Council considers endorsing transit plan

Article content

Miramichi city council will vote at a future meeting on whether to give its blessing to the Miramichi Public Transit Commission’s new five-year strategic plan.

Council is considering endorsing the vision and strategic goals in the Miramichi Public Transit Commission’s new five-year strategic plan, which was presented to council Sept. 26 by commission general manager Jason Babineau and Left Turn Right Turn transit innovator Evan Brown.

City manager Mike Noel said council must consider whether they want to weigh in on the plan, and to what extent. In a report presented to council, he said council hasn’t previously taken a stand on third parties’ strategic plans, but Mayor Adam Lordon – a member of the transit commission’s board of directors – asked council to indicate its position on the plan, so the board can know if the city supports its contents.

“My recommendation is that council consider endorsing the plan’s vision and strategic goals, and direct staff to work with the transit commission to evaluate the feasibility of the priorities and activities contained in it,” said Noel.

“Council may or may not wish to commit to initiatives being planned for three years from now. We’re asking you to stop short of that, but provide a general endorsement and allow us to work with transit staff on individual projects.”

The strategic plan is expected to guide the commission through 2028. Its recommendations include, but aren’t limited to, changing the bus network from its current three-route setup to allow more stops along two routes. Other calls to action consisted of exploring options for an electric bus fleet, improving collaboration between stakeholders, piloting green initiatives, offering on-demand transit, and using mobile apps.

In his report, Noel said the transit commission operates at an arms-length from the municipality, but the city has provided “substantial funding” for it since its inception in 2009. He said levels of financial support are determined on an annual basis.

Lordon said Noel’s recommendation met the intent of his request. He said the transit commission isn’t only an outside group that receives support from City Hall, but it also provides a service on behalf of the municipality because council chooses it to do so.

“Public transit is a service that’s becoming more important in our community and every community, especially for vulnerable populations like seniors, newcomers, and students,” said Lordon.

“We contributed funding for the strategic plan because we believed it would enhance the service that we provide to the community through Miramichi Transit as an arms-length organization.”

Lordon said he supports the transit commission’s desire to have a strategic plan, and it’s in the city’s best interests for the plan to be in place. He said it was never council’s intention to immediately commit financial support to implementing the plan, but he hopes council can indicate its support for the plan’s overall goals, objections, and direction.

“That will give the commission confidence as they work in that direction to improve the service in the way that they’ve highlighted in the plan,” said Lordon.

“Just because the commission has a mandate to do the work, that doesn’t mean we’ll fund everything to the letter, but this vote means we’re supportive of them improving the service in the way that they’ve outlined, which is based on the community’s feedback.”