KENORA – After repeated service disruptions in 2023, the City of Kenora is taking a closer look at public transit and how it could be improved.
The city has obtained funding from Infrastructure Canada’s Rural Transit Solutions Fund for a “micro transit study” in hopes of finding “an optimal transit solution for Kenora,” according to a statement issued last month.
“Once the options are presented to council for consideration, our transit system could have a completely different operating model based on the recommendations and best practices,” the December statement said.
A contractor will be selected to explore options and make recommendations to council this year, city corporate services director Heather Pihulak said Friday.
Currently, Kenora’s transit services are provided by First Student, a company that specializes in school bus services.
First Student had two buses for Kenora transit, but one was decommissioned last summer. Since then, the sole remaining transit vehicle has been taken out of service repeatedly for days at a time, leaving Kenora transit users without a ride.
In addition, the service has been hampered by driver shortages. Transit was placed on a half-day schedule for more than three months beginning in May 2022, for instance, due to a shortage of qualified bus operators.
The current precarity in service, which was temporarily suspended last month, can’t wait for the micro study’s completion, Mayor Andrew Poirier said Friday.
“We need to deal with what’s in front of us at this time,” he said, adding that there will be discussions on the matter among councillors and administration next week at city hall.
“I get an awful lot of feedback from people who use it on a regular basis,” Poirier said.
People are frustrated because they rely on transit to get around but the service hasn’t been reliable lately, he said.
Last month’s statement from the city said “continual service interruptions are not acceptable, and we will continue to find immediate solutions as soon as possible. We apologize for the ongoing service interruptions and the impacts to the riders who rely on this service.”
