Youth are the highest users of Whitecourt Transit, with over half of all rides

Transit buses in Whitecourt have seen a surge in ridership through 2023, surpassing pre-COVID numbers
from before 2020. When looking at the numbers of riders in the seats between January and September
of 2019 and the same span of months of 2023, there is an increase of over six thousand riders.
In 2019, there were 22,366 riders on Whitecourt’s Public Transit System from January through
September. In 2020, ridership dropped significantly due to lockdowns, falling to 13,574. The freefall of
ridership continued in 2021, with only 12,629 riders, just a bit over half when compared to the 2019
numbers. Ridership began to turn around in 2022, increasing to well over sixteen and a half thousand
people in the seats. From January to September of this year, there were 28,623 riders, a significant
increase over the pre-pandemic levels in 2019.
Students and youth are one of the most significant users of the system, encompassing roughly 55
percent of the ridership. The two busiest times of the day for youth are morning and afternoon, which
are the two peak times for students when they are travelling to school and returning home from it.
Usership for students has increased so much that often, students getting on at one school tend to fill the
bus. Students at the next school stop then face a packed bus and must wait for the next bus to catch a
ride.
Over 500 free youth rides also helped build the numbers thanks to the Doors Open Program held after
school at the Allan & Jean Millar Centre. Youth attending the program can access a free transit ride to
the centre. Thanks to a grant helping cover the costs, 561 youth caught a ride without buying a ticket
and joined their peers at Doors Open.
The statistics on ridership were recently presented to Whitecourt Town Council during a regular meeting
in mid-November. Town Administration also shared several ideas that are either in transition or in
discussion. One idea was adding a bus stop in the industrial area near the RCMP station.
Council will discuss the potential addition of Stop 1A outside of the Living Waters School Board office in
next year’s budget talks. Currently, anyone in that area wanting to access transit must cross Highway 43
and get on at the AJMC bus stop or walk to Dahl Drive, cross it, and use Stop 27. The additional stop
would make it easier for riders who frequent the area.
Other highlights presented included a migration of TransLoc over to an updated Rider App. The TransLoc
app is a free download allowing riders to see bus movement along the route and receive estimates on
arrivals at each stop. The app also enables Whitecourt Public Transit to send users important messages
and service notifications as needed. The current system will be obsolete as of June 2024, making the
migration mandatory to keep using it. Riders can also provide feedback on the system, helping to
improve it.
One update that users have requested that is still being researched is the ability to offer “Tap & Pay”
rather than only cash or pre-purchased tickets. The Transit Coordinator and Manager continue to
investigate the option. At the time of the presentation, all options looked at so far were cost-prohibitive,
meaning they would be too costly to implement.

Advertisements at bus shelters and on buses continue to pose a challenge. Work continues to reach out
to businesses through the Economic Development Department to showcase the opportunity. One tidbit
presented was that companies can share ad space with other businesses, making it a more affordable
option. Rather than one large advertisement, multiple companies could share the space and the cost.
The final update provided to Council was on a transit study with Cutric and Fortis around electrifying the
fleet. If completed, the electrification would include the Dial-A-Bus and could open up grant
opportunities. Research on the feasibility is ongoing, with updates expected in the near future.
At the meeting, Mayor Tom Pickard made note of the “tremendous rebound” in ridership. He said being
ahead of the 2019 ridership numbers was “very encouraging,” and he said that people were obviously
using transit and seeing a personal benefit from doing so. “I think that’s fantastic,” he said. To learn
more about Whitecourt’s Transit, visit www.whitecourt.ca and search “transit,” or download the
TransLoc rider app.