The Master-Plan Shelf’s latest volume could end Regina’s transit troubles

City Hall | Paul Dechene | May 12, 2022

If you’re a public transit user or the type of person who’s always thought maybe they could be a public transit user if only the bus came more often and went somewhere you wanted to go… or if you’re the kind of person — like me! — who really likes master plans whatever the subject, then boy howdy, do I have some news for you.

City council passed the Regina Transit Master Plan in a nine-to-one vote at their May 4 meeting.

This plan, which city administration has been working on since the summer of 2020, envisions a dramatic overhaul of the city’s entire transit system, from routes to hub locations, payment system and fares. It’s all supposed to level up over the next five years with plans for even more improvements out to 25 years.

The most dramatic change to expect is a significant increase in how often buses come. And this is paired with a revamp of the route system.

The key to the new routes will be four main lines that cut across the city and serve main corridors like Albert Street, Pasqua Street and Arcola Avenue, Dewdney Avenue and Victoria Avenue, and Sherwood Drive and Wascana Parkway. During peak times, buses along these main routes will arrive every 10 minutes — Yeah! Ten minutes! Insane! — while their weekday off-peak will be every 15 minutes. Main routes in the evenings will see buses every 30 minutes, and every 15 minutes on the weekend.

This would be a dramatic improvement as main routes currently come at 15-to-30-minute intervals at peak times. Off-peak, the current system is particularly grim as wait times jump to a minimum of 30 minutes but are often 60 minutes or more for many buses.

Those four proposed main routes will be fed by a system of eight local routes serving residential and commercial areas. Local routes will have a weekday peak frequency of 20 minutes (15 minutes for buses serving the university) and 30 minutes off-peak.

This is a big improvement over the 30-to-60-minute waits for similar routes in the current system.

Notably, the proposed Transit Master Plan system caps wait times at 30 minutes at all times of the day — including weekends and holidays.

The Plan also proposes gradually electrifying the fleet over the next 18 years with the first electric buses expected in 2024. According to Thomas Pacy, a transit planner with Dillon Consulting, the firm that worked with administration on the Master Plan, a more immediate jump to EVs would be difficult as such buses are in high demand. He also noted that junking perfectly functional diesel buses before the end of their lifespan carries environmental costs of its own.

Beyond new routes and more and better buses, the Plan also proposes improving bus hubs and shelters, improving snow clearing at bus stops, and choosing technology that will make paying fares easier.

Fare Questions

Fare-free transit for youth received a lot of attention during the Transit Master Plan deliberations. The Transit Master Plan proposes making the bus free for youth 12 years and younger. It’s anticipated this would only cost the system about $2,000 in forgone revenue. It could even increase farebox takes as free youth fares encourage adult-fare-paying parents to take their kids on the bus.

During council discussions on the Energy & Sustainability Framework, however, youth activists from Miller Collegiate had advocated for fare-free transit for all youth 18 and under.

Regina Public School Board trustees Sarah Truszkowski and Lacey Weekes also addressed council during the May 4 meeting. Both spoke about how fare-free transit for teens would significantly improve the lives of Regina’s low-income families. Administration, however, noted such a change would cost the system upwards of $2 million in fares annually and, if implemented immediately, would add a considerable strain to the system from increased ridership. Administration urged council to take a more phased approach.

When asked if the school board could help cover the cost of fare-free transit for teens, Truszkowski and Weekes pointed out that they could help the city advocate for more transit funding with the province, but since the Saskatchewan Party government stripped school boards of control over the revenue side of their budgets, all provincial education funding is currently being directed to the classroom. [1]

Administration will bring a report on fare-free transit for youth later in May. It’s expected to recommend officially making the bus free for 12-and-unders while providing options and implications for expanding that to other age groups, including teens and seniors.

Overall, the Transit Master Plan looks pretty spiff.

Assuming, of course, that all or even any of it gets implemented.

This is a master plan. It lays out the priorities, goals and timelines for how to change and improve the transit system. But the actual policies, processes and spending that will make all of this happen have to be brought before council every budget cycle. [2] Council can collect roses today as they pass the Transit Master Plan on behalf of current and future transit users. But when it comes time to pay for it, they can chant mindlessly about “respecting taxpayers” and vote no.

Ward seven councillor Terina Shaw already voted No on the Transit Master Plan — the only outright rejection. She argued that the numbers as she saw them did not add up to more transit for our city. [3]

There are currently enough transit-friendly votes on council to drown out a lone naysayer. But this is a long-term plan. What happens in the next election or the election after that when we get that entirely-too-possible reactionary right-wing council that wants to run the city like a business?

The Transit Master Plan could still fall apart. [4]

Stay vigilant, bus fans. 


1. On the subject of funds from other levels of government, transit planner Thomas Pacey of Dillon Consulting noted that Regina’s transit system only receives capital funding from the federal and provincial governments. Most provinces in Canada, however, provide additional operational funding to municipal transit systems. Saskatchewan is an outlier in that it puts the burden of transit operations entirely onto property taxes.

2. Regina is shifting to a multi-year budget system. The 2023–2024 budget will be the first of those. That means transit spending will typically be voted on every two years.

3. In short, Shaw does not think Regina’s current population growth warrants such a significant expansion of transit service.

4. The Master Plan Shelf at city hall is heavy with the weight of unrealized dreams.