With aging — and fuller — buses, N.B.'s cities are welcoming new transit funding
Fredericton increasing half-hour service in April to respond to population growth
Fredericton is the latest New Brunswick city to receive federal funding to help sustain its transit system, which the city says saw a 20 per cent increase in ridership just last year.
The city says money will mean three new hybrid buses, a half-hour service for additional routes, and more consistent maintenance.
Just last year, Fredericton Transit expanded to include Sunday service.
"For the most part, people are happy we've expanded [to] Sunday service," said Charlene Sharpe, the manager for Fredericton Transit.
"To be honest, people say it's not enough. You know, having hourly service during the day, it's just not frequent enough. So they're looking for more."
The federal government announced $8.29 million in transit funding for the city of Fredericton on Monday. Of that, $5.29 million will be spread over the next 10 years for the upgrade, replacement or modernization of the transit system. As well, around $3 million went to the three hybrid buses — with the city pitching in $1.4 million.
The larger share comes from the Canada Public Transit Fund, which Fredericton qualifies for as an established urban transit system, said Sharpe. The $3 million for new buses comes from a rural-specific fund, which Sharpe said Fredericton qualifies for because its population is under 150,000.
Fredericton Mayor Kate Rogers said while the city's growth is welcomed, it also means an increase in affordability challenges.
"People are looking for ways to lead more affordable lifestyles," she said. "And being able to rely on public transit as a way to get around a city is really important."
Currently, Fredericton has half-hour service during peak times on busy routes, and midday half-hour service for the 10/11 route.
When half-hour service expands in April, the city said midday service will be added for routes 12, 13, 14 and 15, routes 16 and 17 will have midday service on the southside and routes 116 and 216 will start the evening peak half-hour service an hour early.
Saint John, Moncton hope to replace aging infrastructure
As part of a series of transit announcements across the country, the federal government announced funding for Saint John and Moncton transit last week.
Moncton and Dieppe's transit systems will get $11.5 million over 10 years — over $1.6 million for Dieppe and nearly $10 million for Moncton.
Angela Allain, the director of public transit for Codiac Transpo in Moncton, said the focus for the funding will be replacing buses and purchasing new vehicles to respond to growth demands.
"We have approximately 10 buses right now that are on our docket to be replaced within the next several years, just due to mileage," said Allain, adding some buses are more than 20 years old.
"So this infrastructure funding is much appreciated and will go a long way for many years to come."
Saint John Transit will receive $6.3 million over 10 years through the Canada Public Transit Fund. Nick Cameron, the chair of the transit commission, said the predictability is welcomed.
He said while it isn't the largest sum the commission has ever received, having the funding broken down over 10 years means the ability to make long-term plans.
But Cameron said that broken down annually, the yearly allotment wouldn't even be enough for a conventional diesel bus — which he said runs around $900,000 — let alone an electric bus, which could be closer in the area of $1.6 million.
So, he said to address the issue of Saint John Transit's aging fleet, additional funding from other sources would be required.
Of the 40 full-size buses in the fleet, 25 of those are a brand that doesn't even exist anymore, said Cameron.
Twenty-three of the fleet's buses are more than 15 years old — which Cameron says is the typical retirement age of a bus.
With a hard-working mechanic team, Cameron said that retirement age has been extended to around 20 years, but he said that's pushing it.
"That does create a reliance on parts, and parts are getting much more expensive over the past few years," he said.
"Supply chains have been disrupted through COVID and now, as we're seeing with the tariff discussions, so we need to reduce that dependency on parts," he said.
"I know some folks would like to see an improvement in service, but there is a real acute need to refresh the fleet, and that will help our operation budget so we can look at changes to the service and improvements."
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With files from Prapti Bamaniya and Information Morning Fredericton, Saint John and Moncton
