The city is set to study the viability of extending public transit service into regional communities like Selkirk and Headingley or building new park-and-ride stations near city limits for drivers from outside of the city, as part of a larger review of how people commute between Winnipeg and neighbouring municipalities.
The study will examine transportation between Winnipeg and metropolitan region communities including Selkirk and Stonewall, as well as more than a dozen rural municipalities: Cartier, East St. Paul, Headingley, Macdonald, Ritchot, Rockwood, Rosser, St. Andrews, St. Clements, St. Francois Xavier, Springfield, Tache and West St. Paul.
The city was expected to grant a contract to a consultant for the review Friday, according to the city’s request for proposal.
The consultant will be tasked with studying the existing conditions of the transportation networks, including commuter trends and patterns, before recommending strategies to improve transportation in the metro Winnipeg area.
‘Looking at the future’
“This is looking at the future, this is looking at what would be viable. If it’s not viable now when will it be viable?” Waverley West councillor Janice Lukes told reporters.
“Being in the south end, the traffic that comes in is incredible on Pembina Highway,” Lukes said, referring to commuters from bedroom communities and suburbs.
“The same on Portage Avenue.”
Lukes said she is supportive of the study and any potential benefits of increased transit use within the region.
She noted the study is a look at what new transportation options could be viable now and in the future, rather than a plan itself.
Asked by reporters whether the city currently has the budget to widen Winnipeg Transit’s service net, Lukes said no.
“But partnering with the region, the municipalities, would bring in provincial funding,” Lukes said, also pointing to potential federal funds if any plan has environmental benefits.
“It all comes down to high-quality transit service — high frequency, high quality,” Lukes said.
Advocacy group Functional Transit Winnipeg also supports the study — but it doesn’t want any potential expansions to come at the expense of Winnipeg Transit’s existing system.
“Encouraging more commuters to take transit is important… The loss of Greyhound bus service has left a definite hole for Manitobans outside of Winnipeg, and it’s encouraging there is a discussion about replacing it with public transit options,” the group’s president, Derek Koop, wrote in an email.
“Winnipeg must implement the proposed frequent service network to make transit more accessible for all people commuting inside the city. Extending a poor transit system further — without adequate funding increases and frequency — is planning for failure.”
Regional growth
The consultant is also meant to look at population and commuter data, trends and patterns in the city’s metropolitan region.
“We’re really hoping this study will allow us to take an integrated look at the entire region and how we can get people around, not only today but long into the future,” said Colleen Sklar, executive director of the Winnipeg Metropolitan Region, an organization made up of the city and 18 surrounding municipalities.
“As we move into the future and we see population growth, we know we have to get people to jobs and get people moving around the region in a way that gets them out of their cars, reducing our greenhouse gas emissions.”
However, Sklar noted, any potential regional transportation plan would need to be fair to all of the metro municipalities, instead of putting the onus on the City of Winnipeg.
“It has to be a model that contemplates revenue sharing and perhaps, joint infrastructure asks,” she said.
The report is due June 2021, as one component of the city’s Winnipeg Transportation Master Plan — a document meant to guide transportation infrastructure improvements for the next 30 years.
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