Link to the future: Saskatoon prepares to revamp commuting with rapid bus system

Taking the bus is a cheaper way to commute, but not always the faster.

The City of Saskatoon hopes the Link rapid transit bus system, which has the potential to move up to 1,440 passengers hourly, will solve that issue. 

The city unveiled their design plans at the University of Saskatchewan on Monday. The university is a major hub for bus commuters, and students that CBC spoke with seemed excited at the idea. 

"I have missed the bus and I had to wait for half an hour," Aditi Dhali, a computer science student, told CBC. "I'm very excited. It's quicker to get to our destinations."

The new bus system, expected to cost $250 million, will feature platforms across the city. Construction will begin this summer using funding from the federal and provincial governments. 

Eight of the new Link stations were built in the autumn of 2024, and 44 more are scheduled to be built in 2025.  Shelters and other amenities are being finalized and will be installed prior Link's launch.

Commuters and businesses can expect to be affected during construction this summer, a city official says. 

"A portion of construction that we do is on existing streets, and there's people who are going to be impacted by the work," Rob Dudiak, the city's special projects manager, told CBC. "We look at what it's likely to take and how long it'll take, trying to minimize any of those inconveniences for people in the community as best we can."

The city says Link was created because of Saskatoon's growing population. Right now, the city has a few core bus terminals where people can gather, but Saskatoon's transit director says Link is going to completely change that.

"The hope is to have a more convenient-to-use network where there's a little bit more connectivity and the ability to get around the city in a better way, not so much like today where everything kind of funnels through downtown," said Mike Moellenbeck, Saskatoon's director of transit.  "You transfer in one location."

Moellenbeck couldn't confirm ticket pricing once Link is up and running. It is set to launch in June 2028.