As Saskatoon moves ahead on 'bus rapid transit', Regina mayor urges go-slow approach

Regina Mayor Michael Fougere is not a fan of the idea of introducing bus rapid transit services in Regina right now.

Bus rapid transit (BRT) is a system involving more express buses, more dedicated bus lanes and infrastructure improvements above and beyond what is currently in place.

City council hasn't had a full discussion about BRT, but on Monday, during a debate about underutilized land in the city, the issue came up.

"I am urging council not to look at bus rapid transit," Fougere said, during the meeting. 

"We've done absolutely no analysis on what that means, what the costing would look like, and to commit to do that, when we're still building our traditional transit system right now."

The population base is not high enough in Regina to justify spending millions of dollars on such a project, said the mayor.

"In my view, this is almost outside the purview of a campaign to look at underutilized land downtown," Fougere said. "We're getting way ahead of ourselves and the commitment we could be making here tonight." 

The idea of bus rapid transit is something the city should consider, but now is not the time, said Fougere. 

Fougere asked for a wording change in the underutilized land motion to remove any mention of looking at "bus rapid transit" and replace it with the words "innovative transit," which was done. A later motion to approve the underutilized land report passed.

Saskatoon full speed ahead on rapid transit

In 2017 the City of Saskatoon approved a roughly $120 million plan to shake up the Bridge City's transit system by introducing a bus rapid transit system.

In the spring of 2018, three proposed routes, moving in all directions, were unveiled. 

Construction on the bus rapid transit system in Saskatoon is expected to start in the near future, with the city making a full change from its traditional system to the rapid transit system by 2025.