Discount transit

Earlier in the budget process, a local resident asked council to cap bus passes at $20 for persons with disabilities.

Council later heard St. Albert Transit does not provide discounts for customers with disabilities. City manager Bill Holtby said there are no direct subsidies for transit, though AISH recipients can choose to pay for transportation needs with money they receive from the province.

In contrast, Strathcona County does provide discounts for persons with disabilities. AISH recipients pay just $20 a month. According to the Sherwood Park News, a county councillor has recently floated the idea of free transit passes for seniors.

http://www.sherwoodparknews.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1332441

All quiet on the budget front

City council is taking a small break from budget meetings.

Due to the Remembrance Day holiday, the next budget meeting takes place this Thursday, Nov. 13.

Thursday's line up should be interesting as it includes several noteworthy presentations, including one for Servus Credit Union Place. It will be Servus Place's first budget since the 2007 and 2008 deficit and subsequent citizens' task force report.

Administration forecasts a $1.67 million deficit next year, according to the 2009 operating budget. The city predicts a 77 per cent cost recovery rate, similar to this year.

While council won't be approving spending beyond next year, it's worth noting the Servus Place deficit is projected to increase the following two years. That means budgeted losses of $1.83 million in 2010 and $1.85 million in 2011.

Council has not shied away from raising tough questions during their monthly Servus Place fiscal updates. Expect a similar performance on Thursday.

Also on the Nov. 13 budget schedule is the planning and engineering divisional overview, plus presentations from the engineering department, office of the environment and public transit.

The office of environment presentation could prove interesting if it focuses on landfill remediation in Riel Park.

There are several public transit items in the budget, including a park 'n' ride station south of the Superstore. 

With parking at the current Village Landing station a tight squeeze (to put it mildly), it will be interesting to see how council greets such initiatives.

The meeting starts at 4 p.m. in council chambers. It will not be televised.

Transit budget

Someone posted a question the other day asking what the three-year budget has in store for St. Albert Transit.

While the transit department doesn't present its budget requests until Nov. 13, I can share a few line items that show up in the draft 10-year capital plan.

Transit highlights:

- More buses for growth ridership, to the tune of $4.96 million over 2009-11. That includes $2.18 million to accommodate students who've taken advantage of discount transit passes through the U-Pass program. The city saw a 10 per cent jump in ridership in September, due in part to U-Pass.

- South park 'n' ride, $500,000 in 2009. The city hopes to buy some land from the province south of the Superstore/information centre, just north of the future ring road. The new park 'n' ride location would replace the Village Landing station, which is jammed full due to lack of parking. Incidentally, the south park 'n' ride is the spot city hall believes would make a great LRT station some day.

- Transit priority pre-emption, $500,000 in 2009 and $500,000 in 2011. I don't have the details, but from past interviews the city is looking at technology that allows transit vehicles to change a red light to green, improving trip times. They're also looking at queue jumps — short bus-only lanes that allow transit vehicles to skirt around lineups at traffic lights. A special signal would tell the bus driver when it's safe to proceed.

The City of Edmonton is currently building a queue jump at St. Albert Trail and Yellowhead Trail (St. Albert chipped in), which should improve travel times to downtown Edmonton. The jump should be open sometime next year. Additional jumps are planned along the Trail, including 137th Avenue.

As engineering director Todd Wyman once told me, transit priority pre-emption is meant to gradually improve public opinion of transit and reduce traffic gridlock.

"You're going to be stopped at a red light and see a bus take off and get ahead of the pack … if you don't like that you have a choice to make: get on the bus or sit in traffic."

- NW LRT study, $50,000 in 2009; LRT planning study, $1 million in 2017. Much like it sounds, this would explore the possibility of extending LRT into St. Albert. The 2017 date alarmed Coun. Len Bracko last weekend when he asked about fast-tracking LRT. "I might be dead by then," he quipped. 

Officials reassured Bracko by explaining the city is trying to piggyback on work the City of Edmonton is currently doing on an analysis to determine what route LRT would take to reach St. Albert's border.

- North park 'n' ride, $500,000 in 2010. This only buys the land, located north of Wal-Mart. The station shows up again in 2016 as a $5.7-million expense.

- Bus replacement, $14.6 million over 10 years (2009-18). This would replace existing transit buses (not to be confused with purchasing buses for new routes).

There are other capital requests, but those seem  to be the main ones. 

I have no details on the operating side, but the rumbling from city hall is the new transit driver contract isn't going to be cheap.