Fredericton could get Sunday bus service going next year

Fredericton transit users could have bus service on Sundays by the middle of next year if councillors go ahead with a proposal to spend more money and increase fares to help pay for it.

Staff at a council-in-committee open budget meeting on Monday proposed allocating $638,294 in next year's budget to introduce Sunday bus service between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. on Sundays.

Charlene Sharpe, Fredericton's manager of transit and parking services, described the proposal as "low-hanging fruit" in terms of service improvements the city could make to its transit service.

"It's something that we know everybody is has been asking for," Sharpe said after the meeting.

"It's something that we can implement fairly quickly because it's it's brand new, we have the buses. What we have to work on is getting the operators to support it, so it's it's more of an HR issue at this point."

Councillors didn't have time to vote on a resolution to adopt the proposed spending, as lengthy deliberations on other budget items pushed the meeting to nearly10 p.m.

Councillors will return on Nov. 20 to vote on the proposal, as well as other budget items presented last night, which include:

Frederictonians have for years called on the city to run buses on Sundays, which is a service already enjoyed by residents in Saint John and Moncton.

The plan by staff to finally offer it, however, will come at an added cost to users.

The proposal would see individual fares go from $2.75 to $3, and adult monthly passes from $80 to $85.

With those fare increases, combined with anticipated fare revenue collected from passengers on Sundays, staff expect the additional service to cost a net $292,962.

"We negotiated a contract this summer that made Sunday service more affordable from a planning perspective, had a lot of public engagement with respect to surveys and feedback," Sharpe said.

"The number one message is Sunday, so we've taken that all into consideration and being able to provide a costing for consideration."

Sharpe said to offer Sunday bus service, the city will need to hire six more drivers, a dispatcher, a service worker and a service technician.