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QUESTION ADDRESSED TO MORINVILLE SCHOOL MAYORAL AND COUNCIL CANDIDATES
The shutting down of the transit link to St. Albert was a poor decision for the residents of out town. Ridership of the bus link was poor but that was entirely due to the fact that the schedule was perfectly inadequate. Two trips per day eleven hours apart is not a very useful option for anybody needing to access an appointment and hardly manageable for someone with small children or seniors. It is too long a day to be stranded in St. Albert. The old schedule also did not allow for young people to access a show, part-time work, or swimming, etc. This is a growing town and a useful transit option will draw people to the town, and help keep seniors here independent. A transit service adds to our quality of life and is a consideration for people thinking of moving here or away. Sherwood Park began their transit service as a Dial-A-Bus service when it was not economical to run scheduled full-sized buses. Maybe we could find a way to use the new town bus or a van both more economically and often enough to be useful to the residents of this growing town.
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Both economically and environmentally, it didn’t make sense to continue the transit service to St. Albert as it was. But, I completely agree that there are a lot of other options that could be looked at. Right now, our town is not able to provide all of the recreation, health care or employment needs of all of our residents. Until this changes, it makes sense to provide a safe and reliable transportation link to our neighboring communities. I appreciate the ideas that you have brought forward and hope that as a part of our new town council, we can work together to find a solution that makes this service accessible to all who need it.
Thank you for the questions and your concerns.
The main and only reason the Transit from Morinville to St. Albert and back was terminated was on the cost. Saying that, I believe the cost was due to the large bus we were renting/using on a contract basis was at a high cost because St. Albert needed a cost recovery method to provide us this service.
I believe we should be looking out-side the box:
We know that the transit system will be used and needed in Morinville. What we really need is to be speaking to the users on their requirement and uses of the transit system from Morinville to St. Albert and return.
Equipment: Did we need the large size bus from St. Albert? NO. What I believe we would need is another Community Bus.
Timing: If we run it then we can play with the time that it is needed. We can only do this on the requirement of the user, we need to talk to them and see what time they need to be in St. Albert to get the connecting bus. The same situation for their return. For example (I am using these timing as my university children drive to St. Albert and then take the Bus there):
Early Morning Ride to St. Albert – 6 am (this will allow students, and workers to be at their place of study or work by 8 or 9 am)
Early Morning Ride to Morinville – 7 am (this is for rider who are coming to Morinville)
Late Morning Ride to St Albert – 8 am (this time will be for the late morning starter)
Late Morning Ride to Morinville – 9 am (this time is for visitor)
Early Afternoon Ride to St. Albert – noon (this time will be for late afternoon starter)
Early Afternoon Ride to Morinville – 1 pm (this is for rider returning to Morinville)
Early Evening Ride to St. Albert – 4 pm (this is for rider that would not be returning to Morinville that evening)
Early Morning Ride to Morinville – 5 pm (this is for rider that would be returning to Morinville)
The above service might be too much or not enough, that’s why we need to put our heads together and come out with a solution that will not make us go broke. Let’s Work Together to make this happen.
Thanks, Joseph Trapani