Okotoks council hopes to address concerns a regional transit pilot program could be canceled before the end of its two-year term without giving a say to the towns involved.
A proposed agreement between the Calgary Regional Partnership and municipalities participating in the regional transit project was presented to Okotoks council on June 13.
The service will see buses run between Okotoks, High River, Black Diamond and Turner Valley and the Somerset C-Train Station in south Calgary during morning and afternoon rush hour in the fall.
An agreement between the Calgary Regional Partnership and the four municipalities was presented to Okotoks council June 13. It includes a commitment from the Towns to participate for the full two-year period and to install and pay for bus stop infrastructure and signs. For Okotoks, this could mean just over $400,000. The Towns will also have to cover any operating costs that exceed $500,000 per year in provincial grant funding.
Coun. Carrie Fischer said she believes regional transit will provide a great service, she is concerned with a provision in the agreement that would allow the CRP and transit service provider to cancel the program with two months notice to the municipalities.
Fischer said she fears the municipalities could be left holding the bill if the service is cut before two years.
“I believe that clause gives a lot of authority to the Calgary Regional Partnership to withdraw this pilot without any discussion with the municipalities involved in it,” said Fischer during the council meeting. “I’m concerned of the detriment to our ratepayers to pay for this transit service only to have some sort of breakdown between the CRP and the outside contractors.
Council agreed to a request by Fischer to postpone discussion about the agreement until its next meeting. In the meantime, Town planners will pass on her concern to the CRP and its transportation committee. Fischer hopes the clause can be amended to include municipalities in the discussion.
“There should be some mechanism by which they have to consult with the municipalities before they can cancel the agreement,” she said in an interview. “I’m hoping they can make some sort of agreement to have these conversations before the agreement is cancelled.”
Coun. Ray Watrin opposed the postponement, indicating other municipalities had already signed the agreement and it would draw out the process.
“I think there’s a couple of things we need to straighten out, but I don’t think it’s a big issue,” said Watrin. “I think everything else is ready to go on the pilot and we’re waiting on this.”
He said planning for the regional transit service has been going smoothly and the CRP expects a launch date in early September. A specific date has not been set.
In the meantime, the Town of Okotoks is putting together business cases for the regional transit pilot and the feasibility of a local service to apply for infrastructure funding.
Okotoks senior planner Colin Gainer said the business cases will be submitted to the CRP and included in an application for funding through the Green Transit Incentives Program (GreenTRIP) grant program. There is $130 million available to the Calgary region through the last phase of GreenTRIP, an initiative of Alberta Transportation.
The Town of Okotoks did not submit applications to either of the first two phases of GreenTRIP.
“We are looking at business cases for necessary upgrades to support both the regional and local transit service,” said Gainer.
Infrastructure could include benches, concrete pads and shelters at bus stops, as well as improving safety in bus zone areas for regional commuter services, he said.
“It’s not intended these upgrades would be implemented right away, but as the pilot progressed these upgrades could be put in place to support future transit,” said Gainer. “We don’t want to put in all the stops to full specifications initially and then find we need to relocate them, or that the project is not successful.”
Coun. Tanya Thorn was pleased to see an application for both regional and local transit infrastructure. Local routes are a service she says Okotoks desperately needs.
“I think our community has a big need for local transportation,” said Thorn.
She said a booming youth population is finding it more difficult to get to part-time jobs as the town continues to sprawl. In addition, she said the town’s significantly growing senior population is also looking for transportation and could benefit from local transit.
“I really think we need to start looking at that local busing piece and what does that look like, and I think this is a good opportunity to see if we can get some funding for it and allow us to walk down this path,” said Thorn.
