Transit plan’s first phase could take effect this fall

The City of Brandon’s new transit master plan could have seven new main routes and the first phase could come into effect this fall, a city official told the Sun.

Council members were set to vote on approving the plan at Monday’s council meeting after press time.

If approved, the transit plan would almost completely replace the existing network over three phases spanning multiple years.

The first phase, which could start as early as this fall, would see routes 4 and 5 replaced with new loops, one of which would stay on the North Hill at all times, said Courtney Arndt, the city’s manager of transit services.

“I think we need to supply our riders with the best service that we can. Our service right now … we’ve outgrown it,” Arndt told the Sun Monday afternoon at the city’s Civic Services Complex.

In a later phase, the city would switch to a three-hub system, with different loops ending at the Shoppers Mall, Corral Centre and the Eighth Street downtown terminal. Currently, the city operates with one hub, where all loops go to the Eighth Street terminal.

Arndt said as the city’s demographics and roads have changed over time, it is becoming more challenging for bus drivers to always maintain the times of their routes.

“The people that are riding it right now, they deserve a system that works a little bit better, that’s more reliable, frequent, and I think that will ultimately increase our ridership numbers as well,” she said.

“We’re really looking forward to it and I think this is a really good move for transit and the people that use it.”

The plan is also for the city to eventually extend the 30-minute intervals between buses up until 9 p.m. and extend operating hours on Sunday until 10 p.m.

The council report shows that the extended hours would mean an increased cost of $319,000 in 2027.

“I think ultimately, when the whole system is in place, it will definitely help them get to where they need to go more efficiently,” Arndt said.

Six of the seven new routes would serve different residential neighbourhoods, while one route would be “express” and go up and down 18th Street between the Corral Centre and Shoppers Mall. The express route could also go to the Eighth Street terminal for a period of time as people become familiar with the new system.

Arndt noted that the express route and another residential route would likely be implemented in the summer of 2027 during Phase 2.

The express route could operate more frequently than one bus every 30 minutes, she added.

The more commonly used routes could also have buses go in both directions of the loop, she said. That could mean the city needs more buses and staff than it currently has, Arndt said.

The last phase is to introduce the last three routes — all of which run in residential areas of the city — and is slated to be in place by 2030 under the plan. Arndt said she hopes that timeline could be moved up to as early as 2028.

The transit study, which was conducted by Watt Consulting Group, looked at ridership trends across the city and gave several route models to council last fall.

Data in the report show ridership hit an all-time high in 2024 with nearly 1.3 million boardings, which was the first year ridership reached pre-pandemic levels.

Last year, Brandon Transit saw just over 1.2 million passengers, with ridership down again this January and February. Arndt credited the drop in ridership to the fall in international students, but said revenue hasn’t seen as much of a change for the city as the students would often use the UPASS program, which was subsidized for post-secondary students.

She added that the routes proposed by the consulting group could be modified to the city’s liking and based on where people are using the service.

She said the city might also need to do infrastructure upgrades for new stops and at the Corral Centre hub.

The transit plan wouldn’t change the industrial routes.

» alambert@brandonsun.com