Regina councillor wants corporate bus pass program for downtown businesses, Crowns
'The bus is seen by some people to be the loser-cruiser. It's sad,' says Andrew Stevens
A Regina city councillor wants downtown businesses and provincial Crowns to push for a corporate bus pass for employees, similar to the university's U-Pass.
Ward 3 Coun. Andrew Stevens believes such a pass would mean an increase in transit ridership and fewer vehicles parked in the area.
A recent CBC analysis revealed the top 10 most ticketed blocks are all located downtown.
"If you have over 10,000 people working the downtown, the first thing we need to ask is 'How are they getting there,' and 'Do they need a vehicle to commute to work,'" Stevens said.
"Instead, what people are really focusing on is the fact that they can't find a parking spot within a block of where they're going and they shouldn't have to walk downtown."
Stevens believes the discussion around parking needs to be bigger than just complaining, and should look at the issue of transportation in general.
Mainly, he said, it should give people an incentive to ditch their vehicles, take the bus more often, or walk or bike to work.
Besides lowering the cost of taking transit, bringing in express routes and increasing spending on active transportation, introducing a corporate bus pass like the University of Regina's U-Pass program would be a start, Stevens explained.
"I would love to see those kind of corporate pass systems for SaskTel, for the City of Regina, for all the big office towers."
"I welcome businesses to think about it and approach the city administration with a proposal for a pass system," said Stevens.
The universal bus pass, also known as the U-pass, was introduced in fall 2016 and gives U of R students a city-wide transit pass for $80 to $90 fee a semester.
Currently, the city offers an employer pass program, which costs $920 annually and is available to employees of participating companies.
- Regina city council approves university bus pass, 9-1
- More U of R students taking the bus since U-Pass brought in
Mass transit works for Mosaic
Stevens points to the recent concert at the new Mosaic stadium as proof that people are capable of leaving the car at home.
"That Bryan Adams event showed that people will take that bus. Why? It was free and convenient. Go figure."
But a big part of convincing people to more seriously consider transit in their day-to-day lives requires a shift in attitude.
"The bus is seen by some people to be the loser-cruiser. It's sad, it's embarrassing and it's classist, honestly."
"The residents kind of need to wake up to realities of how a modern city should work," Stevens said.