Restoration of bus budget good start, but more needed: Functional Transit Winnipeg

A public transportation advocate says the restoration of the Winnipeg Transit budget should mean an improvement in bus service, but adds the City needs to keep the foot on the accelerator when it comes to its Master Transit Plan.

Kyle Owens, president and chair of Functional Transit Winnipeg said he was happy to see $1,000,000 added to the preliminary 2023 Winnipeg Transit budget aimed at restoring the service to full operation for the first time since the pandemic began. 

"Not as high as we'd like, but at least it’s back where it was," said Owens.

He said the budget increase will mean more buses on Winnipeg streets, which will improve bus reliability. "When the system is reduced by even a few buses, it causes error after error after error, late bus after late bus after late bus," said Owens.

Winnipeg Transit has been operating at a six per cent reduction in overall service levels since the last budget update. Public health restrictions and an increase in working from home during the pandemic meant less people taking the bus, which led to a sharp drop in city revenue.

"The problem is that because of low ridership so many transit services were cut back, and that caused a negative feedback loop of fewer buses on the road, less reliability," Owens said.

He added the real problem is when buses are missing from the schedule entirely, causing a series of delays and cascading problems.

"Everyone who uses Winnipeg Transit regularly knows that sometimes the bus just isn’t there, and that’s so frustrating," said Owens.

He said the buses have to come back before the people do, "If people have missed their bus so many times that they’ve found another way to get to work, you need to put that bus back first. Nobody's going to go out and wait for a bus that isn’t coming."

Owens thinks the city should accelerate its 25-year Transit Master Plan, which was approved by council in April 2021. He said there's been very little work done on it since then.

"We understand that for the purposes of getting that plan on the books they had to stretch it out - spread it over 25 years - but that’s not necessary. So many benefits are available right now, we just need to start that spending," said Owens.

The Master Transit Plan includes a complete re-organization of Winnipeg’s bus routes, the expansion of rapid transit lines to all parts of the city, and new downtown bus stations, among other improvements. 

"We are really encouraging the City of Winnipeg and the province to find funding for the Transit Master Plan to start immediately,” said Owens. 

Winnipeg Transit said it isn't ready to discuss plans yet.

"While we are aware of the proposed funding in the 2023 Preliminary Budget, it is premature for us to provide further comment pending Council’s consideration of the matter," said an email statement to CTV News.

The preliminary budget will be reviewed at Standing Policy Committee meetings starting on March 3 and council will debate the budget on March 22.