Consultants say feedback positive at transit sessions

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This article was published 16/05/2024 (866 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Feedback from passengers received during the first day of public consultations on the future of Brandon Transit show that the service is working well but needs some tweaking, according to consultants running the session.

On Wednesday, Shilpa Panicker and Olga Kochkareva of Watt Consulting Group spent four hours in front of the transit information centre on Eighth Street just north of The Town Centre mall to collect information from the public as part of a review of the city’s transit service.

As buses dropped off and picked up passengers, the pair presented data on the state of transit in Brandon and collected feedback in the form of sticky notes attached to poster boards.

“We’ve been hearing very positive feedback,” said Panicker, who holds the title of senior transportation planner for Watt. “There’s a lot of people that have said things are good with the bus system, there’s a few people that have said (bus) frequencies have to increase, there’s a few people that have said more shelters are needed.”

Other feedback they received was that bidirectional routes are needed, that the downtown transit exchange needs Wi-Fi service and that buses are leaving the terminal without waiting for passengers from connecting routes.

According to Kochkareva, a lot of people want the ability to be able to track the location of their buses through a smartphone app.

This is the first of two stages of public engagement, with the second taking place later this year. Panicker said they want to know what is and is not working with Brandon Transit so they can eventually propose changes to the service model to Brandon City Council.

The more feedback, the better they say their proposed changes will be.

Data shows that Brandon Transit’s ridership numbers peaked at around 1.1 million boardings in 2019 before declining due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, last year showed that ridership had recovered to around 1.05 million boardings.

While ridership is healthy, Panicker said the limitations of the current hub and spoke system, where routes centre around the downtown terminal, are being seen.

Because passengers change between routes at a central location, one route being late creates a domino effect where others are forced to wait for them.

“One of the things that we will be looking at is how do we address this,” Panicker said. “Do we need to provide additional runtime on the buses? Do we need to provide resources in the existing service?”

The open house sessions continue today and Friday.

From 2 to 4 p.m. today, Watt representatives will be set up at the community booth at Shoppers Mall and from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Sobeys West.

Then, on Friday, they’ll hold a final session from 10 a.m. to noon at the Kirkcaldy Drive bus stop near Home Depot at the Corral Centre.

Residents are encouraged to take an online survey as well, which will be open until May 26. More information on the open houses and the survey can be found at brandontransit.ca/transit-study.

Beyond speaking with residents, Panicker and Kochkareva will be meeting with stakeholder groups like the Brandon Regional Health Centre, Brandon University, Assiniboine Community College and seniors’ centres.

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