Whitehorse meeting with Yukon government about temporary free transit

For the second spring in a row, Whitehorse is making transit free for all riders. But this time, it wants the Yukon government to pay for lost revenue.

In light of a recent road-closing landslide that's bottlenecked traffic on other roads into downtown, the city wants to ease congestion by encouraging more commuters to leave their cars at home and take the bus. 

Last year, the city dropped bus fares for the same reason under the same circumstances, when a landslide closed Robert Service Way for nearly two months.

Whitehorse Mayor Laura Cabott told CBC Tuesday that the city lost about $70,000 in revenue from bus fares during that time. This year, she she hopes to avoid another financial hit.

Although circumstances are similar — another April landslide has closed the same road and a lengthy wait is expected before it can reopen — there's one key difference.

Earlier this year, the Yukon government offered to fully subsidize bus fares for the city.

Cabott has said previously that the city isn't likely to accept that funding. She said she believes there are better ways to increase ridership. 

But now that the city wants to make transit free temporarily, Cabott has set up a meeting with Community Services Minister Richard Mostyn to discuss whether the territory could provide some of that funding. That meeting is set to take place later this week.

The free transit offer is an NDP-led initiative contained in the renewed confidence and supply agreement between the Yukon NDP party and the territory's Liberal government.

Mostyn declined to comment on the request until after he meets with Cabott. A cabinet spokesperson told CBC in an email that the government has received a written funding request from the city, which will be discussed in the upcoming meeting.

That letter asks for approximately $165,000 over nine weeks, by which point the city expects the risk of landslides will be low enough to reopen Robert Service Way. 

The city isn't solely relying on free transit to help alleviate the increased traffic on Two Mile Hill since the road closure. It's also changed the timing on traffic lights to improve the flow of vehicles, and commuters have been encouraged to walk and bike if they can as the weather warms.

But Cabott said the territory could help the situation even more by funding free transit through the spring.

"The current disruption to the transit system has the possibility to decrease ridership and cause further transportation issues which can affect personal schedules, employment, and create additional affordability issues for residents," Cabott wrote in her letter to Mostyn last week.

Why not let the territory fund free transit long-term?

Though Cabott says free transit could encourage more commuters to take the bus while the Robert Service isn't an option, she's been wary to take the territorial government's offer long-term.

"We just don't know if [year-round free transit] is a solution for us in having more people ride the bus," she said.

Cabott noted that the Yukon government's current offer is contingent on a two-party agreement that expires in 2025.

Should that end, she said the city couldn't continue to offer free transit on its own without raising taxes by 3.5 to 4 per cent. She also said the territory would have to offer something like $1.7 million annually — not accounting for increased ridership — to cover lost revenue for the city. The current offer is $1.5 million each year.

Despite her reservations, Cabott said the city is pleased the territory wants to support transit in Whitehorse. The city will continue discussions with the Yukon government on the issue, and Cabott said the money offered could be used to improve transit in other ways beyond the spring.

"I think everything's on the table," she said. "Maybe we can use some of the money to help us enhance our service, because we've heard from some of our citizens, 'We love to ride your bus, but it doesn't come to my neighborhood, doesn't come frequently enough.'"

Council has put money aside in this year's budget for a transit study, which Cabott said should be completed in the summer. It will review what options could best improve ridership. Aside from making transit free, those include covering costs only for low-income riders, partially subsidizing fares and enhancing services.