City council is shifting into a pilot project for free bus service this fall to some Barrie high school students.
By direct motion Wednesday evening, council launched the project in partnership with Simcoe County District School Board (SCDSB), where students in a specific area, selected by the school board, will receive free Barrie Transit passes for the 2024-25 school year.
The school board has estimated this could include approximately 80 students.
The area is bounded by Yonge Street and Huronia Road, bisected by Big Bay Point Road, and about a 20-minute ride to Innisdale Secondary School on Bayview Drive.
“Currently, we have a school bus system and a city bus system, both serving the same areas. It appears to be a needless duplication of effort,” said Coun. Clare Riepma, who introduced the direct motion. “Having fewer buses on the road means less fuel burned, cost savings and less wear and tear on the roads.
“As well, students get used to using public transit, which they can continue to use after they graduate," he added.
Participating students will receive a free transit pass, via the city’s Mobile Transit App, where ridership, use and travel patterns can be collected; this is important to monitor and measure the success of the pilot program. And during the pilot, students in this area will continue to receive access to school-board provided transportation, according to the board's transportation policies.
As the potential participation of students is unknown, a small pilot area was chosen to ensure Barrie Transit does not incur any capacity issues with its existing riders.
“At this point, there are no cost implications because there is existing capacity in the city bus system in the pilot project area,” Riepma said.
City transit staff can adjust the program throughout the school year to ensure it remains flexible as both the city and the school board work through the project.
“I think this is good evolution,” Mayor Alex Nuttall said of the pilot project. “Our relationship with the school board is continuing to move forward.”
The program’s goal is to encourage student use of public transit, instead of school board provided transportation, providing the opportunity to reduce school-based automobile and yellow school bus trips. This in turn will give the school board potential future alternative transportation options — purchasing student transit passes, for example — to drive cost efficiencies.
The program also has the potential to improve the student’s sense of belonging, mobility, independence and economic opportunities outside of school bell times, with the added opportunity of developing long-term transit users, according to city staff.
“We also recognize that we will have to make adjustments to get the efficiencies and the service that all are looking for,” Riepma said. “We expect that over time the pilot will work out well and be expanded to other parts of the city and other school boards.
“It works in other cities like Kingston and Toronto, so it should also work here,” he said.
To help encourage the use of public transit, city and school board staff will work to provide educational and transit materials to participating students. For example, city staff hosting an in-person travel training session for all participants during fall 2024, or at the beginning of the pilot project's term.
As the school year progresses, if city staff feel the area could be expanded without significantly impacting capacity on the public transit system or existing participants, staff would work with the school board to potentially expand the pilot area further within the board-designated transportation eligible zone.
Both the city and school board will review the results of the program at the end of both the first and second semesters, to determine next steps and potential funding opportunities to expand the program further.
Staff are to report back to city council with an update after the first school semester and after the second one, to share feedback and determine potential next steps.
