Connected Canmore moves to the table
News
Regional transit linking our town to Banff and points in the park clears Canmore council
Posted By Hamish MacLean/Canmore Leader
Posted 1 month ago
Canmore's council took a big step towards a bus system that would link the town to Banff and beyond last week. Mayor Ron Casey said that if Canmore is going to "move forward" regional transit is something the community needs, noting that it has been talked about for the last 15 or more years.
"It's absolutely important infrastructure," he said. Regional transit is long overdue in the area and would provide a benefit for Bow Valley communities and their visitors, he said.
Canmore's council unanimously approved administration's three recommendations: that the Town join with Banff and ID9 (Lake Louise) and apply to the minister of municipal affairs for the creation of a regional services commission for transit in the Bow Valley; approve the draft commission bylaws and the draft business plan created by consultants hired in 2009 as the first business plan for the new commission.
The approval saw the Town committing a minimum of $60,000 towards regional transit, as there is an expected cost of $20,000 to participate in talks and an expected contribution of $40,000 towards the commission's reserves.
Both Canmore and ID9 have approved the recommendations for moving towards the commission and Banff is expected to see a similar report soon.
The priority identified in the business plan is to create a service between Banff and Canmore that could see eight round trips each day.
As the two are expected to receive services the two Towns would then split the costs of the shared service 50/50.
Kevin Van Vliet, manager of engineering for Canmore, called the detailed, 77-page plan a "really good start."
There's lots of people who need to move back and forth between Canmore and Banff, seniors or those who work in one community and live in another, for example, Casey said. The transit system will take cars off the road, and it might, He suggested, encourage users of the new Legacy Trail between Banff and Canmore who could, with a bus system, ride one way and take the bus back the other.
"No question it has an economic development spin to it, and I think a huge one — we would be left behind should we not move ahead with this if we're talking about what travellers expect to be able to access in today's world."
He said that the Bow Valley is behind when it comes to providing transit for visitors.
The Town of Banff is scheduled to consider the issue on July 19.
If Banff agrees to join the partnership, it should take about six months to have the minister form the commission, the commission would then take over the existing Banff transit system and both municipalities would then have to agree to expand that service to one that links the two Bow Valley communities.
Once the commission is going, Van Vliet said, it would be almost like "flicking a switch.
"It would just be: is there a willingness to pay for that system."
Canmore's total contribution for the proposed eight round trips a day would be $120,000.
The executive summary of the five-year business plan states: "The Commission would also add a new regular regional transit service that would connect Banff to Canmore, and a seasonal service serving popular recreational sites within the Banff National Park (which would be known as the Park ROAM service)."
The summary also lists three routes for the park ROAM: Moraine Lake loop, Banff-Lake Louise route, and the Lake Minnewanka loop by the commission's third year for a direct operating cost of $1.9 million and an increase to 10 round trips per day between Banff and Canmore in the commission's fifth year.
The province of Alberta does not have a regional services commission for transit, Van Vliet said. Municipalities usually get together for waste and water agreements. He said that this agreement could serve as a model for other municipalities.
Van Vliet has been involved in the process of exploring regional transit for the Bow Valley since he arrived in 2006. He said that if the Town's commissioned feasibility study by D.A. Watt consultants in 2005 were to be treated as an arbitrary starting point we are perhaps three-quarters of the way along to regional transit.
hamish@canmoreleader.com
