The Regina Citizens Public Transit Coalition is asking the city for more when it comes to transit.
As council gets ready to present Regina’s budget for 2020 in early December, the coalition is asking for more money towards public transit.
Chair Terri Sleeva says Regina Transit tries extremely hard with what it is given. “We need better hours, as in longer hours, we need more frequent service, as in every 15 minutes during the day until 8:45pm and every half hour after that.”
Sleeva says better transit would also help alleviate some of the city’s problems including downtown parking, traffic jams and distracted driving. “People on your cell phones, use the bus. Then you can text all you want. It’s a much better system to eliminate accidents and etcetera.”
She adds Regina is currently subsidizing the motor traffic by paying taxes for roadways. “There wouldn’t be so much wear and tear on the roadways and parking and so many negative things could be improved just by using the bus.”
The coalition stated in a news release that transit is subsized by tax payer dollars, and so are private vehicles. It states that according to Regina’s 2017 Transportation Masterplan, for the period 2012-2016, 82 percent of the city’s transportation capital budget allocation, or $35.5-million, went to roadways capital programs, while only 15 percent, or $6.4-million, was allocated to public transit.
Sleeva says the coalition will be making presentations at city hall before the 2020 budget is finalized.
The city is set to present the 2020 budget on December 9th and 10th.
