A ribbon cutting Tuesday marked the changes coming to the North Battleford Public Transit system. A new bus and an expanded route will offer an enhanced system with more stops and shorter ride times for most riders.
Transit is also proposing free transit rides April 1 and 2 to introduce the changes.
The old route saw one bus make a single loop around the city over the course of an hour, which made for long rides for some customers. The change effective April 1 will see a two-bus route system, with buses running in opposite directions.
"We believe this will be a transit system second to none across Canada in comparable-sized cities," said Mayor Ian Hamilton. "This is a great enhancement and it's a great service for a city of our size and we're very, very proud of it."
Hamilton thanked Al Love, transit manager.
"This is his vision," said the mayor. "We couldn't be more proud of what's been created here in North Battleford under his direction."
The biggest change to the system, he said, is the addition of a second bus to the route, which takes about an hour to complete. With only one bus on the route, a ride of 15 minutes to a destination meant the return trip home could be 45 minutes.
"We have two buses now, one going clockwise, one going counter-clockwise, which in effect reduces your ride time in half," said Hamilton. "We feel that is a great improvement to this system and certainly enhances the quality of life in this city."
The buses will meet at the Discovery Co-op Territorial Place Mall at the 50-minute mark past the hour. From there, one bus will take riders to Killdeer Park and Fairview Heights and then return back to the mall 10 minutes later.
"It's a limited service, but it's a little bit of a jog that allows people to take advantage of the system from those two residential areas."
The mayor encouraged everyone to familiarize themselves with the changes. A brochure on the public transit system is available at City Hall, CUplex, Don Ross building and the Discovery Co-op Pharmacy.
As well, there are some changes coming to fares. Adult single ride fares are to remain the same at $3 and youth single fares at $2, but adult monthly fares are to go up $10 to $60, and the youth monthly pass will go up $5 to $40. Also coming are two new passes: an adult eight-ticket pass for $20 and a senior (60+) monthly fare for $50. Passes and ticket cards are available from City Hall, the NationsWEST Field House at the CUplex and at the Co-op Pharmacy at the Discovery Co-op Territorial Place Mall.
"We really do appreciate that the people in those locations are making themselves available to sell the passes," said Hamilton.
Most of the proposed changes were presented to the public during two February information sessions and feedback was mainly positive. The one at the Co-op was particularly successful, planner Devin MacAulay said at the time, as they spoke with more than 100 residents, many of whom were active transit users. As a result, there were some further changes made to the route.
The changes are designed to address concerns raised over the last number of years from riders who expressed a desire for shorter ride times and also service to Killdeer and Fairview, the two residential areas on the expanded route map.
Hours of operation for the buses are Monday to Friday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. There is no transit service on Sunday or holidays.
The Battlefords Transit System also operates the Battlefords Handi-Bus.