Fredericton Transit boss wants buses to travel every 30 minutes on most routes

Fredericton's head of transit is proposing more frequent trips on most routes and is hoping to do so without having to increase the cost for users.

Charlene Sharpe wants the city to hire six more full-time employees in order to extend the half-hourly frequency of eight Fredericton Transit routes.

"In this moment, there's no plan or proposal [to raise fares]," said Sharpe, speaking after her presentation to councillors on the city's mobility committee Tuesday.

"We're hoping that the revenue generated from new users taking the service will help offset a lot of the costs."

All routes operate on an hourly schedule, except during peak commute times. Between 6:30 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. and from 3:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. — Monday to Friday — they run every half-hour.

Under Sharpe's proposal, four routes — 12, 13, 14 and 15 — would run every half-hour all day.

The same would be the case for the portions of Route 16 and Route 17 that are south of the St. John River.

Meanwhile routes 116 and 216 would have their afternoon peak frequency extended by one hour.

Sharpe said new data-collection technology installed on city buses has revealed ridership doesn't "drop off" in the hours between the two standard commuting periods, meaning the demand is there for more frequent bus service in the middle of the day.

"This half-hour flexibility is good for students, for workers, for moms who are at home that don't have that second vehicle. It just lends to the flexibility and and the usage of our service," Sharpe said.

Budget deliberations still to be had

Following Sharpe's presentation, councillors on the mobility committee voted to forward the recommendations to city council for consideration as part of the 2025 budget process, which is set to get under way in the coming weeks.

That process will determine whether the transit service improvements go ahead next year, and if so, whether they will result in higher costs for users, said Coun. Bruce Grandy, chair of the mobility committee.

"If we were going to get a fare increase, Charlene would have proposed that a year out ... and so far we haven't seen that," Grandy said.

At the same time, Grandy said the budget process will involve more detailed numbers around Sharpe's proposal and could leave councillors with a choice of having to raise fares, or take away revenue away from other services, in order to pay for it.

"So they're all good discussions that will be had at budget [deliberations]," Grandy said.

Sharpe's latest proposal is part of a multi-year plan to improve Fredericton Transit since she took on the role as manager in 2022.

The most notable change made under her leadership has been to operate buses on Sundays starting in June, though the move came with higher fares for riders.

She said the Sunday service is showing success, with 10 to 12 passengers per hour, on average, a higher number than the expected eight passengers per hour within the first few months.

Sharpe said the transit service overall has also seen strong growth, with ridership numbers between January and July up by 21 per cent over the same period for last year.