Turner Valley residents won’t see public transit in town anytime soon after town council voted against moving forward with regional transit Monday.
Turner Valley council defeated a motion to continue discussions with potential partners for public transportation in a split vote at its Dec. 16 council meeting. The decision followed Black Diamond council’s approval of the same motion at its Dec. 4 meeting.
“It has killed the potential to go forward,” Turner Valley Mayor Barry Crane said of council’s decision. “We wrestled with the decision on so many levels that this was the final point. Council spoke their voice.”
Black Diamond Mayor Ruth Goodwin said she doesn’t know how the decision will impact her council’s choice to move forward, but that the Town is willing to seek other partners if needed.
The two Towns undertook a community transportation strategy the past several months to explore opportunities to improve transportation within and between the towns and nearby communities.
Watt Consulting Group conducted a transportation study with the Towns and an ad hoc municipal transportation steering committee, coming up with a proposal for two or three eight-to-12 wheelchair accessible passenger vehicles, two bus stops per town, dispatch software and indoor vehicle storage.
The strategy proposes enhancing the Community Access Program which delivers subsidized taxi travel, co-ordinating on-demand transportation on select days and offering special event and group trip charters using existing multi-passenger vehicles.
The two Towns were approved funding through GreenTRIP and the Public Transit Infrastructure Fund, which has committed to pay two-thirds to 80 per cent of the capital costs for transit, with the towns splitting the remaining costs. The report shows the estimated operating costs to the towns, depending on the level of service, ranges from $9,000 to $17,800.
Turner Valley Coun. Jamie Wilkie, who voted against the motion, said while he recognizes the value of the service, it’s the cost to taxpayers that concerns him.
“We’re talking about an average operating cost to town per trip of $13 to $22, that’s a lot of money to be spending to shuttle people around,” he said. “If we have zero riders we’ve now got an extra $30,000 to $35,000 a year on our operating budget. I’m happy to accept it as information and continue the conversations, but I’m not that comfortable in moving further than that at this point.”
Coun. Jonathan Gordon, who also voted against the motion, expressed concern about the failure of the On-it Transportation service that briefly provided commuter service between the towns, Okotoks and Calgary before discontinuing in June 2018 due to lack of ridership.
“On-It had one regular rider from Turner Valley,” he said. “What data did Watt find regarding potential users?”
Turner Valley planning co-ordinator Gerry Melenka said there’s no data —that a survey won’t determine if someone will really use the service. He said only time will tell.
“As it evolves you tweak the system,” he said.
Melenka said partnering with the school division, Boys and Girls Club of the Foothills, seniors clubs and Eden Valley could offset some of the operating costs with the expectation that the partners assist with maintenance and fuel.
“We can pass those expenses on to another user in exchange for access to buses,” he said. “They all have transportation needs and wants. With the partnerships we can make this very price effective.”
Coun. Lana Hamilton said while she wants to ensure residents have another option to get around, she struggles with the Town investing $45,000 in capital costs for public transit.
“That equates to a 1.2 per cent tax increase and that’s just capital,” she said. “Then there’s maintenance costs and we haven’t even talked about replacement costs. I know there’s value to the community, but there’s a cost to the taxpayer in a time when dollars are tight.”
Speaking in support of public transit, Deputy Mayor Gary Raab said he sees benefits to an on-demand system.
“I really hate spending taxpayers’ money, but that said I also think I would like a quality of life for our seniors and people who are disabled and don’t have their own vehicles,” he said. “I have confidence if we do this right and have pick-up points and days, I think it can work.”
Crane said only one taxi offers service in Black Diamond and Turner Valley, and that regional transit would be more affordable for residents – especially when most of the cost is covered by grants.
“We have potentially 80 cents on the dollar on our investment - that’s the only selling feature that makes sense to me to start that conversation,” he said. “If we say no to that money, that money is gone forever. I really have a problem not partnering and taking the money and seeing what we can make happen.”
