Saint John Transit will see an on-demand line coming to the city in early January, with changes to bus routes and service areas coming at the end of December.
Ian Fogan, the director of transit and fleet at the City of Saint John, said the changes are to make it easier for people to ride the bus.
He said city council has a goal of making greenhouse gas emissions in Saint John net-zero by 2040.
To achieve this goal, one of the things they’re aiming for, said Fogan, is getting more people to ride the bus. But he said that requires improvements.
A bus at your fingertips
An on-demand service, launching Jan. 9, 2023, is one of the bigger additions to Saint John Transit. It will start on the west side, but will likely expand to other regions of the city later in the year, Fogan said.
The on-demand service will take the place of Route 13, Milford-Greendale, and Route 14, Churchill Heights.
Fogan said people will be able to request bus service through an app called SpareLabs, or call Saint John Transit to schedule their pickup.
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The user will receive a pick-up time after putting their request in, said Fogan.
“It will tell [the rider] that the bus was due to arrive at 1:05 so … ‘I don’t have to leave for another couple minutes. I can meet them there at 1:05,'” said Fogan.
The on-demand service will also provide more transit hours per day, with buses running from 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. in this area, instead of the current 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Fogan said each request will be fulfilled within a half hour of the request being submitted.
Adding this service was a way to extend operating hours without any additional costs in an area of reduced ridership, he said.
Going electric
This service will use the new electric buses that were pat of a pilot project during the summer. There will be six electric 20-passenger buses in use by the city, some for the on-demand zone and others for smaller community routes.
Fogan said the on-demand service area was a good place to go electric because the west side is a “fairly confined geographic area.” The bus can also be easily charged during the day, he said, since the city partnered with Saint John Energy, which is headquartered on the west side.
During the summer pilot, Fogan said they tested the electric buses’ ability to run in different environments and scenarios.
He said they tested the bus by driving it up hills and turning up the air conditioning, to see how far the bus could take them on one charge in non-ideal circumstances. Fogan said one charge averaged around six hours or 160 kilometres.
Routes, stops to change
Other changes, coming on Dec. 27, include adjustments to the Route 1 rapid line and Route 15. The rapid line, which Fogan said takes riders from one side of the city to the other “in a most direct route,” now includes the Irving Oil Field House, but will end at Lancaster Mall and not travel to the Fairville Plaza like it used to.
“The field house is a fairly new addition to our community and its importance to the neighbourhood especially, but even to the community as a whole, is increasing,” said Fogan.
Instead of Route 1 including the Fairville Plaza, Route 15 will be extended to include it.
To accommodate this change, Route 15 will now take Ludlow Street, forcing the removal of stops on Champlain, Charlotte and Duke streets. The city said in a news release signs will be posted to let the community know about stops that will be closed.
Fogan said residents on Champlain, Charlotte and Duke still fall within the “service standard” of a 400-metre or less walk to a bus stop.
Spring to bring new transit tech
Coming later in the new year, Fogan said Saint John Transit will also see some technology upgrades, including electronic fare payment and automated stop announcements.
These upgrades, which are expected in spring 2023, are similar to those announced by the City of Fredericton which will be funded by provincial and federal governments.
Fogan said a lot of the funding for these upgrades will come from provincial and federal entities, but with the possibility of some municipal contribution.
He said the municipality will be contributing more when it comes to getting the systems up and running.
This story was originally published in CBC News on Dec. 15, 2022.
Hannah Rudderham Portfolio 