tank: transit revamp finally arrives as safety concerns in saskatoon rise
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this artist's rendering shows what college drive could look like with a view looking west close to bottomley avenue, with upgrades to accommodate dedicated bus lanes as part of the link revamp of saskatoon transit operations. (saskatoon transit)
saskatoon’s newly elected mayor hailed the concept of bus rapid transit as “a giant leap” and added: “this will be a true major overhaul of the system.”
a rookie councillor stressed the urgency for a new direction for public transportation in saskatoon: “it shows that we need to make changes.“
that happened 21 years ago. the newly elected mayor was don atchison during the first year of four consecutive terms and 13 years as mayor. the rookie councillor was bev dubois, now the longest-serving current council member.
atchison and dubois were reacting to a consultant’s report pitching the future of bus travel in saskatoon. atchison’s 2003 campaign for mayor had promised a revamp of transit.
he explained at the november 2004 transit steering committee meeting where the consultant’s preliminary findings were presented that people shun transit because it takes so long.
“with rapid transit, it wouldn’t take much longer than taking your own vehicle,” atchison gushed.
but getting the new system first proposed back then going did indeed take a long time, so long that i’ve officially retired the obvious analogies playing with the term rapid and the slow progress of implementation.
the supposedly bus rapid transit system saskatoon is introducing, but which lacks the elements widely expected of such an approach, has been rebranded link, which cost the city $373,280.
yet link arrives just as concerns are being raised about the safety of riding the bus in saskatoon. those safety issues reflect wider societal problems, but buses remain an enclosed space where the potential for violence can seem magnified.
regardless, bus ridership continues to increase in rapidly-growing saskatoon, which now boasts an estimated population of 308,400 people.
according to saskatoon transit numbers, recorded ridership keeps rising following the pandemic plummet. bus rides increased from 7.4 million in 2023 to 7.9 million last year — still below the pre-pandemic number of 9.6 million in 2019, but a steady improvement from the low of 4.3 million in 2021.
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that increase delivered some good news for taxpayers, as fare revenue collected last year ended up nearly $2.5 million more than budgeted.
but along with the increase in ridership, “negative interactions,” as detailed in the 2024 saskatoon transit annual report, also rose to a five-year high of 136.49 per million rides, which is still statistically tiny. saskatoon city council heard last month that a report on transit safety was coming soon.
in the meantime, the long-discussed link is taking shape at a cost of $250 million, most of which, $183 million, is coming from the federal and provincial governments.
construction has begun on link with its debut set for 2028, the year of the next city council election.
and it’s become clear that the most radical change will happen on college drive as it passes by the university of saskatchewan campus. that stretch of college is supposed to be transformed into one of two roadways featuring dedicated bus lanes. first avenue downtown is the other one.
most authentic bus rapid transit systems feature far more dedicated bus lanes, but they also cost substantially more.
the biggest surprise from the design released this month came in the proposed removal of the pedestrian overpass north of griffiths stadium in favour of a crossing at ground level.
motorists will likely see this as an impediment as they commute downtown along college, a major east-west thoroughfare. and the car (and pickup truck) have long reigned as the king of the road in saskatoon.
but the paris of the prairies is also reaching the population level where it needs more effective public transportation. without such a transformation, traffic will increase exponentially as a major barrier.
council seemed to realize that two decades ago when there were nearly 100,000 fewer people living here.
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current politicians have asked for a delay until june before they vote on approval of the college drive link design to get answers to more questions, including some raised by former mayoral candidate cary tarasoff.
given how long it took to get to this point, what’s another month?
phil tank is the digital opinion editor at the saskatoon starphoenix.
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