Since the City of Regina launched a bus transportation program to the airport, the number of riders has only gone up.
The city launched the bus service on May 8 and said there are now between 50 to 60 rides on that route each day.
“Which is really good for a route that just started two months ago,” said Nathan Luhning, Regina Transit’s manager of transit administration. “We want to see that continue to grow and we expect that will hit 100 rides per day over the course of a year.”
Regina Transit held discussions with the Regina Airport Authority on scheduling and determined that busses should run from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. and from 4 p.m. to midnight, with varying schedules — at least for now.
“It’s starting at these hours now but as we see ridership grow and the city grow, we’ll see service increase to meet that demand,” Luhning said.
Justin Reeves of the Regina Airport Authority said he hasn’t seen the numbers from the city on what ridership has been like but he does know there are a number of employees around the airport who say they enjoy the bus service and use it as a way to get to and from the airport.
“Sadly, our airport is a 24/7 operation and busses don’t run always 24/7,” Reeves said. “So, it’s not necessarily an option all the time for everyone, but especially for the hundreds of employees that work on the grounds of the airport. It’s especially good for them.”
The airport authority said flight demand this summer has been busy and there has been a big increase in capacity from the airlines.
“We are seeing that most of the planes are very, very full,” Reeves said. “We’re seeing … the biggest amount of planes and seats coming into the market. And what that’s meant is actually pretty reasonable prices, especially when we look compared to last year.”
Riders can view bus schedules and routes for services to the Regina International Airport on the Regina Transit website.