridership levels in June.
Route 56
This route provides access to the mall and Walmart shopping area and runs through South Ridge. The city is expanding service along route 56 to help keep buses running on schedule and provide additional service to riders.
The expansion will add an additional seven hours of service along this route between 6:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m., meaning more buses will be running during the heaviest traffic timeframe of the day.
“That would allow people to travel from the mall to the Walmart, Strachan, The Bay, Home Depot area quickly and through the high-density apartments,” says Gord Dykstra, manager of transit services.
More than 80 per cent of respondents from a city survey wanted to see and increase to service along route 56 throughout daytime hours.
“The principle was that coming out of COVID we were going to work incrementally and see where the service pressure was and we were going to put service back when there was enough demand for a particular area,” says Dykstra.
Route 21
This route provides service to the hospital and runs from the downtown terminal through South Hill. The city is shifting one of its on-demand buses to a regular route.
This is not a service expansion but a restoration of pre COVID service in the area.
It will provide riders a more consistent bus schedule, especially during evening hours.
“That will take some pressure off on-demand service while improving the service to the South Hill area in terms of predictability for people travelling to the general hospital area,” says Dykstra.
The city will continue providing on-demand bus service along this route during the day.
The on-demand service allows residents to book a bus for a specific time at any desired bus stop by calling ahead of time or using the MHTNow! on-demand transit app.
The city uses software that tracks ridership levels and has noticed an increase in ridership this year along route 21 during evening hours.
“That’ll cover the majority of the people who are doing the travelling in the evening and then that will free up pressure on the other buses as well as giving predictable service,” says Dykstra. “It’s excellent to be able to put back service that meets the riders needs in response to demand.”
