Some residents in North Central will have access to have a special bus route that will take them to and from the polls on Regina’s civic election day.
A Regina transit bus is expected to pick up voters every 15 minutes from five stops. They are:
1) 4th Ave at Rae Street westbound
2) Robinson Street at 5th Ave southbound
3) Albert Community School southbound
4) Dewdney Ave at Robinson Street eastbound (bus stop #33)
5) Dewdney Ave at Rae Street eastbound (bus stop #34)
The bus service comes after the city received complaints from some North Central residents, who were being told their polling place is in Eastview instead of their own neighbourhood.
“People have phoned our office concerned it was too far for many people to get to,” Chief Returning Officer Jim Nicol said.
“A lot of people who perhaps don’t have their own transportation.”
Each ward has three polling places, which Nicol said are based on population distribution, in a centralized location and are wheelchair accessible.
Polling station 17 used to be in North Central, but this year was moved to the Eastview Community Centre.
“It’s an art, not a science. This was found to be a deficiency, so we’ve done our best to resurrect it in this interim solution,” Nicol said.
He added that the polling places are determined months in advance, and it’s too close to the Oct. 26 election to change or create a new location.