By Sheldon Spackman

Red Deer Transit pilot project expands to Springbrook, Penhold and Innisfail

Jan 14, 2019 | 1:09 PM

Residents of Innisfail, Penhold and Springbrook now have better transit access to the city of Red Deer.

On Monday, Red Deer Transit officially launched the new 2A South Regional Transit service.

The two-year pilot funded by the Government of Alberta will offer the bus service free-of-charge from Jan 14. – Feb. 8. After the introductory period, fares will be $5 per ride with kids five and under riding for free.

The service will run Monday to Friday and does not run weekends or statutory holidays.

There are four stops in Innisfail, six stops in Penhold (three in each direction) and 10 stops in Springbrook where each one is the same as previously served by route 12A.

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A trip from Innisfail to Red Deer is said to take about 45 minutes and shuttles riders to Bower Place where passengers can transfer onto city transit routes.

Red Deer Transit Manager George Penny says preparations for the pilot began a couple of years ago.

“Alberta Transportation and the Alberta Government were looking at ways of trying to increase regionalization transportation and different methods,” he explains. “They went out to the communities and said, ‘Would you be willing to try and work on some things to try and increase that regional transportation?’ One of the things in the past is capital dollars have always come forward for projects but it’s the operating dollars that’s the critical piece that’s been missing, so the government came forward with this project and said, ‘OK, we’ll fund it for two years.’”

Penny anticipates the pilot to be successful.

“We run to Red Deer County now and we’ve always been asked, ‘What about a bus to Penhold and Innisfail?’, and I think this is a great opportunity for us to try that,” exclaims Penny. “It’s been a great collaboration between all the communities and people need to try it out and see that it works. The good thing is it does connect to the regular Red Deer Transit system.”  

After previously expanding transit service to Blackfalds and Lacombe, Red Deer Mayor Tara Veer says it was time to also look south.

“It helps make the city transit system more sustainable,” states Veer. “Obviously it’s better for people in the region because people don’t live, work and recreate with borders. Any time municipalities can work together and come up with solutions for the greater good of the people that we serve, then we can elevate our level of service to the people of Red Deer and region.”

Innisfail mayor Jim Romane admits its exciting news for his community.

“We see the potential for post-secondary kids in our community of having the opportunity to come to Red Deer and Red Deer College,” he exclaims. “There’s even opportunities in high school co-operations as well. I know we also have a lot of people working in Innisfail in some of the manufacturing areas that are living in Red Deer that haven’t had the opportunity or made the move yet, so there’s those people too that I’m sure would take advantage of it I would like to think if the scheduling works for them.”

Penhold Mayor Mike Yargeau agrees the announcement is great news for his community as well.

“Even about six years ago we had a petition go through town looking to get regional transit,” recalls Yargeau. “At the time, we couldn’t find anything that worked for us and now with our regional partners and provincial government, we’ve got something that works and we have regional transit in Penhold, so we’re really excited about it. It opens up a whole new realm of opportunities for either young kids or seniors that want to get into town that maybe can’t drive or choose not to drive.”

Red Deer South MLA Barb Miller says for people living in areas with no public transportation, a service like this is vitally important.

“This way, people are able to get into doctor’s appointments, recreation, swimming lessons, all that kind of stuff that they couldn’t do before,” adds Miller. “And there’s some days you just don’t want to drive. If you can hop on public transit, that’s huge.”

Red Deer North MLA Kim Schreiner feels the announcement is really about bringing communities together.

“I talk to residents from Springbrook, from Penhold, from Innisfail that are really excited about being able to have the transportation that is no longer a barrier,” she explains. “They’ll be able to come into Red Deer for not only medical reasons but for educational reasons and it just makes life better for Albertans. It brings people closer together, even if you just want to come in to visit family or friends, this is just a wonderful announcement and I’m very happy about it.”

For more information like detailed route maps and times, visit reddeer.ca.