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Transit changes to aid Burman University students

An additional evening trip and student bus passes to be in place by fall
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Proposed changes to a regional transit system serving Blackfalds and Lacombe will be a big help to Burman University students, says a student representative.

“Burman is rather removed geographically from the majority of Lacombe and providing students with expanded public transit options is going to be particularly valuable to those first-year students and others in residence who do not own vehicles of their own,” said Burman University Students Association president Spencer Page.

Lacombe-based Burman has about 450 students.

The students association was the main driver behind a successful proposal to tweak the BOLT regional transit system that connects Blackfalds and Lacombe with Red Deer Transit.

Lacombe and Blackfalds councils supported a plan to add an additional weekday evening bus to better cater to student schedules and to introduce an annual student pass. Saturday bus service will be eliminated and Burman will offer a charter service on Sundays.

The benefits will go beyond simple convenience for some of the 450 students at Burman, he believes.

Page, says, “my fellow students are passionate about service and I think that by entering into this agreement, by providing them with BOLT passes, we’re going to connect them with new opportunities to serve and be involved.”

The service will not only provide a new service for university students “it will also build and enrich the community.

“That, in my opinion, is what is most exciting about it.”

Introduced in 2014, the future of the regional transit service had come under scrutiny because of its cost and flat ridership numbers.

A recent report on BOLT showed ridership had dropped to 19,751 last year from 20,149 in 2016. Only 23 per cent of the cost of the $270,000 service is recouped through fares, the rest is subsidized by Lacombe and Blackfalds.

Lacombe city council narrowly voted 4-3 recently to continue support the service, which costs the city about $200,000 a year in subsidies.

It is hoped the schedule changes and student pass will boost ridership and reduce costs for municipalities.



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