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“During our peak service in the morning and afternoon, there are 88 buses on the road,” Bells said. “If we have to do sudden or scheduled maintenance, it is very tight. That is why we want the extra buses so we have an extra spare ratio.”

Photo by Don Healy / Regina Leader-Post

The older buses in the fleet will be replaced first. Currently, there are 10 buses that are 13 to 18 years old and the average age of the city fleet is six-and-a-half years old.

“If we get those old ones out, we bring our age down,” Bells said. “For the customers, they will be riding new buses.”

Bus shelters will also be upgraded in an effort to provide more accessibility for transit riders.

“Some of our bus shelters have been there some time. The main ones, they are going to be replaced with newer and modern versions,” Bells said. “They will be better for accessibility with two doors and we will improve the sidewalks.”

While older bus shelters will be replaced, bus stops without shelters will receive “hand-me-down” bus shelters from elsewhere in the city.

“Some (bus shelters) are past their prime and once you take them down they are hard to replace, but some are average age and you can see some replacement value,” Bells said. “We are going to cascade those down to bus stops that don’t have a shelter. We can improve more stops for customers.”

The hope with the improvements is that more people will ride transit in the city. In 2015 and 2016, 6.43 million rode the Regina transit system. Per capita, transit trips in the city amount to 23 per year, just over half the Canadian average of 46.

“Maybe it is our landscape but we are stuck with our automobiles. We know its a small community or large town when you get down to it,” Bells said. “You can get anywhere within 15 to 20 minutes. It is so convenient for people to use their cars.”

Bells does see hope for more transit ridership in the future, with ridership numbers increasing. In 2013, 6.2 million people rode transit, up from 5.4 million in 2011.

“We are not really a transit city, but we are getting there,” Bells said. “Our ridership has grown over the past five years.”

cbaird@postmedia.com

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