The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Mayor George Fontaine is standing behind the city's public transit system in the face of a call to pull largely empty busses off the road. Acknowledging that city council has considered cutting the bus service 'many times,' Mayor Fontaine said he personally sees a need for its continuation. 'I have always been opposed to getting rid of the bus (service) and I still am opposed, publicly opposed, to it because some of these people just can't get around otherwise,' he said at a budget forum last week, adding that some riders take the bus to work. The mayor's statement came after concerned taxpayer Greg East told council that he himself would put bussing at the top of the list of budget items to eliminate. '...it seems ridiculous to see (the bus) running around with one or two or three or five or zero passengers in it,' East said. East isn't alone. Many other residents have reported seeing public transit busses empty or virtually empty on most occasions. But figures supplied to the city by its bussing contractor, Northern Bus Lines (NBL), suggest a higher ridership than is commonly thought. The figures state that for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2012, public transit provided 42,345 rides _ an average of about 143 rides for every day the busses run. One person taking the bus uptown to shop, and then returning home on the bus, would count as two rides. There is no breakdown of how many different people ride the bus, but the service has many repeat customers. The figures mean that each ride provided by public transit costs taxpayers about $6.75. Half of that money comes from the city, the other half from the Manitoba government. East, who has raised bussing concerns before, said he has 'been told repeatedly that the bus isn't going to be any cheaper if we have one that's more suited to the number of passengers' _ in other words, a smaller bus. Coun. Bill Hanson validated that statement, saying the cost of operating a smaller bus, like the one that used to provide public transit in Creighton, is 'roughly the same' as the larger busses used in Flin Flon. Mayor Fontaine said council has 'considered and discussed many times' whether to scrap the bus service, but the issue 'has a lot of depth to it.' For one, he said, half of the price tag is covered by the Manitoba government. There is also 'a vulnerable part of our population that needs to get around somehow,' Mayor Fontaine said, and public transit 'is the most economical way that we can do it because of the funding system' in place. But East, paraphrasing a classic Rolling Stones song, urged council to think more in terms of requirements and less in terms of desires. 'You don't always get what you want, you get what you need,' he said. 'And I think as a community we have to start thinking in terms of not what we want under ideal circumstances _ and I know that council has done lots of that already.' Another concerned taxpayer, Bruce Reid, suggested a way to increase bussing efficiency, though it is unclear how workable his idea is. Noting that he has seen 25-plus children waiting for a school bus as a mostly empty city bus drives by, Reid wondered whether the students could simply ride the city bus. In 2012 the city paid $143,005 to NBL, a local company, to provide public transit. That was half the total cost of $286,009, with the province paying the remainder. Costs last year were up 12 per cent over 2011, when the total tab came in at $255,756 _ with the city and province each contributing $127,878. NBL's figures show a decrease of 15 per cent in the number of rides provided for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2012 compared to the previous year. The city's current transit contract with NBL expires on Aug. 31, 2014. That contract was ratified by a previous council in October of 2009. The contract allows either side to walk away from the deal provided just cause and a 90-day notice are given. 'Just cause' is defined as 'a serious breach of the responsibilities of a party to this agreement.' NBL is obligated to operate at least two vehicles from September to June and at least one vehicle in July and August. Flin Flon is one of just four Manitoba communities with bus service, and is by far the smallest. The others are Thompson, Brandon and Winnipeg. When the topic of bussing subsided, last week's budget forum turned to East's lofty suggestion of an all-out amalgamation between Flin Flon and Creighton. Though the practicality of the idea is at best debatable, it captured the imagination of Coun. Hanson. 'We would be a powerful community in the North here, Flin Flon-Creighton as one community,' he said.
