File Photo By Matt Hermiz
The City of Owen Sound will put out a request for proposals in the next few weeks to look for more affordable transit options.
After a report from City Staff at a special meeting of council Friday (Jan 7th), council asked for five service options to be priced out.
This follows an earlier report during budget talks from Owen Sound’s Director of Corporate Services Kate Allan which said transit will cost an additional $500,000 in 2022 to maintain the current level of service–a 49 per cent increase. She also told council ridership has been a steady decline since 2010 with even fewer people riding the bus since the pandemic began. A bus fare in Owen Sound is $3, but Allan says the actual cost to the city for each rider on a bus is close to $14.
This prompted council to reconsider how transit is delivered in the city.
Director of Public Works and Engineering Dennis Kefalas says the purpose of Friday’s meeting was to get some direction from council on what to include in the City’s request for proposals (RFP). Kefalas says that RFP will go out in the next few weeks. He expects it will take about five weeks for proposals to come in.
The transit service delivery options to be priced out and proposed by companies are considered by the hour. Option one, would price out 16,500 hours of service, option two would be the status quo for 13,500 hours, option three would be to reduce bus service from every half-hour to every hour, option four would be for hourly bus service with an extension of service by one hour from 7a.m. until 9 p.m. Option five would be for on-demand service.
Kefalas says the on-demand service would involve riders contacting the transit service to arrange for a pick up time, which would likely be at an existing bus stop. He says some municipalities use that system for after-hours service. Consultant Dennis Fletcher, who presented transit options to council Friday says a system like that would be phased in over a few years, first with evening on-demand service, and then weekend service.
Kefalas explains the advantage to a system like that, is there wouldn’t be empty buses driving around all day.
Of note, council was clear it did not want to provide service into Georgian Bluffs which is the neighbouring municipality that includes the Sunset Strip shopping area on the western edge of Owen Sound, nor did they want to include service into Harrison Park on a fixed route system. Kefalas says during the public engagement process there were several responses that expressed an interest in service to the Sunset Strip for access to stores, as well as the movie theatre and places of employment for Owen Sound residents.
First Student currently operates Owen Sound’s transit system.
Kefalas says the request for proposals is non-binding, meaning if council doesn’t find any of the responses from companies suitable, it’s not bound to hire any of them, “Some companies might just give us a cost estimate for one. It will be up to them if they want to provide costing for all five options or two options, or one option,” says Kefalas.
He says according to the City’s consultant on the matter, Dennis Fletcher four or five different companies expressed some level of interest in the request.
Kefalas says the question of whether transit will continue to be provided at all, is not at issue, “Council has made a commitment to provide transit service and there’s a budget item included in our City budget,” ($1.9 million) says Kefalas.