Personal use of transit bus stops by a private company, denied by Council

A private company sent a request to the Town of Whitecourt to use the public transit stops for personal use. IKW Trucking Ltd wanted to use the bus stops to pick up and drop off 40-66 children from 18 families, twice a day, Monday through Friday. The company transports children using a 72 passenger bus from Whitecourt to the Mennonite Church/Hall in Woodlands County, near Blue Ridge.

The proposed schedule provided by IKW Trucking Ltd had pick-ups beginning at 7:39 am, ending at 8:09 am, and drop-offs starting at 3:54 pm and ending at 4:21 pm. Their proposal included five transit stops, three of which are shared with Northern Gateway. “Sharing the stops with another user is creating some cueing delays at those stops (17 and 19) as they are already extremely busy stops,” explained Chelsea Grande, Director of Community Services, during the October 12 regular meeting of Council.

“Also, another concern is the stops are only big enough for one bus. If a private provider already takes the spot, then when our transit bus comes up to get into the spot, they would not be able to, and there would be nowhere to go. They are stuck backing up traffic.” Grande said that the snow in the winter could also pose a problem. “We only clear enough for one bus. If our public transit bus were to park behind their bus, we would have to wait until their bus moved to go into the cleared spot, which would also delay the service.”

Administration’s third concern had to do with stops eleven and twelve. “During peak service, those spots often assist public transit in making up time lost due to train delays or congestion downtown because if one of the stops has no one at it, they can just keep going. Right now, with it being shared, there are always people at the stops, so they don’t know if they are for public transit or the school, so they have to stop and ask, which is delaying them further during those peak service times, putting our transit behind schedule,” explained Grande.

Though they were speaking against the request to share the stops with the private company, Grande said that Administration had some ideas to help the company figure out a different option. “We could suggest to the private company that they pick up the children at their corresponding addresses similar to a taxi service. Then the resident would be responsible for clearing their sidewalk if snow clearing isn’t on their side that year, for their kids to get on the bus. Or they could use a private parking lot, one on the hill and one in the valley, where parents can drop their kids off. They would have to work with that private provider to do that similar to what is done at St. Joseph’s Church currently.”

Councillor Ray Hilts asked if the company was already using the bus stops. “Yes. They are currently using the stops, and it has created some delays for our transit, and that’s why we are bringing it forward. They have formally requested to use those stops but have already been utilizing them,” explained Grande. Councillor Hilts then asked why they specifically wanted to use the stops and if it was for the synergy of the locations.

Grande said that the stops they are using are directly related to where the children live. “Instead of having to go to every house, this allows them to go to one spot where maybe three families are close by and can go to that one spot, or several families are in that vicinity. Four of the stops they want to use are on Mink Creek Road, which makes them really quick for them to pull in and out, but we don’t usually have a lot of school bus stops on Mink Creek Road because of the traffic. We don’t want those delays where the arm is going out and so forth.”

Deputy Mayor Derek Schlosser said he appreciated getting the formal request but that allowing the company to continue using the bus stops came down to a public issue. “Public Transit is for the greater good of Whitecourt, not a private company. I’ll just throw it out there and say that there could be seven such companies that decide they want to use our transit stops, and all of a sudden, we have seven or eight buses stopping at our transit stops and unfortunately, that just wouldn’t fly.”

Mayor Maryann Chichak said that public transit had popped up in the arbitration meetings between Whitecourt and Woodlands County. “They don’t see value in our public transit system at all. They don’t feel that any of their residents or students utilize it, so I think this perhaps is a really good example where partnerships work.”

She said that seeing students that attend a county facility who want to use the bus stops for ease of pick up and drop off could be an arrangement made in the future. “We could perhaps work together, and they could contribute towards maybe the cleaning of the spots and stalls in the winter to accommodate for two buses, or for the repair and the maintenance for perhaps making them a little bit bigger. It’s just food for thought for the next council. I think this is a really good example for the county when they’ve discounted a service we provided where it would be prudent for them to come back to the table to see the benefit.”

Councillor Paul Chauvet said that besides the safety implications of too many buses at one bus stop, there are other issues at play. “I noticed in the notes that it was blocking some of the town’s intersections which to me is a huge safety issue.” Council unanimously voted to deny the request.