The City of Regina is expanding a transit route to better service the east Aurora area of the city.
The area includes some of Regina’s busiest businesses including Costco, Landmark Cinemas, Staples and more.
As of Aug. 28, the 50 Victoria Express Route now extends east down Victoria Avenue, ending in Aurora.
The route will stretch from Lorne Street and Victoria Avenue to Aurora Boulevard and Anaquod Road, with a number of stops including downtown, Victoria Square Mall, Superstore East and Costco.
The city’s transit director Brad Bells said the route is a much-needed service people have been asking for.
“Both the workers and residents in the public, they wanted us out here,” Bells said. “And they’re very excited to have a service today and we’ve already seen some ridership already.”
The route will run Monday to Saturday from 6 a.m. to 1 a.m. and Sunday and holidays from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The city has also announced all youth 13 and under will now be able to ride the transit for free.
“It was one of our recommendations from the transit master plan that was approved by council in the summer,” Bells said. “We feel that if we can give opportunities to our youth, they’ll become lifelong members of transit.”
Youth under 13 will not require ID to ride for free.
Bells said free rides for youth was being done in many other municipalities in Canada. He hopes offering the service in Regina will help families who might not have been able to afford transit otherwise.
“That was one of the deterrents that we heard from families, you’d have a family with four kids and you couldn’t pay,” Bells said. “Now if you can take your family for free, it was a lot more affordable. So we expect the ridership to increase for the 13 and under more than we saw when we were charging a fee.”
More route information and schedules can be found on the City of Regina website.