By Patrick Newhook/February 3, 2022
The quality of service and cost to taxpayers of Metrobus got another airing at Mount Pearl city council last week.
The discussion arose during presentation of the Corporate Services and Economic Development Committee Report by councilor Jim Locke, speaking in place of Deputy Mayor Nicole Kieley who was absent. Locke was tasked with presenting a list of invoices that included a bill for Metrobus service.
“Our Transportation Commission fees to St. John’s for Metrobus, is just under $100,000,” Locke noted.
That figure sparked councilor Mark Rice to pose a few questions.
“My second question regards the Transportation Commission’s Metro Bus fees (of) $99,330.28,” said Rice. “It’s a substantial amount that we’re paying out every month for that service, and I’d love to see that revisited and see what we can come up with on a go forward basis. It’s quite an amount and hopefully we’ll get some information back from the City (of St. John’s), even our own interests, what we could do moving forward for the city of Mount Pearl.”
Locke said there have been meetings within Mount Pearl City Hall about the issue and it is still being examined.
“That was discussed at a meeting yesterday,” Locke noted. “We are investigating the busing service. We do pay a substantial amount for Metrobus as well as GO Bus services within the city.”
Locke admitted there are issues concerning the level of service Mount Pearl is getting.
“We’re basically renting or purchasing two routes which some of our users are suggesting are inadequate, that there’s lengthy periods of time (waiting) for buses and it’s not conducive to increased usage,” he explained. “As we’ve discussed around the table in previous councils as well as this one, we are interested in doing a needs assessment. I think the mayor touched on this: is there an increased need for enhanced servicing and if, to Councilor (Isabelle) Fry’s point sometime back (ago), if we build a better service, will that promote greater usage? So, all these issues are on the table.”
Metrobus is a heavily subsidized service.
“My last number was the City is subsidizing it to the tune of about six dollars,” Locke said. “The actual cost of a ride is $8.50, but our users are paying $2.50.”
Another complaint that council has heard from users is that the bus service doesn’t cover the whole city, making its utility limited.
“We don’t get full coverage within Mount Pearl, and that’s some of the feedback we’ve received from residents,” said Locke. “For example, if you’re in Masonic Park and you want to go down to Coleman’s, it’s quite a lengthy bus ride… We will be exploring this further at our committee level and then we will certainly bring it back to the committee as a whole.”
Councilor Bill Antle questioned how much riders paid per month on Metrobus and wanted to know what the ridership was, saying that both factors are important due to how much Mount Pearl spends on it. Locke reiterated what he previously said, adding the numbers will be fleshed out further in investigations and discussions. Locke added that citizens should be asked how they feel about it too.
“We need to reach out to residents and see what is the perceived need, and is there another way, to councilor Rice’s point, to meet that need in terms of working with Metrobus for better routing or enhanced services?” said Locke.
Meanwhile the motion to pay the Metrobus bill passed unanimously.
