The wheels on the bus will be making more stops in Whistle Bend soon.
In a 6-1 vote at Whitehorse city council’s Aug. 7 meeting, members approved changes to transit that will see the new stops added to the neighbourhood and more service frequency, including Saturday service not currently available.
The changes are set to come into effect Aug. 17.
The vote
Coun. Steve Roddick was the only member to vote against the changes.
He said that while he supports transit improvements for Whistle Bend and believes a transit stop at the Whistle Bend Care Facility will significantly benefit residents there, he would like to see the city invest in improved transit services rather than moving towards the most cost-neutral options.
He explained he was voting against the changes to transit Whistle Bend in the hopes of “a more ambitious path” for transit in the future.
“What I’ve been thinking about since our last meeting though is ‘does this work go far enough’,” Roddick said as he explained his reasons for voting against the transit changes for Whistle Bend.
He highlighted climate change concerns and suggested more could be done to provide greater service that would encourage more people to use transit.
Both councillors Jocelyn Curteanu and Laura Cabott stated their support before voting in favour of the changes.
Curteanu said it’s “high time” transit services were improved for Whistle Bend, while Cabott pointed out Whistle Bend is the fastest growing neighbourhood in the city and the improvements are much-needed.
“It really just makes snese,” she said.
Coun. Dan Boyd also spoke to the changes ahead of voting in favour. He clarified with acting city manager Valerie Braga that while the cost for changes to Whistle Bend will be absorbed into the existing budget, further planned changes for the entire transit system will come with a cost, though the city had worked towards the most cost-neutral approach as possible.
Where will residents catch the bus?
Four of the new bus stops will be located along Casca Boulevard with the city also keeping one of its two current stops there as well. That means residents will be able to catch a bus on Casca Boulevard near the intersections of Tarahne Way, Aksala Way, Skookum Drive, Sybil Circle and Leota Street. The existing stop near the south side of Skookum Drive will be removed in favour of the new stop on the north side of Skookum Drive.
Another two stops will also be added, with one on Keno Way near Casca Boulevard and another on Olive May Way outside the Whistle Bend Care Facility.
Master plan
The changes to transit service in Whistle Bend come from the city’s 2018 transit master plan, which included a recommendation to “improve existing route alignment and scheduling to better match demand.”
A separate report focused on potential changes to the overall system followed with the city pursuing an option that would be as cost neutral as possible, which is expected to be phased in.
The changes in Whistle Bend will be the first phase of that process and will result in service levels there being similar to other neighbourhoods.
“This route improvement may be the most important enhancement to the existing route system in terms of achieving equitable service to all urban neighbourhoods and achieving planned sustainability goals in Whistle Bend,” transit manager Jason Bradshaw noted in an earlier report to council.
A number of other benefits to the proposed city-wide system were also cited, including new transfer points at the Canada Games Centre and Yukon University; improved service frequency in some areas; and reduced overtime costs to the city among others.
The changes also propose moving to a mobility-on-demand service in Lobird and Raven’s Ridge rather than the traditional transit service that’s in place now. Instead of catching a bus at a bus stop, passengers in those neighbourhoods would call the on-demand service to get a ride to the nearest transit hub where they would then catch a bus.
It was noted the future phases of the transit plans would have an impact on the city’s capital and operating budgets.
“The new route network would require the installation of additional stops and relocation of existing transit stops to better focus services in higher demand areas,” Bradshaw said.
While the new Whistle Bend stops and schedule will be added Aug. 23, which coincides with the start of the school year in Whitehorse, it was noted the changes envisioned for the entire system would not be able to be done before weather prevents the necessary groundwork from happening.
“Delaying these implementation steps can allow them to be further planned and discussed during the upcoming budget process,” Bradshaw said.
It’s anticipated the new routes and schedule could see an increase in driver shifts, resulting in more full-time equivalent drivers.
Contact Stephanie Waddell at stephanie.waddell@yukon-news.com
