Seniors and low-income Handibus transit riders in St. Albert won't have to worry about paying a fare until 2022.
On May 17, St. Albert city council approved on consent spending $59,870 from the stabilization reserve to extend the free All-Aboard pilot program and the Free Transit for Seniors program to December. After that, the two programs will be slated to continue in the 2022 budget for $59,870.
St. Albert rolled out programs to offer free transit for seniors and low-income residents in February and May last year, with both originally set to expire after one year. On Feb. 16, council extended both programs to July 1 before voting to extend it for the rest of 2021.
Since the start of the two pilots, 53 low-income residents (including 28 seniors) have registered for the free transit program, totalling 1,709 trips around the city. This cost to St. Albert about $4,677 in revenues from July 2020 to March 2021.
Coun. Ray Watkins, who first brought the Free Transit for Seniors pilot program forward last February, said the city extended both pilots to allow for more time to collect ridership data.
The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a substantial reduction in ridership, and Watkins said the city wanted to get a more realistic sense of the uptake, with the hopes that Handibus ridership would return to pre-pandemic levels in 2022.
"It's unfortunate that we didn't have enough data to fully assess it at this time, but people need it right now anyways," Watkins said. "Most people who need a hand up right now can certainly use it."
On June 8, administration is bringing back the two pilot programs to put them under one umbrella, as seniors enrolled could technically qualify under both programs.
Barbara Hahn, chair of the city's seniors advisory committee, said she was happy to hear that council decided to extend the two pilots.
"I know that our low-income seniors who make use of it will be quite happy to know that has taken place," Hahn said. "As our community opens up later in the year, I think we'll have more seniors and disabled people out using the Handibus if they haven't been using it that much of late. It'll be a great service for all of them."
